2026–2027 Services delivered: AdoptOntario

Component: provincial initiatives

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)

Service objectives

To increase the number of children in extended society care adopted through the matching of children and youth available for adoption with Ontarians seeking to build their families through adoption, and encouraging collaboration and sharing of resources between adoption professionals (i.e., public and private).

Service description

AdoptOntario is a bilingual website consisting of two parts

• a public information site, which includes a Waiting Children Photo listing; and
• a professional site, which includes the Adoption Resource Databank (“the databank”)

The public-facing site provides general information and education for families interested in adoption and allows registered users to securely view photo listings of children who are available for adoption. Information about Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE) training opportunities is also provided on the website.

The professional site allows both society adoption workers and private adoption practitioners the opportunity to search a databank of families and to use a sophisticated matching tool designed to match family strengths and competencies to the needs of children waiting for adoption. The site also includes a news bulletin and resources for professionals, as well as a message board for the exchange of information between public and private adoption professionals.

AdoptOntario expands the range of adoption options for families and increases the possibility of finding a match for prospective adoptive parents seeking to build their families through adoption as the website allows for ongoing searches and easier matching of children with prospective adoptive parents who are registered on the AdoptOntario Resources Databank across regional and children’s aid society (society) boundaries.

AdoptOntario staff (i.e., Clinical Coordinators) work with adoption practitioners to find the best possible match for families and identify options for getting the word out about the type of child that is being sought by a family for adoption if a match has not been found by the society within a reasonable amount of time.

Program/service features

The services are directed at children in extended society care under the CYFSA available for adoption and prospective adoptive parents seeking to build their families through adoption.

The program will

• promote more timely adoption placements for Ontario's children where adoption is in their best interest
• support adoptive placements of children with special needs
• provide an efficient, effective system for matching prospective adoptive families with children available for adoption in the province
• provide a place for all society adoption workers and private adoption practitioners to exchange information and resources to assist them in their work
• provide a forum to increase public awareness and understanding about all aspects of adoption to society adoption workers/private adoption practitioners and members of the public; and
• encourage co-operation and collaboration between societies and private adoption practitioners in finding adoption placements for children

The program/services contracted by the ministry will reflect the following features.

Program goals

• increase the number of children in extended society care available for adoption matching with prospective adoptive families
• improve awareness and knowledge about adoption related matters (e.g., understanding special needs) by families, society adoption workers and private adoption practitioners

Services will be

• reflective and responsive to child/youth, family and community strengths and needs
• accountable to the child/youth, family and community
• sensitive to the social, linguistic and cultural diversity of families and Indigenous communities
• staffed by individuals with the appropriate range of skills and abilities necessary to effectively develop and deliver training to meet the needs of children, youth and families

Ministry expectations

The transfer payment recipient must

• operate and maintain the AdoptOntario website as a vehicle for matching children and prospective adoptive parents
• match children in extended society care available for adoption with prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt
• support adoptive placements of children with special needs, including providing educational information to support families in understanding the parenting of children with specific special needs
• provide support to society adoption workers and private adoption practitioners to match children in extended society care to prospective adoptive parents, including working with society adoption workers to identify child specific recruitment options equitably across the regions. This includes
  • Child and youth profile events: 5-7 child and youth profile online events (e.g., sibling groups, children with specific needs, including racial and cultural match).
  • Family profile events: At least two family profile events through a webinar presented to adoption workers across the province to profile one to two Adopt Ready families who are specifically open to the needs of the children and youth available for adoption.
• assist society adoption workers to use the databank including through training
• provide service to francophones and translation of information on the public website to French
• use the AdoptOntario website, including the Online Platform, to provide support to regional and provincial Adoption Resource Exchange (ARE) events/conferences by managing online registration of adopt-ready families and other processes (e.g., preparation and presentation of child profiles and videos) to improve the experience of families and increase the number of children in extended society care adopted through ARE events/conferences
• conduct education programs for adoption workers/practitioners (e.g., online webinars for professional users) and prospective adoptive parents (e.g., webinars, e-newsletters and individual support from clinical coordinators) on the usage of AdoptOntario; and
• respond to e-mails and phone calls from families interested in adopting a child in Ontario and redirecting these families to societies as deemed appropriate to the circumstance

Reporting requirements

The transfer payment recipient is expected to monitor and evaluate program performance and to confirm that program objectives and deliverables are being met.

At each reporting period, provide a report on activities and outcomes for the AdoptOntario program, including a narrative report with contextual information about implementation of the program and an explanation and rationale for variance in reporting areas.

The following service data will be reported on at an Interim and Final stage. Please refer to your final agreement for report back due dates and targets.