Research Shows Supported Adoption Matching Can Help More Children Find Families
For families hoping to adopt from foster care, completing the home study is only the beginning. The next phase—searching for a child and identifying a potential match—can be complicated, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting.
Research suggests that families and children may achieve better outcomes when trained professionals actively support the search and matching process.
Searching Alone Versus Professional Matching Support
In the research article Search and Matching for Adoption from Foster Care (2025), Ludwig Dierks and his colleagues examined two approaches to finding adoptive families for children in foster care.
In a traditional family-driven search, prospective adoptive parents review photolistings and announcements and submit inquiries about children they believe may be a good fit for their family. Caseworkers then evaluate the families who expressed interest.
While this approach gives families an active role, it can also create challenges. Families may submit numerous inquiries without receiving enough information to determine whether they can realistically meet a child’s needs. Some children receive overwhelming interest, while older children, sibling groups, and children with more complex needs may receive few inquiries.
The researchers compared this process with a caseworker-driven approach. In this model, professionals use information about both the child and approved adoptive families to identify potential matches and contact families whose strengths, experience, resources, and preferences may align with the child’s needs.
A 24% Greater Likelihood of Adoption Within Three Years
The study examined the experience of a Florida child welfare agency that transitioned to a caseworker-driven search process. According to the version of the study reporting this analysis, children served through the supported matching approach had a 24% higher probability of being adopted within three years than the statewide benchmark predicted.
In practical terms, the research demonstrates that approved families participating in a professionally supported search-and-matching process may be more successful than families relying primarily on self-directed searching.
This does not mean that technology or a caseworker should make adoption decisions automatically. Adoption matching requires professional judgment, careful review, honest conversations, and thoughtful consideration of the child’s long-term needs. Technology may help identify possibilities, but people remain responsible for determining whether a potential match should move forward.
Why Professional Support Matters
Effective matching involves much more than finding a child who fits a family’s preferred age range. Adoption professionals help families consider factors such as:
- The child’s trauma history and emotional needs
- The family’s parenting experience and support system
- The needs of other children already living in the home
- The family’s ability to maintain important sibling and birth-family relationships
- Educational, behavioral, developmental, and medical needs
- The services available in the family’s community
- Whether the family’s expectations are realistic and child-centered
Professional support can also help families avoid becoming emotionally attached to a photograph or short profile before receiving enough information to understand the child’s needs.
What This Means for Prospective Adoptive Families
The study’s findings reinforce an important message: families should not have to navigate the adoption search alone.
At Heart of Adoptions Alliance, Inc. (HOAA), we support families throughout the adoption-from-foster-care journey. Our services include pre-adoptive training, home studies, child-search assistance, matching support, advocacy, and guidance as families evaluate potential opportunities.
HOAA does not make placement decisions or place children into adoptive homes. Those decisions remain with the public agency or child welfare organization that has custody of the child. However, our adoption specialists help families better understand the process, identify appropriate opportunities, communicate with children’s caseworkers, and thoughtfully evaluate whether they may be prepared to meet a particular child’s needs.
Better Matching Is Better for Children and Families
The goal of adoption matching is not simply to complete more adoptions. It is to create stable, lasting families by connecting each child with parents who understand the child’s history, recognize the child’s strengths, and are prepared to provide the support the child needs.
This research provides encouraging evidence that intentional, professionally supported search and matching can improve the likelihood that children waiting in foster care will achieve permanency. It also validates what families often tell us: having a knowledgeable professional beside them can make the adoption journey feel more manageable, informed, and hopeful.
If you are considering adopting from foster care—or if you are already home-study approved and need assistance with your child search—HOAA is here to help you take the next step.
