Photo Listing FAQs
We receive a lot of questions about the photo listings, especially when a child no longer has a public profile available. The recruitment process for a waiting child in Indiana is a fluid one, with children constantly moving through different stages of the process. If you have reached this page on our website, it is likely that you are wondering about where a child or youth is in the recruitment process.
I saw a child on this website, but now cannot find their profile. Why?
If you saw a child’s profile on this site in the past, and now it is not visible, then the child has been removed from active recruitment. Most often, children are removed because families are being interviewed, or because a pre-adoptive home has already been identified. In some cases, children are removed from recruitment because their plan is changed by the courts, or because they have explicitly asked to be removed. In most cases, though, it is because a potential pre-adoptive family has been identified.
A child who had been removed from this photo listing is now visible again. Why?
Adoption recruitment is a process, and sometimes children and youth move out of active recruitment. Sometimes, though, they move out of active recruitment, and then back in. The reasons for this can vary. For example: DCS may have been in the interview process with potential families, and then determined that none of the identified families were a good match for the child. Or, the child could have been placed in a pre-adoptive family, and then had the placement disrupted. The child’s plan could have been changed by the courts previously, and then changed back to allow for adoption recruitment.
If there is a photo listing on the Indiana Adoption Program website for a child or sibling group, that means they are legally free and can be inquired about. If their photo listing is removed, then there has been a change in their adoption recruitment status. If their photo listing is placed back on the website, then there has been another change in their adoption recruitment status. This is not unusual, as the matching process for adopting is complex and involves many factors.