Programs and services

Become an adoptive or kinship family

Information about the adoption process is described in Completing an Adoption in Minnesota DHS-3206 (PDF). It reviews the responsibilities of birth parents, adoptive parents and agencies in completing an adoption. Answers to Your Questions about Adoption DHS-0698 (PDF) is intended for adoptive parents, birth parents and adopted children.

Foster Adopt Minnesota (FAM) provides information, resources, education, public awareness and support to find stable and permanent homes for children.

Support and training for families

Financial support for foster parents who want to adopt foster children

If you want to form a permanent relationship with your foster child, Paths to Permanency (PDF) outlines different reimbursement options for foster families choosing between adoption or kinship.

Financial support for children is available to eligible families through a program called Northstar Care for Children. Various supports are available depending on a family's situation. Northstar Adoption Assistance or Northstar Kinship Assistance were enacted in 2015 to address the evolving needs of Minnesota families. A former program addressed adoptive families financial supports prior to 2015.
Training and counseling

Find adoption records

Adoption records are confidential, but searches for birth family members can be initiated by an adopted individual 19 or older, genetic siblings 19 years or older of an adoptee, adoptive parents and birth parents. Begin a search for birth records DHS-6802 (PDF).

Placing a child for adoption

Parents who are not able to care and provide for their child can consider placing their baby for adoption. Many organizations in Minnesota can help with this.

Safe Place for Newborns

New mothers, or someone with their permission, can leave their newborn at certain locations under the state's Safe Place for Newborns law, if their newborn is one week old or younger and unharmed.