Adoption
Adopting a child through Franklin County Children Services can be a rewarding and heartfelt experience . . . both for the adopted child and for the adopting parent. There are presently more than 200 children in the permanent custody of Franklin County Children Services waiting to be adopted.
- Eighty percent of those waiting for loving homes are African American children age 3 and older, and white children age 8 and older.
- Children waiting to be adopted are sibling groups, teenagers, and children who have special needs (physical, emotional, or mental disabilities or sibling groups who should remain together).
Adoption today is quite different from years past. Family structures have changed to include divorced parents, single parents, and alternative life styles.
The request for infants is still on the rise, but the lack of availability for this age group has left many families waiting or selecting from another age group of children.
Children Services seeks families or single adults who will love and share their homes with waiting children.
To be approved for adoption through Franklin County Children Services:
- applicants must live in Franklin, Madison, Fairfield, Delaware, Pickaway, Licking, and Union County. Applicants not living in these counties must be approved in their own counties and have a copy of their home study sent to Franklin County Children Services for matching purposes;
- applicants may be single, married, divorced, or widowed;
- applicants must be at least age 18;
- applicants must complete a 24-hour training course, which includes several background checks;
- applicants must be self-supporting; and
- applicants must have room in their homes for the child or children they wish to adopt.
There is no fee for adoptive placement, and financial help is available.
Getting started is easy . . .
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is a dynamic national partnership between Wendy’s and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, designed to fund adoption recruiters at local agencies who find permanent, loving, adoptive homes for children waiting in foster care. Franklin County Children Services has two Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters who execute a very specific process for each of their children that focuses exhaustively on their individual histories, experiences and needs in order to find the appropriate adoptive family for them. Children in the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program are traditionally those who wait the longest to be adopted because they are older, siblings or have mental, physical or emotional challenges. The program operates on the belief that every child is adoptable and deserves to live in a safe, loving and permanent family.
