State Now Using ‘Family-Match’ to Help with Adoptions

The Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) has partnered with the non-profit organization Adoption-Share to implement Family-Match, an application that uses technology designed to improve adoption outcomes for children in foster care.

The Family-Match data-driven, decision-support tool enhances the matching process for children awaiting. By leveraging compatibility assessments created by industry leading researchers, Family-Match focuses on relational fit, helping agencies identify families most likely to provide stable, long-term placements.

Families interested in adopting start by creating a profile and entering their information, such as basic personal and household demographics; whether they have parenting experience and their preferences for the child they would like to adopt (age, gender, level of special needs, etc.). A DCFS adoption recruiter then uses the Family-Match program to determine appropriate pairings for kids in Nevada. 

“The current method is time consuming and cumbersome,” DCFS adoption worker Ashley Hall said. “We are at the mercy of families finding a child’s profile and inquiring, whereas Family-Match gives us a database to search through families in one location.”

DCFS, which is the child welfare agency for Nevada’s 15 rural counties, currently has more than 30 children looking to be adopted. The profiles of those children have been entered into the Family-Match software, and DCFS adoption workers use data from prospective adoptive families to identify the best fit. 

The match doesn’t end when a child is placed with a family for adoption. Maintaining the child’s placement and avoiding “disruption” is also a goal of using the Family-Match technology. According to Adoption-Share, in a sample of 696 placements made with Family-Match in Florida, the disruption rate was up to 60% lower than estimates of disruption for a similar population of children seeking adoption (13.6% compared to 34.4%). Florida began using Family-Match in July 2018.

“Family-Match is a great resource to assist in finding the perfect family for my kids,” said Gabrielle Melvin, Adoption Recruitment Specialist with Twin Oaks Community Services in Florida. “I love using the assessment tool and being able to see how different families compare to the different personalities and needs of my kids.” 

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, a time to celebrate families formed through adoption and raise awareness of the need for more adoptive families, particularly for children in foster care.

Families interested in fostering or adopting can create a free profile on Family-Match.  

To learn more about Family-Match, visit www.family-match.org.