Adoption and Permanency Services From CONCERN in Fleetwood

For children, a Child Profile is a written summary of the child's developmental, social, psychological, medical and educational history, their birth family, how they are functioning now, including behavioral patterns and relationships, and their readiness for permanency. It is built by reviewing records at the county agency and the foster care agency, interviewing birth relatives and other significant people in the child's life, and meeting with the child and their caregiver or resource parent. A copy goes to the family before the adoption is finalized, and a Profile can be completed for any child regardless of their permanency goal. Child Preparation helps a child work through grief and loss, abandonment, identity, control, loyalty, attachment and shame as they move from foster care toward a permanency option. Child Specific Recruitment builds a plan for one child, and children are asked for their input and help create flyers, videos or PowerPoint presentations that highlight their strengths. It is also used to find permanent connections and a network of support for an older youth facing the prospect of aging out of the system.

If you are thinking about adopting, the first step is to attend an adoption information session, held in your home, in a group setting or virtually. The orientation covers the children who need adoptive families, the adoption process, foster-to-adopt and how to apply for adoption services. For information about adoption meeting times and locations, contact your local CONCERN office.

After that, the steps are:

• An application that gathers information about your family's composition and background and about the child you would like to adopt. Families are asked to consider preferences such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, the child's abilities and needs, and willingness to adopt sibling groups or teens.
• A Family Profile, also known as the home study, written from a series of meetings between you and an adoption professional called a Permanency Specialist. It covers your family's strengths, training, child preferences, home environment, community, financial stability and medical history. Under SWAN guidelines it should take about 4 months, but the timing is driven by the family, because most of the required documentation must be submitted before the interviews can begin and the dates you attend training also affect it. Once it is complete you can review it for accuracy before CONCERN shares it with other adoption agencies.
• 24 hours of family preparation training, required as part of the Family Profile process. It covers how the system works, who the children are, child development, parenting, attachment, grief and loss, trauma, who the foster and adoptive parents are, and resources. Training could take place over the course of several Saturdays or during the week, depending on the office location, and is offered in the regional offices in Bethlehem, Eynon, Fleetwood, Lewisburg and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
• Matching, where family and child information is shared to make sure the child and family are a good fit, followed by a series of pre-placement visits before the child is placed in the home.
• Six months of supervision in the pre-adoptive home before the adoption is finalized. Supervision reports go to the county, which has legal custody of the child. CONCERN can assist the family in securing the services of a qualified attorney, adoption workers submit the required documents to the attorney who prepares and files the petition, and your Permanency Specialist accompanies you to court.

Most children waiting in the system are older than five with moderate issues. Younger children do become available, but the waiting time can be lengthy or a child may need to be placed at legal risk. The adoption process generally takes about one year, and in many cases families are matched and placements made within a year of completing the Family Profile.

Ongoing support and information are also available, as needed, after the adoption has occurred. Post-Permanency services are available to all families in Pennsylvania who have adopted or who provide permanent legal custodianship. Families can contact the SWAN Helpline at 1-800-585-7926 to request Post-Permanency services in their area.

Two forms of financial assistance are available to adoptive parents. An adoption subsidy is a legal contract negotiated between the county children and youth agency that has custody of the child and the family who wishes to adopt; if the child is eligible, it has three parts: a cash per diem usually paid monthly, a medical assistance card, and reimbursement for one-time, non-recurring adoption fees. A tax credit is also available to some adoptive parents of special needs children; a family's modified adjusted gross income must be of a certain level, the amount depends on your income, and the amount varies each tax year. Families should see their tax advisers for more information, and other information is available from adoption.assistance@nacac.org or at nacac.org.

To begin in Pennsylvania you can use the "Interested in Adoption? Click Here for Pennsylvania" link on concern4kids.org/adoption, and there is a separate link for Maryland. The corporate office is at One West Main Street, Fleetwood, PA 19522. Its general inquiry number is (484) 578-9600, answered Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm, and the email is concern@concern4kids.org.

The page does not say what any of these services cost or give hours for the adoption and permanency program itself, so ask when you make contact.

Source: concern4kids.org/adoption, read September 18, 2026.

The details

In CONCERN Professional Services for Children’s words

Adoption programs are designed to improve permanency outcomes for children and youth in foster care. CONCERN is committed to helping children find a permanent family they can call their own. As an affiliate of the PA Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN), the department provides the following services

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