Houston Area Adoption Agencies

In my research to compile a list of agencies I came across TARE (Texas Adoption Resource Exchange) http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/default.asp at which is hosted by DFPS (Texas Department of Family and Protective Services). They have a more comprehensive list with more information about the agencies. Worth a look at http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/default.asp

Something to think about, even though you are the only parent your adopted child knows, it is very normal for an adopted child to want to learn about where they came from and why they were put up for adoption. The DFPS reports as of Oct. 2008, “In Texas, about 180 licensed child-placing agencies are currently in operation. Many of these agencies provide foster-care services and rarely place children for adoption. Of these 180 agencies, we estimate that only about 80 agencies actually place children for adoption. Of these 80 agencies, only 28 actively operate a voluntary adoption registry as mandated by Texas Family Code, Chapter 162, Subchapter E.” You can see them at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqproc/volreg.shtm .

Homes of St. Mark, http://www.homesofstmark.org/
We used this agency. When we were doing our research, this was the only agency that I actually got to talk to a person. I left a message and a person actually called me back. All our Case Workers have moved on to other things so I cannot give references for the staff.

Other Agencies, I have not done research or credibility checks on these agencies. You can check their history of inspections and reports on the DFPS website at http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_care/search_texas_child_care/ppFacilitySearchResidential.asp . This is just a list to help you get started in the search for an agency to help you.…

• AdopTexas, http://www.adoptexas.com/index-2.html
• Adoption.com, http://www.adoption.com/ , this site is a little confusing. On the “About” page they have an address in Arizona, but on the “Home” page they have information about Texas adoption and Texas law. I don’t think it is an agency, but they do have a lot of information about adoption that is helpful.
• Alternatives in Motion, http://www.aimadoptions.org/index.html
• American Adoption, http://www.americanadoption.com/ – they claim to do adoptions in Houston, Texas but their main office is in Kansas and as far as I could tell on their website, they don’t even have an office in Texas. They did have some interesting links about Texas Law on Adoption. http://texas.adoption.americanadoptions.com/?PHPSESSID=c1a9e8c0d134d4f7b4f6811b4ec8effe
• Caring Adoptions, http://www.caringadoptions.org/Index.asp
• Catholic Charities (Galveston-Houston Area), http://www.catholiccharities.org/ - they have other Catholic Charity Agencies across Texas
• Depelchin, http://www.depelchin.org/ - We didn’t use this agency, but we have been to their facilities for trainings. They have great training facilities and offer a number of services to help you before, during and after the adoption.
• LDS Family Services (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), http://www.ldsfamilyservices.org/ – they have locations across the country and in Canada
• New Life Pregnancy Center, http://www.newlifehelp.org/
• Spaulding for Children, http://www.spauldingforchildren.org/?id=1 , another big Houston agency that is well respected.