Adoption and Foster Care Resources
Programs and Services
The Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is responsible for child abuse and neglect prevention, protective, foster care, and adoptive programs. The mission of DCFS is to keep children safe and help families. DCFS engages families and youth and uses community-based services and supports to assist parents in successfully caring for their children. The Division focuses on safety, permanency and well-being for all children and youth.
Adopt Arkansas
DCFS helps by providing a full range of adoption services, from finding families to adopt, to keeping a voluntary adoption registry. Services are available to birth parents who choose to place their newborns for adoption. DCFS also seeks Adoptive Homes for children in foster care. Qualified Adoptive homes are needed for children of all nationalities, sibling groups, and children with Special Needs to include children with emotional, mental, or medical needs.
Arkansas Adoption Assistance Program
Federal and state adoption assistance programs are designed to help parents who are thinking about or are in the process of, adopting a child or children with special needs from foster care to meet the adopted child’s/children varied, and often costly, requirements. Children can qualify for federal adoption or state assistance, depending on their history. Adoption subsidy policies and practices are dependent on the state in which the child was in foster care before the adoption
Foster and Adoptive Parent Inquiry Unit
The Foster and Adoptive Parent Inquiry Unit provides assistance to individuals and couples seeking to become a foster or adoptive provider home by conveying information about serving as a foster or adoptive home, providing technical assistance with filling out background checks, and assignment of the applicant to the local Resource Unit when appropriate for completion of the assessment and approval process once background checks are completed.
Foster Arkansas
Foster parent support is a critical role in this unit which is achieved through working with foster parents to address concerns to supporting them in ensuring they have the tools they need to meet the needs of the children placed in their homes. The Foster Care Unit also manages foster home board payments, serves as the agency point of contact for Private License Placement Agencies, and assists in guiding resource staff regarding foster and adoptive home approval questions. This unit also processes foster parent and volunteer travel and maintains responsibility for the RAVE texting program and the online Foster and Adopt Provider Portal.
