At any given time, there are 100 Vermont children waiting for their forever families. Project Family, a partnership between Lund and the Department for Children and Families (DCF), works to find permanent families for children and youth. But more families are needed! Read on to learn more about becoming a home studied family for Project Family.
What is a Homestudy?
If you are interested in being an adoptive family, the first step is completing a homestudy. This study is an overview of your life to determine if a stable environment exists to receive a placement. There is no fee to have a Project Family adoption homestudy completed.
What is the process?
To apply you must be willing to adopt a child over the age of 7 and be at least 21 years old. You can be single, married, living with a partner or joined through a civil union.
The first step is completing a two-page application of interest with basic information about you and the child(ren) you would like to adopt. Once we receive this application our adoption administrator will give you a call to discuss the process and ask a few questions to get to know you better.
You will then be connected with a permanency planning counselor for an in-person informative interview. This conversation will gather more information from you, cover what you are looking for in a child, and offer more information about the adoption process and the children that are waiting. After this conversation, the permanency planning counselor will either provide you with training opportunities or readings to better prepare you to have a youth placed in your home, or they will ask the adoption administrator to send you the full home study application.
Once you have an approved homestudy, our recruiters will work to match you with a waiting child.
Questions to ask yourself if you are interested in being home studied
If you are interested in becoming a home studied family for Project Family, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Am I willing to adopt a child between the ages of 7-18? Most waiting children are over the age of 14. Families adopting through Project Family need to be comfortable welcoming an older child into their home.
- Are you familiar with trauma-informed care or are you willing to learn? All waiting children have experienced some degree of abuse, neglect or loss and will need a forever family that can support them in a trauma-informed way.
- Are you financially stable? While there may be some financial support available for the child, adoptive families should be able to provide for the child’s basic food, shelter and clothing.
- Will you affirm a child in their exploration of their identity? Some of the waiting youth identify as LGBTQ+. We need families who can provide a supportive environment to these youth.
If you answered yes to all the questions above, we would love to talk with you! To get the process started, contact Project Family at 1-800-746-7000 or Toni.Yandow@partner.vermont.gov.
