Adoption Services

A New Beginning Adoption Agency is a full service organization providing all of the necessary professional services to complete an adoption including an Adoption Attorney.   We work with Shelly Cozakos for the majority of our Birth Mothers and adoptive families legal representation.   Shelly is compassionate and with her experience, understands the delicate manner of the adoption process.  Legal work includes birth mother and birth father’s rights, adoptive families rights and finalizations.

NOTE:  Adoptive families nor birth families are required to work with our regular attorney.  It is very common for us to work with your selected representation.

A home study is a report completed by a social worker which outlines an adoptive family’s health, medical history, criminal history family history and dynamics and criminal backgrounds.  The items covered within the home study is dictated by your state and/or your international country.  Everyone living in the home at time of home study will be part of the process.   The process includes paperwork, collection of documents and home visits.  Many family’s become nervous during this process, but don’t.  The home study is the perfect time to collect additional parenting tools and/or address any of the details requests from the international country.

A New Beginning Adoption Agency has a strong and professional relationship with many international agencies as well as Departments of Health & Welfare across the nation due to the quality and vigor which goes in to each of our home study’s.

IF you select an independent contractor and/or certified adoption professional, make sure your placing agency/international country accepts their home studies.

A New Beginning takes pride in the essential training it requires for each of it’s adoptive families.  By preparing families with techniques and the best understanding of potential issues they may need to address, the training drastically increases the outcome of a smooth and successful adoption placement.  These training courses have also shown to drastically reduce the chances of disruptions in adoption.   While many adoption agencies do not require this step, A New Beginning does as it’s the right thing to do for the children and families.  Many of Idaho’s other organizations request their families attend our trainings.

Adoptive Family trainings address the following topics and more:  Blending families, trauma, parenting styles, abuse, drugs and alcohol in utero, prenatal care, open, semi-openness and closed relationships with the birth parents and more.

Family’s adoption internationally should contact their international adoption placing agency to identify their training requirements.  While A New Beginning will not require international families to attend our training, it is open to those who wish too attend.  The Foster-Adopt training covers many issues that are directly related to international adoptions.

Adoption is a big decision.  A New Beginning offers at least one Adoption Information Seminar per month and it’s free of charge to adoptive families and other professionals.  The seminars are designed to introduce attendees to the agency and the different types of adoption programs available such as Domestic Infant and Domestic Foster-Adoption programs as well as international adoption.  Please visit our seminars page for the date of the next meeting.

Legal adoptions require post-placement visits by a licensed social worker after the child has been placed in the adoptive home.  The number of visits and/or contacts is determined by the type of the adoption completed.  The prepared documents will be submitted to requesting agencies and/or courts prior to finalization of the adoption.

Adoption is a wonderful way to build a family, however, often counseling is necessary to help blend families or heal the grief and loss a birth mother feels.  We encourage you to consider partnering with a professional to heal and adjust.  A New Beginning’s Wellness Center has counselors who specialize in areas related to families, adoption and grief & loss.  These services are available to birth mothers from our agency as well as outside of the agency, foster families, adoptive families and adoptees.

Meet our counselors Wendy Perez and Becky Marquez.

Each adoption requires a Finalization, which requires a court hearing.  Our adoption specialists and attorney can provide the services and completion of paperwork required to represent you and finalize your adoption.

Adoptions can be open, semi-open and/or closed.  This is an agreement made between the Birth Family and Adoptive family prior to the birth and/or placement of the baby.   One of A New Beginning’s adoption specialists can mediate the process for as long as possible to ensure obligations within the relationship agreement are met.     While each situation is different, our experience allows us to help each family through this process.   No two adoptions relationship agreements look the same.  Each is tailored for the unique adoption journey.

A New Beginning offers different support groups for birth families, adoptees and expectant parents.  Traditionally reserved for A New Beginning families, the support groups have proven to be very helpful in the adoption journey.  Adoptive Parents are invited to join the Expectant Parents Group which meets four times per year and covers topics such as the Match Interview with Birth families, Creating a powerful adoptive parent profile book, preparing for placement and understanding open, semi-open and closed adoptions.  If you are interested in joining the expectant parent group, please contact emma@adoptanewbeginning.org.

NEXT Meeting:  June 8 from 6:30-8:30 pm.   RSVP to emma@adoptanewbeginning.org

If you are a birth parent and interested in joining the monthly Connections, it’s a girl thing group, please contact emma@adoptanewbeginning.org.

If you are interested in joining the pre-teen/teen adoptee support group titled Youth Advisory Board, which meets monthly, please contact Stephanie@adoptanewbeginning.org.