Adoption Services

Olmsted County Health, Housing, & Human Services provides adoption services to children in the Minnesota Waiting Children’s Program and the families who seek to adopt them.

  • Children who are available for adoption come from throughout the State of Minnesota and many of them have been removed from their biological families due to abuse or neglect.
  • Almost all of the adoptions are with families who have been a concurrent family for the child.  This means that the family provided foster care for the child and actively supported reunification while committing to the possibility of adoption if the child cannot be reunified.
  • There are typically between 500 and 600 “waiting children” across the state of Minnesota waiting to be adopted. Olmsted County usually has about 25 children at any given time, most of those children have an identified family either through a relative or concurrent planning family.
  • Most waiting children are over the age of eight, many have mental, physical, or emotional needs.  Some of the children are brothers and sisters who want to stay together.  Children are from diverse backgrounds.
  • Families would need to be licensed for foster care and go through the licensing process.
  • There is not a fee for adoption services for special needs children who have been in foster care and there are funds available after adoption to help support families for most children.

How do I get started?

Before you are eligible to adopt, you will need to go through the same licensing process as one does to become a foster. Please refer to the foster care link on our website for details on how to get licensed. This would be the first step in the process.

If you have questions about the process, we can be reached at 507-328-6390 or fostercare@olmstedcounty.gov.

For those families that want to adopt but do not want to do foster care we encourage you to consider one of the private agencies that works with helping families become connected with children who are already legally free for adoption. If you want to adopt and do not want to use the foster care path, use a private adoption agency.

Adoption and Concurrent Permanency Planning: Working together to help families.

Rochester Area Adoption & Foster Care Support Group

Olmsted County sponsors a parent-led adoption and foster care support group. The group is open to the public and is tailored to meet the support and educational needs of foster parents, those families considering adoption, or those families who have adopted privately, publicly, domestically, or internationally.

The mission is to offer families a safe and welcoming forum to receive support that will enable them to:

  • network with other families
  • learn about new resources and
  • share any questions or concerns with group members
  • form new partnerships with other families

The group meets on the fourth Thursday of every month at Olmsted County Health, Housing, & Human Services, 2117 Campus Drive SE, Rochester, MN from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. except in November and December when meetings occur on the third Thursday.

A virtual option is available by Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81674734539

​If you would like information about the group, please call Debra Dalin (Olmsted County Health, Housing and Human Services Permanency Social Worker) at 507-328-6432 or debra.dalin@olmstedcounty.gov or Melissa Fredin (Parent Facilitator) at 507-722-0213.

For more information on other support groups offered by Families Rising, please go to their website at nacac.org.

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