POST ADOPTION SERVICES
Post adoption services are the support and assistance our agency provides for anyone after an adoptive placement.  This support may include answering questions about raising an adopted child, educating families and children on the uniqueness of adoption, providing support groups for birth parents, starting the search process or simply offering a listening ear. 

The Nebraska Children's Home believes that adoption is a life-long process rather than a one-time event. Our agency is committed to providing assistance and support to all who were placed for adoption through the Nebraska Children's Home, as well as birth parents, adoptive parents, relatives and friends.

Adoption is forever, and we are here to help all parties involved.  We do more than search.  Our post adoption services also include support, education, and providing resources.

After Your Placement…Challenges of Adoption
Adoption is unique and we are here to help you through the challenges that go along with that uniqueness.  Questions about adoption are normal and common among all individuals involved with the adoption process.

For Adoptive Parents: parenting is a wonderful and rewarding experience, but there may be unique challenges that you encounter with raising an adopted child.  Our goal at Nebraska Children’s Home is to help you be proactive with the challenges of adoption as your child begins to understand the on-going process.  Children may have questions, but are afraid to ask.  Children frequently need your permission to ask questions.  We have a variety of resources that can help answer your questions as well as theirs, and provide you support.  As you problem solve, consider us as one of your resources.  We welcome your call knowing that adoption has its own unique challenges and we’re always here to help.

For Birth Parents: our goal is to provide the on-going support you may need after the placement has occurred.  We have a variety of resources to help you after the adoption placement and provide you support.  Please learn more about our birth parent support groups and other resources on our Unplanned Pregnancy page.  

For Adoptees: it is okay to have questions about your adoption and your birth parents.  This is a normal part of the adoption process which is addressed at different ages in your life.  Sometimes if questions are not answered in childhood, they are answered in adulthood.  We welcome your call and will do our best to answer your questions and provide the necessary support to meet your needs to the best of our ability.  

Ages and Stages
At every age, an adopted child may have different questions about adoption.  Since adoption is an on-going experience, we have highlighted a few questions children may ask at different ages.  Sometimes children do not talk about adoption, but this does not mean they are not thinking about it.  The following questions are common for many adopted children.

Preschoolers: Common Questions:

• Where did I come from?
• Where do other babies come from?
• Do babies come from ‘baby stores’?

Middle Childhood: Common Questions:

• If I arrived by adoption, how did my sister (cousin, neighbor) arrive in his/her family?
• Why/how did you choose me?
• Why do the children in our family look so different from each other?

Pre-Adolescence: Common Questions:

• If I’m adopted, can I be unadopted?
• If I’m in an adoptive family, can a birth parent or some other family member take me away?
• Why didn’t they want to keep me?  Didn’t they like me?

Adolescence: Common Questions:

• Is there something wrong with my birth parents for making this plan?
• If my birth parents had other kids, why did they choose an adoption plan for me?
• Am I dating a relative I don’t know about?

Many of these questions may be difficult to answer, yet it is important to be prepared when your child has questions regarding his or her adoption.  Nebraska Children’s Home Society can provide you resources to help you answer these questions and help you understand the different issues adopted children go through at different stages in their lives.  Please let our caseworkers help you with your post adoption needs. 

Resources
The Nebraska Children’s Home Society can provide to you several resources to help with your post adoption needs.  These resources include but are not limited to:

• Support Groups
• Reference Materials
• Hand-outs
• Referrals to local therapists
• Answering questions

Been There, Done That…Can Your Experiences Help Someone?
Would you be willing to share your experiences and provide support for someone who is currently involved with similar post adoption experiences as you were?  This one-on-one support program can be set up for those interested in: email communication, telephone or face-to-face communication.  Your communication style is whatever works best for you and your support contact.  Your experience can be extremely valuable to others in similar situations.  Please contact your local NCHS office if you would be willing to be contacted.

Thinking About Searching?
If you are thinking about searching, Nebraska Children's Home Society can help.  We welcome all inquiries you have and treat each one in a confidential manner. 

The Nebraska Children's Home believes that adoption is a life-long process rather than a one-time event. Our agency is committed to providing assistance and support to all who were placed for adoption through the Nebraska Children's Home as well as birth parents and adoptive parents.  Click here to learn more about searching.

Contacting Us
To contact your local caseworker, please visit our Statewide locations page to find the office nearest you.  If you are unable to contact your local office, then call Nebraska Children’s Home Society at our Omaha office:  (402) 451-0787.  Our post adoption/search services staff can help provide the resources and assistance you may need.  If you would like to specifically contact one of our post adoption caseworkers, you can reach Becky Crofoot at bcrofoot@nchs.org or Kathy Hoyt at khoyt@nchs.org.

We can be contacted through email, mail or telephone.  We welcome all inquiries from anyone affected by post adoption: birth parents, adoptive parents, relatives and those adopted through our agency.