This is a list of national adoption organizations including those that support grandparent adoptions and grandparents rights.

The AARP GIC is a program of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The GIC is a primary resource for grandparents in traditional and non-traditional family roles, including grandparents raising grandchildren and step-grandparents. Among the topics addressed are grandparents traveling with grandchildren, the visitation rights of grandparents, parenting grandchildren, and grandparent support groups.

The mission of AACAP, a professional medical organization of child and adolescent psychiatrists, is to promote mentally healthy children, adolescents, and families through research, training, advocacy, prevention, comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, peer support, and collaboration.
 

The American Counseling Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization that provides leadership training, publications, continuing education opportunities, and advocacy services to its members. ACA assisted in setting professional and ethical standards for the counseling profession, working towards strengthening the accreditation, licensure, and national certification of counselors.
 

AFCR is a publisher of resource materials for foster care providers, the children in care and their families, and the placing agency's staff and administration. AFCR's publications cover such topics as ADHD, discipline, sexual abuse, independent living, recruitment, and support groups.
 

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a federation of agencies that enables adult volunteers, through a matching and mentoring program, to serve as friends, mentors, and role models for school-aged children and teens. The BBBSA agencies provide professional casework support and locally-focused programs. Many of the agencies also provide programs for children and families in the areas of substance abuse, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, and children with disabilities.
 

The Boys and Girls Clubs of America seeks to inspire and enable young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. Clubs provide specialized services and programs focusing on social issues such as family support, gang prevention, and personal safety as well as prevention programs aimed at substance abuse and premature sexual activity.
 

The goal of the Center for Family Connections (CFC) is to serve individuals and families touched by adoption, foster care, kinship, and guardianship, as well as other complex blended families, and to serve the people with whom they are connected by offering training, education, consultation, advocacy, and clinical treatment.
 

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's mission is to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by alcohol and drug abuse. CSAT works to ensure access to clinically sound, cost-effective addiction treatment that reduces the health and social costs to communities and the nation.
 

Childhelp USA is dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children by focusing its efforts and resources in the areas of treatment, prevention, and research. Its programs and services include the operation of the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline, residential treatment facilities for severely abused children, child advocacy centers that reduce the trauma of child abuse victims during the interview and examination process, group homes, foster family selection, training and certification, Head Start programs for at-risk children, child abuse prevention programs, and community outreach.
 

The Children of Alcoholics Foundation provides a range of educational materials and services to help professionals, children, and adults break the intergenerational cycle of substance abuse.
 

CUB's mission is to provide support to birthparents who have relinquished a child to adoption, to provide resources to help prevent unnecessary family separations, to educate the public about the life-long effects on all who are touched by adoption, and to advocate for fair and ethical adoption laws, policies, and practices.
 

The Deaf Adoption News Service is a special interest group of the World Federation of the Deaf. It is a text-only, free listing service for waiting foreign and domestic deaf and severely hearing-impaired children.
 

Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Domestic Violence Resource Network strives to strengthen the existing support systems serving battered women, their children, and other victims of domestic violence. Each of the five resource centers partners with community-based domestic violence programs; State coalitions; local, State, and Federal government agencies; Indian Tribal organizations; policymakers; and others involved in assisting victims of domestic violence to identify and respond to emerging information and technical assistance gaps. The centers include the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence; the Battered Women's Justice Project; the Resource Center on Domestic Violence, Child Protection and Custody; the National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence; and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
 

FRIENDS is the National Resource Center for the Community Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) program, under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families.

The purpose of the CBCAP program is to support State efforts to create and support a statewide network of community-based, family-centered, prevention-focused family resource and support programs, in order to strengthen families and reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect.
 

FRUA is an international parent support network for families who have adopted or are in the process of adopting from the former Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and other Easter European countries. FRUA is not an adoption agency nor do they place children.
 

Family Support America (FSA) works to strengthen and empower families and communities so that they can foster the optimal development of children, youth, and family members. FSA accomplishes this by identifying and connecting individuals and organizations that have contact with families; by providing technical assistance, training and education; and by promoting the voice of the family.
 

The Family and Youth Services Bureau is part of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. FYSB is dedicated to supporting young people and strengthening families by providing runaway and homeless youth service grants to local communities. The Bureau has also created a support network that includes a national hotline and referral system for runaway and homeless youth, training, onsite consultations, and the dissemination of information.
 

The General Federation of Women's Clubs is the world's largest and oldest women's volunteer organization. GFWC's members include business owners, teachers, elected officials, homemakers, corporate executives, college students, and retirees. The organization's members are united by dedication to community improvement through volunteer service. GFWC advocates for conservation, quality education, health, civic awareness, safety, and crime prevention. The Federation's Advocates for Children Program is a referral and networking resource for Club members interested in assisting children. The program focuses on advocacy on behalf of children, prevention, and on improving public awareness of the importance of early intervention.
 

The Grandparents Rights Organization is a national volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 1984 by executive director Richard S. Victor. GRO's purpose is to educate and support grandparents and grandchildren and to advocate their desire to continue the grandparent-grandchild relationship, which may be threatened by the death or divorce of the parents.
 

GrandsPlace is a support and information organization (Web site only) comprising grandparents (and foster parents, aunts, uncles, and step-parents) who wish that their grandchildren lived in safer, healthier environments. The GrandsPlace Web site provides a forum in which caregivers can discuss their concerns and offer support.
 

