The Government's Also Involved

Although foster care and adoption are typically handled at the state level, the U.S. government also plays a role in the lives of foster children through certain agencies. Here are some of the government and government-related organizations involved and what they do.

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), 311 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC, 20002, (202) 544-8500, www.ccsinstitute.org. Founded by members of Congress in 2001, the CCAI is dedicated to promoting awareness of foster care and adoption issues. One if its main goals is to educate policymakers about these issues in order to remove policy barriers that hinder adoption.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), 1900 E Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20415, (202) 606-1800, www.opm.gov. The OPM has a variety of human resources functions, including facilitating adoptions by federal employees. It does this by providing work/life programs, leave programs, and information about adoption such as the availability of adoption tax credits and federal adoption subsidies.

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS), 425 I Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20536-0001, (800) 375-5283, www.uscis.gov. This government agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, helps to oversee adoptions of foreign children by U.S. citizens among many other citizenship-related activities. Its main responsibilities regarding adoption are to determine the eligibility and suitability of individuals or couples looking to adopt and to determine the eligibility of children to come to the United States.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families (HHS ACF), 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Washington, DC, 20447, http://www.acf.hhs.gov. HHS ACF is involved in many areas of child welfare such as foster care, adoption, child abuse/neglect, early childhood education. Besides functioning as an information source, it also provides funds to support adoption assistance and foster care programs and all 50 states and DC. In 2011, for example, HHS ACF announced the release of $187 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for that purpose.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 441 G Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20548, (202) 512-3000, www.gao.gov. The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, including those allocated to foster care and adoption. One example of a GAO report, "African American Children in Foster Care," published in July 2007, is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07816.pdf.

U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20520, (202) 647-4000, www.adoption.state.gov. Like the USCIS, the Department of State helps to regulate international adoptions. It, too, has a wealth of relevant information on all aspects of adoption including the overall process, details about different countries and agencies individuals and couples can adopt from, and even copies of the various forms needed. The website also has an "Adoption Community" tab with information for the various parties involved in adoptions.