Application

Once you submit the application, it will be reviewed and we will contact you within two business days.

Paperwork

You will then be given forms to start working on.  Families are encouraged to complete the paperwork in a timely manner to keep the process moving. Our website has a section accessible only to current clients where you can access the required forms and some videos to help explain the forms.

Training

Prospective adoptive parents attend informational and educational sessions to learn more about adoption and meet Hague-accredited country requirements. Families living in MN need a minimum of 10 hours; Wisconsin families need a minimum of 16 hours. Families adopting from China need at least 12 hours of training. Our PACT training session offers seven hours of classroom education and reading our training manual provides another hour. We offer parent panels and expert-speaker trainers on a regular basis, which all count toward your required number of hours. Your Adoption Counselor can also assist you with other resources/suggestions to meet your number of required training hours.

Family Interviews

After being assigned an Adoption Counselor who will be your primary contact throughout the adoption process, they meet with you in your home to gather information on the family and discuss child preferences (age, sex, ethnic background). Families also have the opportunity to learn more about the different options (domestic or international).

A second visit, held in the Crossroads office, is required before the home study can be complete. During this visit, families are usually given an opportunity to review a draft of the home study, turn in final paperwork and ask more questions about the process or the programs.

Adoption Study Report (Home Study)

The home study is report written by the Adoption Counselor about the family.  Information for the home study is gathered through the visits and through written information provided by the family. Some of the areas covered include: the prospective adoptive family’s strengths and weaknesses; individual and family history; personal characteristics; parenting skills; finances; and support system. The adoption study report must be updated on an annual basis until placement occurs.

Child Source

Once the home study is, families complete and approved work on program-specific paperwork. If adopting internationally, you will need to compile the dossier (forms required by the country).  Crossroads provides a full list of needed documents, as well as assistance in pulling these items together. If adopting domestically, you will need to create a profile (letter and pictures about the family to be shown to the birthparents). Crossroads will provide suggestions of what to include in a profile, as well as examples and assistance in compiling the profile. Once the dossier or the profile is complete and sent out, the waiting process begins.

Referral (Match with a child or sibling group)

If adopting domestically, you will wait for the birthparents to “choose” you.  Then you will get to review information about the match and determine if it seems like a good fit.  If adopting internationally, families usually wait for the government of the country to match you with a child. You then have up to two weeks to decide if you want to accept the match.

Placement

After matching with a child, you need to complete the remaining paperwork required.  Once immigration steps have been taken, travel plans are made to bring the child home. 

Post Placement

Following the placement of your child, your Adoption Counselor will come out to your home to visit you.  Each child source/program has its own requirements as far as reports in the months and years following placement.  These reports include the state of the child’s health and development, and pictures of the child.