Division of Family & Children's Services

Adoption Information - Opt to Adopt!

Meet Our Children Available for Adoption

Children available for adoption are featured on Wednesday's Child, a collaboration of Mississippi Department of Human Services and WLBT Television. For more information about these children, please call (601) 359-4753.

How to Adopt

Step 1 - Contact
Contact the Adoption Hotline Toll-Free at 1-800-821-9157 to obtain additional information and an application.

Step 2 - Application
Once your application has been received, it will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum requirements (such as age, length of marriage, sufficient income). You may be placed on a waiting list.

Step 3 - Training Sessions
If we are able to proceed with your application, you will be invited to attend a series of five weekly training sessions. The sessions cover such topics as how children come into our custody; how to explain adoption to a child; understanding the process of separation and attachment; child development; and how to manage behavior.

Step 4 - Home Study
You will be asked to participate in a series of interviews with a social worker. These interviews allow you and your social worker the opportunity to discuss practical as well as emotional factors surrounding adoption.

The home study helps you and your social worker determine if you and your family are ready to adopt and what type child would best fit into your family.

Step 5 - Placement
Placement begins with short visits between you and the child and are gradually extended to over night. When the social worker, the child and you feel everyone is ready, arrangements will be made for placement in your home.

Step 6 - Post Placement
Once a child is placed in your home, your social worker will visit several times to help you and your child with the adjustment process. These visits will continue for at least six months until we can recommend the adoption be finalized by the court. You may choose any attorney you wish to represent you during the adoption proceedings in court.

Adoption Assistance
Applicants who adopt children with special needs are eligible to receive financial assistance until the child comes of age. A special needs child is defined as:

• Any child six years of age or older
• Siblings groups of two or more
• Children with emotional, mental or physical needs
• Children with chronic medical conditions

Cost
The Mississippi Department of Human Services does not charge any fees for its adoption services. However, when it is time to finalize the adoption, you are expected to pay attorney fees, only if the child does not receive Adoption Assistance.

Who can Adopt

Requirements for Adopting:

• Single Persons
• Married couples who have been married at least two years
• Applicants who are at least 21 years of age
• Families and individuals whose income and insurance are sufficient to meet the additional needs of an adopted child
• Individuals who meet accepted emotional, intellectual and psychological standards to be good parents

If you meet all of the above requirements, you may print the Adoptive Parent Application, available in Portable Document Format (PDF). Viewing the PDF files require free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange

Persons interested in exploring adoption of a particular child or children whose information appears here for Mississippi should write:

Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange
P. O. Box 352
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-800-821-9157 | (601) 359-4753

The letter should include a home telephone number, as well as a telephone number where you can be contacted between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange

• Legal Base - The Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange was legislated under Mississippi Law Section, 43-15-19, page 4526, effective July, 1978. This law, which also encompasses the foster care review plan, specifies that “the State Department of Public Welfare shall maintain a Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange Registry, which shall contain a total listing of all children freed for adoption, as well as a listing of persons who wish to adopt children and who are approved by a licensed agency in the State of Mississippi.” The law stipulates the registry (also referred to as the Adoption Book) shall be distributed to all county welfare directors and licensed adoption agencies in the state. Descriptive characteristics of each child are included within the registry; full names will, however, remain confidential information. In accordance with the law, potential adoptive families are listed only when written authority is given to the Department of Human Services.
• Purpose and Goal - The Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange has been established as a resource to aid in meeting the priority goal of adoption services: to provide a permanent, loving home for every child who needs one. The Exchange will facilitate bringing together available “waiting” children and families prepared to adopt them.
• Registration Procedures for Placing Agencies -
• Procedures for registration of children in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Human Services:
     When a child becomes legally free for adoption, he/she is automatically referred to the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange for inclusion in the Adoption Book.
     The Foster Care worker will notify the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange in writing of any change in the child’s circumstances. For further details, please see Volume IV, Section F.
• Procedures for registration of Mississippi Department of Human Services approved adoptive families:
     Upon consent to registration, the approved adoptive family will complete Form DPW-476B in duplicate. The adoption worker will complete Form DPW-476A in duplicate and will submit the original of each form to the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange. Copies will be retained in the adoption worker’s case record. The adoption worker will notify the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange in writing of any changes in the family’s circumstances or status. Copies are retained in the adoption worker’s case record. For further details, please see Volume IV, Section F.
• Procedures for registration of children in the custody of private licensed adoption agencies:
1. The adoption worker for each child will submit a written narrative and several pictures of the child to the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange.
2. The adoption worker will notify the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange in writing of any changes in the child’s circumstances.
• Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange Procedures - The Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange will:
• Send out new listings to all holders of the Adoption Book at least once each quarter.
• Notify holders of the Adoption Book of changes in listings.
• Refer to Regional and National Exchange those children determined appropriate.
• Forward to the appropriate agency, information received from families and individuals who have made direct inquiry to the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange about a particular child.
• Participating Agencies - Five licensed adoption agencies participate in the Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange. Inquiries can be made by contacting any of the following agencies directly or by calling or writing to:

Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange
P. O. Box 352
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-800-821-9157 | (601) 359-4753

• Mississippi Children’s Home Society and Family Service Association - The Mississippi Children’s Home Society and Family Service Association, is a non-profit, non-sectarian, statewide child welfare agency. The agency will study families interested in adopting any of the children found within these pages, or any other waiting child. To express interest in being studies, call or write:
  

  Mississippi Children’s Home Society and Family Service Association
  P. O. Box 1078
  Jackson, Mississippi 39215
  (601) 352-7784

  The study will usually consist of at least four two-hour group sessions and a home visit. Other contacts will be scheduled as needed. Once a child is placed, follow-up services will be provided as needed.
     The goal is to find homes to meet the special needs of waiting children. Fees will be determined by the family’s income, ability to pay, and the cost of the special needs of the child.
• Catholic Charities, Inc. - Catholic Charities, Inc., commits itself to the philosophy that every child has the right to a permanent loving family. Efforts are therefore directed toward finding a family for any child in need of a home, regardless of the special needs that may be involved. Children placed through Catholic Charities include African-American children of all ages, Caucasian infants with medical risk or problems at various levels, preschool or early school-age children of biracial or international heritage, and children of all races over 6 years old.
     The agency welcomes application from single and married adults, people from all races and religions, regardless of ability or inability physically to have children. Income should be sufficient to meet individual family needs. An adoption fee based on a sibling scale is required, though exceptions are made for families unable to pay.
     Interested persons may write or call:



Catholic Charities
Adoption Department
200 North Congress Street, Suite 100
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
(601) 355-8634

• Mississippi Family For Kids’ - Interested persons may write or call:



Mississippi Families for Kids
P. O. Box 5366
Jackson, Mississippi 39296
(601) 957-7670 | 1-800-241-5437

• Mississippi Department of Human Services - The Mississippi Department of Human Services Adoption Unit adheres to the belief that the adoptable child is any child who can benefit from a permanent, loving family. Our emphasis is on placing the special needs child that is the child who is school age, or who has physical, emotional, or mental handicaps, or who is a member of sibling groups.
     Interested persons may write or call:



Mississippi Department of Human Services
Adoption Unit
P. O. Box 352
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
(601) 359-4753

• Southern Christian Services for Children and Youth, Inc. Harden House Adoption Program - Southern Christian Services for Children and Youth, Inc., Harden House Adoption Program operates under the premise that “every child has the inherent right to the security and stability of a permanent home.” To accomplish this mission, Harden House Adoption Program recruits and trains families to provide a permanent placement for children who are in the foster care system. This program works with the MS Dept. of Human Services to place children as well as other states, such as Oregon, Louisiana, Texas, Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, California, Alabama, Ohio, etc. After placement, the adoption staff works very closely with the family during the adjustment period until finalization. After finalization, the post adoption staff then begins working with the family, if needed, by providing crisis intervention, buddy family network, respite, support groups for parents and teens, adoption family retreat, and on-going adoptive parent and professional training.
     Interested persons may write or call:



Southern Christian Services for
Children and Youth, Inc.
Harden House Adoption Program
860 East River Place, Suite 608
Jackson, MS 39202
(601) 960-2655 | 1-800-748-3005

For information on how to adopt any of these children, please contact the Adoption Hotline at 1-800-821-9157.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap.

Contact Information

Mississippi Department of Human Services
Division of Family & Children's Services
1-800-821-9157 | (601) 359-4753