There are thousands of New Jersey children that need the warmth and guidance of a family. Many parents are welcoming these children into their homes to provide safety, stability and love. These wonderful people are New Jersey's foster and adoptive families.

Foster families provide a home for children that have been abandoned, neglected or abused. These children are in need of nurturing families to help them heal and grow.

Many children long for a forever family because they are not able to be reunited with their birth parents. Being an adoptive parent can change a child’s life forever, as well as bring new joy and fulfillment to their new family

Basic requirements for foster/adoptive parents are that they must be at least 21 years old; single, married, in a domestic partnership or civil union; live in either a house or an apartment; and have existing children or are parenting for the first time.

Conditions for becoming a foster or adoptive parent include a completed application, a home inspection and pre-service training. A home study is a mutual assessment consisting of sharing your family’s story through interviews, home visits and background information checks.

Supports available to foster and adoptive families include monthly board payments/stipend, medical coverage, childcare services for employed parents, behavioral health services, adoption subsidy, post-adoption support services, a resource family support worker, community agency support and foster and adoptive family services (FAFS).

For more information, visit the Department of Children and Families and Division of Youth and Family Services at njfoster.org and njadopt.org.