Recent Demographic Trends in Foster Care: Over the last decade, the U.S. foster care population has undergone a substantial reduction in size and experienced a shift in its racial and ethnic composition. Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), this data brief summarizes those changes and provides new detail that identifies the geographic areas most responsible for these national trends.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/data_brief_foster_care_trends1.pdf

National Foster Parent Association: a non-profit organization focused on meeting the needs of foster families.
http://www.nfpainc.org

Fostering Families Today Magazine: A resource for foster and adoptive families.
http://www.fosteringfamiliestoday.com

Foster Focus Magazine: Monthly magazine source for foster care news and information. Many articles online.
http://www.fosterfocusmag.com/index.html

Child Welfare Information Gateway: a range of resources for foster parents.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/outofhome/foster_care/

STATISTICS/OVERVIEW.  There are no comprehensive numbers on total adoptions in the U.S. each year or the number of specific types of adoptions other than child welfare and intercountry adoptions. Of the approximately 135,000 adoptions in the U.S. each year, close to 40% are adopted by stepparents and another 40% or so from the U.S. foster care system. Private infant and intercountry adoptions together make up the remainder and are much smaller numbers. According to the U.S. Census, 1 in 25 families with children have an adopted child – about half of these have both biological and adopted children.

Challenges in Tracking Adoption Statistics:

Who Cares about Adoption Data? We Do. National Center on State Courts. March, 2014:
http://www.ncsc.org/sitecore/content/microsites/future-trends-2013/home/Monthly-Trends-Articles/Adoption-Data.aspx

How Many Children Were Adopted in 2007 and 2008? Child Welfare Information Gateway. Sept., 2011.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/adopted0708.pdf

Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2010. Population Characteristics. U.S. Census Bureau. April, 2014.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p20-572.pdf

Knowing the Numbers: Accessing and Using Child Welfare Data. The First Focus State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARC), Sept., 2014.

Provides an overview of data sources that are useful to the child welfare community specifically and answers the following questions: What are the major data sources? What can I do with the data/what can they tell me? How do I access them?
http://childwelfaresparc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Knowing-the-Numbers.pdf

Child welfare adoptions climbed after the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act in 1997, peaking at over 57,000 a year in 2009. They have remained above 50,000 each year since that time (AFCARS, 2014).

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Data on Child Welfare Outcomes: In FFY2013, 101,840 foster children were waiting to be adopted, and 50,608 were adopted that year. In addition 17,664 foster children exited care through guardianships (July, 2014 estimates).
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/afcars

Intercountry adoptions peaked in 2004 at just under 23,000 and then began to decline—a pattern that exists worldwide. The most recent figure reported by the U.S. Department of State for 2013 was 7,092.

U.S. Department of State, Intercountry Adoption Statistics:
http://travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/en/about-us/statistics.html

Global Statistics:
Key Tables for Intercountry Adoption: Receiving States 2003-2012; States of Origin 2003-2011. Peter Selman (2013).
http://www.hcch.net/upload/2013selmanstats33.pdf

Private infant adoptions of voluntarily relinquished newborns have declined nine-fold since the early 1970s (National Survey of Family Growth). These adoptions are not consistently tracked but are estimated to be approximately 14,000 a year (Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2010, p. 8).

Data from the National Survey of Family Growth: Who Adopts? Characteristics of Women and Men Who Have Adopted Children. Jan., 2009 (includes findings on voluntary relinquishments of newborns)
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db12.pdf

Best Interests of the Child in Intercountry Adoption, by Nigel Cantwell, UNICEF Office of Research, 2014.
http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/712

Searching for Birth Relatives. Resources on Child Welfare Information Gateway.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/search/searching.cfm

International Soundex Reunion Registry - An international service to the world-wide community of those separated from family. 
http://www.isrr.org/

Land of Gazillion Adoptees Magazine.
http://gazillionvoices.com/category/voices/#.VBXr1PldUwB

PACT-Recommended Resources for Adopted People, including many essays by adopted individuals
http://www.pactadopt.org/resources/adopted-people.html

Resources from the Child Welfare Information Gateway – Connecting with other adopted people, educational assistance, late discovery adoption, lifelong impact of adoption, perspectives of transracial adopted people and others
https://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/adopt_people/

Impact of Adoption on Adoptive Parents. CWIG, 2010.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/impact_parent/impactparent.pdf

Adoption Learning Partners offers an array of interactive e-learning courses for current adoptive parents, adopted individuals, and other family members as well as professionals. They also offer live and recorded webinars by experts in the adoption field.
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/