Healthy Families America, a program of Prevent Child Abuse America, promotes child health and development and positive parenting through voluntary home visits by trained staff.
 

The mission of the Independent Adoption Center is to make open adoptions a viable and accessible alternative to untimely pregnancy throughout the United States by providing professional, licensed, educational, and counseling-centered services to birth parents, adopting parents, and adopted persons nationwide.
 

The Inter-National Adoption Alliance is a nonprofit organization designed to provide cultural resources for transracial/transcultural adoptees and their families, to advocate for those adoptees and families, and to increase awareness of children waiting to be adopted worldwide and the programs that serve them.
 

The central mission of the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network is to network groups and individuals related to Korean adoptions. KAAN facilitates dialogue, promotes resource sharing, and disseminates information. KAAN works with its members, the Korean American community, and the Korean government to promote awareness of Korean adoption issues and develop programs that will benefit both the adoption and Korean communities.
 

Korean Focus is a support organization for families with children from Korea. Korean Focus provides families, adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthparents touched by Korean adoption with information and programs on Korean culture and the adoption experience. Korean Focus is nonprofit, parent-directed, and agency-independent.
 

Meld offers educational and support services for parents, trains family service providers to apply best practices in their work with families, and publishes a broad range of resource materials for parents and the people who work with them. Meld offers nine special programs that use the peer-led, self-help model of parents learning form each other. Please see the Major Programs/Initiatives portion of the organization description for links to the nine programs mentioned above.
 

The National Adoption Center expands adoption opportunities for children throughout the United States, particularly children with special needs and from minority cultures.
 

General Scope: The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCDAV) is a tax-exempt membership organization that works to stop violence in the lives of women and children by representing a network of shelters, safe homes, and counseling programs.

The Coalition's efforts include helping to set priorities for Federal funding, producing various publications, sponsoring national conferences, developing and promoting model programs, operating a clearinghouse for information and technical assistance, fostering public policy, promoting public awareness, and providing direct services.
 

The National Council for Single Adoptive Parents (formerly the Committee for Single Adoptive Parents) was founded to inform and assist single people in the United States who want to adopt children. The Council supports the right of adoptable children to have loving families, regardless of differences in race, creed, color, national origin, or disability. The National Council for Single Adoptive Parents is a member of the Joint Council on International Children's Services and the North American Council on Adoptable Children.
 

The National Council of Birthmothers supports the rights and interests of birth mothers in adoption issues, especially those involving the rights of adult adopted persons. The Council asserts that it is the right of all people to have an unaltered official birth record, regardless of adoption status.
 

General Scope: The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) is a nonprofit volunteer organization. The NFPA's purpose is to bring together foster parents, agency representatives, and people in the community to improve the foster care system.

NFPA promotes coordination, cooperation, and communication among foster parents, foster parent associations, child care agencies, and other child advocates in an effort to encourage the recruitment and retention of foster parents.

Training Specific: Training and education resources include:

• NFPA Conference information at http://www.nfpainc.org/training/conference.cfm?page=4
• State Conferences at http://www.nfpainc.org/training/stateConf.cfm?page=4
• NFPA's Speakers Bureau at http://www.nfpainc.org/training/speakersBureau.cfm?page=4
• Online Training for Foster Parents at http://www.nfpainc.org/training/onlineTraining.cfm?page=4
• State Requirements for Foster Parents at http://www.nfpainc.org/aboutFP/stateReqs.cfm?page=4.

The National Resource Center for Youth Development was created to help States, Tribes, and agencies implement the Adoption and Safe Families Act (1997) and the Foster Care Independence Act (1999). Funded by the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center provides training and technical assistance in developing policies that incorporate the legislation. The Center also assists the States and agencies in building capacity to deliver culturally competent, competency-based services; incorporate youth development/involvement approaches into all areas of programs and services; prepare for the statewide assessment portion of the CFSR initiative; develop and implement program improvements based on the CFSR review; and assist in permanency planning for adolescents.
 

The mission of the National Respite Coalition, an initiative of the ARCH National Respite Network, is to secure quality, accessible, planned, and crisis respite services for all families and caregivers who need them to strengthen and stabilize families and enhance child and adult safety. The Coalition works to achieve these goals by preserving and promoting respite in policy and programs at the national, State, and local levels.
 

Founded by adoptive parents, the North American Council on Adoptable Children is committed to meeting the needs of waiting children in the foster care system and the families who adopt them. The Council advocates the right of every child to a permanent, continuous, nurturing, and culturally sensitive family, and presses for the legal adoptive placement of any child denied that right.
 

Parents Anonymous helps parents provide nurturing environments for their families. The organization is dedicated to strengthening families through strategies that promote mutual support and parental leadership. For State and local contacts, visit the Parents Anonymous Web site.

 

Prevent Child Abuse America is committed to promoting legislation, policies, and programs that help prevent child abuse and neglect, support healthy childhood development, and strengthen families. Working with chapters in 37 States and the District of Columbia, Prevent Child Abuse America provides leadership to promote and implement prevention efforts at the national and local levels.
 

Stars of David International is a nonprofit information and support network for Jewish and partly-Jewish adoptive families of all sizes, ages, and origins. Encompassing every branch of Judaism, Stars of David serves, through local chapter activities and international mailings, conventional adoptive families, prospective parents, single parents, grandparents, interfaith couples, transracial and transcultural families, and those with children by birth and adoption.