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| Family Builders by Adoption | |
|---|---|
| Name | Family Builders by Adoption |
| Formation | 1980s |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Services | Adoption placement, post-adoption support, training |
| Region served | United States |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
Family Builders by Adoption
Family Builders by Adoption is a nonprofit adoption agency focused on facilitating domestic and international adoptions, providing post-adoption services, and advocating for adoptive families. The organization operates within a network of child welfare, legal, and social service institutions and partners with a range of public and private agencies to place children with permanent families. Family Builders by Adoption engages with foster care systems, judicial actors, and advocacy coalitions to shape adoption practice and policy.
Family Builders by Adoption coordinates adoption placements and post-placement services while interfacing with agencies such as Adoption Council, Child Welfare League of America, National Council for Adoption, American Bar Association, and Court Appointed Special Advocates. The agency collaborates with state departments like the California Department of Social Services, New York State Office of Children and Family Services, Texas Health and Human Services, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Professional partners include university programs at University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Harvard University, and University of Michigan that conduct research on permanency planning, attachment, and childhood trauma.
Family Builders by Adoption emerged amid broader shifts in American child welfare during the late 20th century, paralleling initiatives led by figures and institutions such as John E. Jones III (family law reformers), the work of Jackie Speier on children's services, and policy debates involving the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994. Its founders drew upon methods developed at organizations like Catholic Charities USA, Lutheran Social Services, The Salvation Army, Jewish Family Service, and Children's Aid Society. Early collaborations included legal clinics at Stanford Law School and research partnerships with RAND Corporation, Urban Institute, and Pew Charitable Trusts.
The organization's mission aligns with advocacy and practice advanced by leaders and nonprofits such as Casey Family Programs, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Save the Children, ZERO TO THREE, and Children's Defense Fund. Programs emphasize recruitment of prospective parents, home studies influenced by standards from National Association of Social Workers, training modules adapted from Alan E. Kazdin-style interventions, and trauma-informed care modeled on work by Bruce D. Perry and Bessel van der Kolk. Training cohorts have included practitioners affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and Emory University.
Support services provided reflect practices promoted by agencies and experts such as Post-Adoption Services Toolkit initiatives, collaboration with Childhelp, coordination with American Academy of Pediatrics, and therapeutic referrals to clinicians trained in modalities by Mary Ainsworth, John Bowlby, Daniel J. Siegel, and Judith Herman. Services include counseling, parent education drawing on curricula from Nancy Samalin, respite support linked to programs at YMCA USA, and connections to disability resources like Easterseals, United Cerebral Palsy, and March of Dimes.
Evaluation studies have been undertaken in partnership with researchers at University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Brown University, and Northwestern University to measure placement stability, child wellbeing, and parental satisfaction. Reported outcomes reference comparative metrics used by Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and academic journals such as Child Development, Children and Youth Services Review, and Journal of Marriage and Family. Outcomes include increased permanency rates vis-à-vis local averages and participation in longitudinal studies similar to those by Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study.
Funding streams have mirrored models used by nonprofits receiving grants from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and contributions from private donors and faith-based supporters such as United Methodist Church agencies. Governance is overseen by a board drawing on nonprofit governance practices found at Independent Sector, with auditing and compliance standards aligned to Internal Revenue Service regulations and nonprofit best practices championed by GuideStar and Charity Navigator.
Critiques of Family Builders by Adoption have echoed sector-wide debates involving organizations like Bethany Christian Services, Spence-Chapin Services for Families and Children, and Gladney Center for Adoption regarding transparency, intercountry adoption ethics highlighted by controversies involving Haiti and China programs, compliance with the Hague Adoption Convention, and cultural competency concerns raised by scholars at Rutgers University and University of California, Los Angeles. Legal challenges and policy disputes have involved family law practitioners associated with American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and advocacy groups including National Association of Counsel for Children, while media coverage has at times referenced reporting norms used by outlets such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and ProPublica.
Category:Adoption organizations in the United States