Children for adoption

Jill Boyer, MSW Adoption and Foster Care Expert, explains the process of how birth mothers and adoptive families are matched and selected by the birthmother to become the adoptive parents
How Adoptive Families are Matched with Birth Mothers
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Children for adoption

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After birth mothers and adoptive families have met each other on paper and made a mutual selection that they are going to work with each other, the social worker becomes involved in helping to introduce the two of them together and to work out what is called a contact agreement. And a contact agreement will be a gentleman´s agreement about what kind of contact is acceptable or requested after the child has been placed with the family. Most of the time birth mothers want pictures and letters about the child after the child has been placed for a period of time. And so the agency facilitates that agreement. It is negotiable. It is all negotiable. And we want people to feel comfortable and for each side to feel that their needs are being met. But it seems to be a very healthy and positive experience for both sides because adoptive families are made to understand the need of the birth mother to know that the decision that she made was a good one and that the family she selected was the right choice. So after the matching process, the family and the birth parents are going to meet maybe more than one time before the birth of the child. They may meet after the child is born as well. It is not unusual for the adoptive family to be at the hospital when the child is born and for the birth parent and the adoptive parents to be in the same room with the baby at the same time. And we see this as a very healthy thing. It allows the adoptive family to get a sense of what the birth mother is going through and to start bonding with the baby immediately. But again, the social worker is going to be involved in the process of making sure that the communication on both sides is positive, that it is constructive, and that questions on both sides are getting answered. So when the baby is placed, everybody is aware of what the issues are, what the contact agreement is going to be and usually there is a good bye meeting between the adoptive family and the birth parent before she goes on with her life.

Jill Boyer, MSW Adoption and Foster Care Expert, explains the process of how birth mothers and adoptive families are matched and selected by the birthmother to become the adoptive parents

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Jill Boyer, MSW

Adoption & Foster Care Expert

Jill W. Boyer, MSW was born in Detroit, Michigan. She earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Michigan State University in E. Lansing and a Master of Social Work Degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Ms. Boyer has dedicated her 25-year professional life primarily to supportive services for children and youth.

Prior to coming to Vista Del Mar Child And Family Services in 2005, Ms. Boyer has directed two post-adoption projects at The Institute for Black Parenting in Los Angeles, served as the Director of the Emergency Shelter Care Facility at Children’s Institute International in Torrance, was Acting Director of the Upward Bound Program at Harbor College, and provided and coordinated therapeutic services to families in the CALworks program.

She feels a special connection to adoption and foster care. She brings her experience to the Foster, Foster-Adopt, Domestic Adoption and Intercountry Adoption Programs at Vista, as the Community Services Program Director.

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