On any given day, over 11,000 Ohio children are living in foster families or in another out-of-home placement setting. These children, who reside in the custody of local children service agencies, may be dealing with issues of past abuse, neglect, and/or dependency. These children need permanent families through adoption.

Every child has a right to a permanent family - a family where they can be loved, cared for, and kept safe. Unfortunately, in Ohio many waiting children do not have families to call their own. The Ohio Adoption Photolisting is designed to assist individuals and families interested in learning more about the adoption process and to provide information on waiting children in Ohio.

Using this Site

There are two ways to view Ohio's children:

• You may MEET THE CHILDREN by viewing a list of all Ohio waiting children
• You may create a SEARCH to define the profile of children you would like to adopt.

Here are some tips for using this site:

• Write down the name and identifying number of the child(ren) about whom you would like more information.
• Visit the ADOPTION section of our website to learn more about adoption in Ohio.
• Click the CONTACT US link at the top of this page to ask questions by email.
• Visit AdoptUsKids.org to view a national photolisting of waiting children.

When requesting more information on a child, please be aware that you may not be given any identifying information until the agency has received a copy of your Homestudy and has determined your family is a potential match for the child.

Things to Remember

Many of the children available for adoption in Ohio have have been removed from their homes due to neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and/or the inability of their parents to care adequately for them.  This photo listing is a very effective tool for finding families for our waiting children. Unfortunately, it also makes the children vulnerable to negative intrusions into their lives. Please help us to protect them. If you recognize any of these children or see them in your community, please respect their privacy.

Some children listed on OAPL have physical health, mental health, emotional health, or developmental challenges. This information is confidential and does not appear in the children's descriptions. More detailed information about individual children can be shared with adoptive parents by caseworkers during the adoption process.

All of Ohio's waiting children need loving, stable, and secure families!