At any given moment there are hundreds of children and youth in Minnesota who need adoptive homes.
The Program for Minnesota’s Waiting Children serves children under state guardianship or tribal jurisdiction with a goal of adoption. Most children and youth are elementary-school-aged or teens. They may be members of sibling groups.
Minnesota’s Waiting Children often have significant special needs due to abuse or neglect during their critical developmental years. These conditions often result in emotional and behavioral issues, developmental delays or medical conditions.
For 30 years, Children’s Home Society & Family Services has used our strong community connections and adoption expertise to find and support Minnesota families dedicated to adopting Minnesota's Waiting Children. Our mission: To intensively recruit parents for specific children and youth where the county has been unable to identify a resource.
Who are Minnesota's Waiting Children?
The children who wait are:
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Primarily school-age children, 6-18 years of age
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Often part of sibling groups who need to be placed together
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Representative of all ethnic backgrounds; however, there are more African American and Native American children, compared to the general population
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Affected by emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse or neglect
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Legally available for adoption
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Commonly dealing with emotional, behavioral and educational issues due to past abuse or neglect
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Greatly in need of adoptive families ready to commit, unconditionally
Take the next step
Attend an Adoption Information Meeting | view schedule
Read profiles and see photos of Minnesota youth currently waiting for adoptive families. | view profiles
Learn more about the adoption process | view process
The process for adopting Minnesota's Waiting Children is equally as thorough as any adoption. However, depending on where your family is in the adoption journey, steps may vary, in an attempt to expedite the process in each child’s best interest. A more detailed discussion of the process for adopting a waiting child may be found here.
Adoption services are available free of charge for eligible families.
CHSFS works with counties to help place Minnesota’s Waiting Children. We primarily serve adoptive families in the following Minnesota counties:
Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Carlton, Carver, Cass (Southern Only), Chippewa, Chisago, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Isanti, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Le Sueur, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Nicollet, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Pine, Pope, Ramsey, Renville, Rice, Sibley, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Wabasha, Wadena, Waseca, Washington, Winona, Wright
