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Adopting in British Columbia

Steps for Agency Adoptions in Nova Scotia

STEP 1: Nova Scotians who are interested in adopting must first call the Nova Scotia Adoption Information Line at 1-866-259-7780.

STEP 2: Attend an evening information session where you'll fill out some application forms and forms for criminial and child abuse checks. Nova Scotia is divided into four regions so you will attend the informaiton session in your area.

STEP 3: Get trained! Attend the mandatory 27 hour training program called PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education). More info

STEP 4: The Home study! A social worker will be assigned from your Agency or District Office of the Department of Community Services for your family and will conduct your home study. The home study or assessment consists of approximately 4 to 6 interviews with the worker and members of your family. More info

STEP 5: Wait! Once the home study is complete and approved, your family will be placed on the active waiting list to adopt. As children become available for adoption, workers search through their current and active family profiles and will try to find the best match for the child.

STEP 6: The match! When your family is matched with a child, your social worker will contact you and give you information about the child. The information provided will include the child's medical history, social background and any other information you will need to make your decision. If you choose to accept the match, a series of pre-placement visits is conducted in order to achieve a comfort level for the child and family prior to the final move into the adoption home.

STEP 7: Welcome your new son or daughter home! Once the pre-placement visits have been completed, your child will be placed in your home. Depending on the child and his/her best interests, there may be a need for post-placement contact with your child's siblings, other birth family members or with the foster parents.

STEP 8: Following placement an adoption worker will visit with your family to provide support and counsel regarding djustment issues. This period of supervision will continue for a minimum of 6 months as required by legislation or for whatever period of time is required for the family to be prepared for legal finalization of the adoption. This is frequently a period ranging from 12 to 24 months.

STEP 9: Adoption finalization! The adoption is finalized in the court serving the area where the adoptive family lives. All legal work is provided with the assistance of the agency and no fee is involved.

Financial Assistance for Children with Special Needs

Adoptive families may be eligible to receive an adoption subsidy from the Minister for children that have special needs.

The eligibility criteria for pre legal and post legal subsidized adoption is as follows:
  • the child must be under 19 years of age
  • child must be residing with the adoptive parents
  • the child either is or was previously in the care of a child welfare agency in Nova Scotia
  • approval of the Executive Director/District Manager
  • child has a special service need or a special placement need.

A child has a special service need because of one or more of the following:

  • A diagnosed physical or mental disability;
  • A diagnosed emotional disturbance or behavioural problem;
  • A diagnosed developmental delay or learning disability;
  • A diagnosed medical condition;

    OR

The child has a special placement need because of one or more of the following:

  • The child is a member of a sibling group who should be placed together, either jointly or successively.
  • The child has established significant emotional ties for a period of at least one year with a person or persons who propose to adopt the child.
  • It is in the child’s best interests to be placed in a family with the same ethnic, racial, linguistic, or cultural heritage or, where this is not possible, with a family who is sensitive to the child’s heritage.

    OR

It is determined by the Executive Director or District Manager that post-legal adoption designation should be granted due to special service needs as identified in Subsection 3, which have arisen and which can be clearly linked to pre-adoption history or circumstances.

For more information on Nova Scotia's adoption subsidy:

Janet Nearing
Dept. of Community Services
Family & Children’s Services Division Box 696
Halifax, NS B3J 2T7
Phone: 902-424-3205
Fax: 902-424-0708
E-mail: [email protected]