Adoptive Family Certification

Learn about how we certify and support adoptive families

Families who pursue adoption through Amara undergo a rigorous three- to nine-month process in preparation for parenting a child or children.

• Each family must undergo an adoption home study and be approved by our clinical team.
• Each family is required to become foster care licensed in order to adopt children from foster care. We facilitate the licensing process ourselves.
• Each family is educated in concurrent permanency planning. We help potential adoptive families understand that children in foster care may be reunified with their birth families at any time before adoption finalization.

Once a child is placed with one of our adoptive families, we continue to support and assess the family through the finalization of the adoption or until the child returns to his or her birth family.

• Ongoing support includes:
• Continued education and training
• Parent support groups
• Mentorship and respite matching
• Phone consultation and emotional support
• A minimum of once-per-month home visits
• Liaising with all involved parties including the Department of Children and Family Services, Guardian ad Litems or CASAs, child-specific services providers, and other child welfare partners

We typically work with approximately 150 families. Only about one-third of these families are available at any given time to be considered for a match with a child or sibling group in need of a permanent home.

Learn more about Amara licensed and available foster and pre-adoptive families

Contact Cathy Olsen, Child Placement Coordinator
Call 206.260.1700
Email cathy@amaraparenting.org