Adoptive Families is a national adoption magazine that provides resources on all types of adoption and can be accessed through print or online. Their site includes a directory of many types of resources, including adoption agencies, adoption attorneys and doctors, support groups, and others.
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/

Adoptions Today is a national adoption magazine that addresses the issues and answers surrounding international and domestic adoption.
http://www.adoptiontoday.com/

Child Welfare Information Gateway website sponsored by the U.S. Children’s Bureau provides many print and electronic publications and links to a range of resources on child welfare and adoption issues for both the public and professionals.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/

Donaldson Adoption Institute is an independent and objective adoption research and policy organization that addresses the needs of those touched by adoption. Its website contains research reports on a range of adoption topics.
http://adoptioninstitute.org/

North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) is committed to meeting the needs of waiting children and the families who adopt them.  Their website contains a range of resources, in particular an extensive website on adoption subsidies, including state profiles, fact sheets and a national summary of state adoption assistance programs.
http://www.nacac.org/adoptionsubsidy/adoptionsubsidy.html

National Foster Care and Adoption Directory on the Gateway enables searching by state for specific types of agencies and programs as well as other resources such as adoptive parent support groups.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad/

Tapestry Books:  good resource for books and DVDs about adoption, permanency, foster care.
http://www.tapestrybooks.com

National Foster Care and Adoption Directory (CWIG). Provides contact information for private and public adoption agencies in every state:https://www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad/

Foster Family to Forever Family, an online course:
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/catalog/courses/foster-family-to-forever-family.cfm

With Eyes Wide Open, an Adoption Learning Partners online course for those seeking to adopt internationally, along with others on medical issues and other topics:
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/catalog/courses/with-eyes-wide-open.cfm

Creating an Adoption Profile that Works, an online Adoption Learning Partners course:
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/catalog/courses/creating-an-adoption-profile-that-works.cfm

10 Things Every Birth Mother Wants Adoptive Parents to Know
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/blog/posts/2013/12/10-things-every-birth-mother-wants-adoptive-parents-to-know.cfm

Adopting Across Racial Lines. Recommended resources from PACT: An Adoption Alliance. Includes online video: What to Know Before Considering Transracial Adoption.
http://www.pactadopt.org/resources/adopting-across-racial-lines.html

Adoption Learning Partners offers an array of interactive e-learning courses for current adoptive parents, adopted individuals, and other family members as well as professionals. They also offer live and recorded webinars by experts in the adoption field.
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/

Resolve: A support network and resources for individuals and couples experiencing infertility.
http://www.resolve.org

Tapestry Books:  good resource for books and DVDs about adoption, permanency, foster care.
http://www.tapestrybooks.com

Openness in Adoption: Building Relationships between Adoptive and Birth Families. CWIG, 2013.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_openadopt.cfm

A Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System: A guide for families in the child welfare system, including experiences of other families, laws and policies, and how to advocate for a family's rights. Also available in Spanish.
http://www.tapartnership.org/docs/familyGuideToChildWelfare.pdf

Are You Pregnant and Thinking About Adoption?  (CWIG, 2014)
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_pregna/f_pregna.pdf and https://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/birth/for/

Open Adoption: Could Open Adoption be the Best Choice for You and Your Baby? (CW Info. Gateway, 2011)
https://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/birth/for/plan.cfm

Openness in Adoption: From Secrecy and Stigma to Knowledge and Connections. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2012.
http://adoptioninstitute.org/old/publications/2012_03_OpennessInAdoption.pdf

The Rights of Unmarried Fathers (CWIG, 2014)
https://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/putative.pdf

Impact of Adoption on Birth Parents (CWIG, 2013)
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_impact/f_impact.pdf

What You Should Know If You Are Considering Adoption for Your Baby
http://www.cubirthparents.org/docs/heather-lowes-booklet.pdf

Safeguarding the Rights and Well-Being of Birthparents in the Adoption Process. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2006.
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/old/publications/2006_11_Birthparent_Study_All.pdf

10 Things Every Birth Mother Wants Adoptive Parents to Know
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/blog/posts/2013/12/10-things-every-birth-mother-wants-adoptive-parents-to-know.cfm

Birth Mom Buds - An online support resource for expectant parents considering adoption and birthparents
http://birthmombuds.com/

Untangling the Web I and II. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2012 and 2013.
http://adoptioninstitute.org/pubs_cat/media-the-internet-adoption/