Services delivered: Adoption Resource Exchange

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Component: provincial initiatives

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

Service objectives

To deliver an Adoption Resource Exchange (ARE) program that best meets the needs of the children and youth available for public adoption and supports the development of lifelong connections and supports for children and youth through stable, permanent homes.

Service description

The transfer payment recipient will deliver an ARE program that best meets the needs of children and youth in the extended care of societies that are available for adoption and their adoptive families. All ARE events (i.e., Provincial ARE Conferences and Regional ARE Events) will be delivered in a manner that streamlines processes, achieves efficiencies, and offers more consistent and responsive adoption experiences for children, youth and families.

Provincial ARE

The provincial ARE conference has been in existence for over 60 years and is a forum for matching children and youth in the extended care of children’s aid societies (societies) with prospective adoptive parents considering adoption as a means to expand their family. The provincial ARE conference is a tool to help societies expand the search for prospective adoptive parents for a child or youth who is available for public adoption, beyond their local area. Under Ontario’s public adoption system, prospective adoptive parents considering public adoption adopt through their local society; therefore, the provincial ARE conference is a way for families to access and learn about the children available for public adoption from other societies across the province.

Prospective adoptive parents at any stage in their adoption journey are invited to attend. The provincial ARE includes an education component, panel presentation and presentations from society workers on children/youth they are seeking adoptive families for. A secure, Online Platform is utilized for prospective adoptive parents to view the pictures, videos (if available) and profiles of the children/youth presented, with the ability for families to submit an expression of interest form.

Regional ARE

Regional ARE events support local families to have the opportunity to be considered for children/youth from the regional zone in which they live (North, Grand River Zone, Central, East and Southwest). The regional ARE events are smaller in scale and tailored to societies who may not have the resources to attend the provincial ARE. They include an educational/panel presentation component, presentations of children and youth from adoption workers, and the opportunity for families to ask questions. In addition, the Online Platform is available for prospective adoptive parents to view the pictures, videos (if available) and profiles of the children/youth presented, with the ability for families to submit an expression of interest form.

Program/service features

The services are directed at children and youth in extended society care under the CYFSA for whom adoption is an appropriate permanency plan and prospective adoptive families seeking to build their families through adoption. The program/services contracted by the ministry will reflect the following features.

Program goals

promote the development of lifelong connections and supports for children and youth in the extended care of societies, through stable, permanent homes
broaden matching opportunities to increase the chance of adoption for eligible children and youth
offer a more consistent and responsive adoption experience for children, youth and prospective adoptive parents
provide an efficient, effective system for matching prospective adoptive families with children and youth available for adoption in the province

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 will do the following

facilitate the matching of children and youth in extended society care available for public adoption with prospective individuals/families seeking to expand their family through adoption in order to support the development of lifelong connections and supports for children and youth through stable, permanent homes
make enhancements to the ARE program in order to offer a consistent and responsive adoption experience for children, youth and prospective adoptive parents, by exploring the feasibility of accessing the Recipient’s youth and adult adoptee groups to inform the design of the ARE program
host and deliver at least one provincial ARE conference (in-person or hybrid) and at least two regional ARE events (virtual or in-person),;
design and create more focused and tailored Regional ARE events that may target specific families that meet the matching criteria for children and youth based on region, topic or specific needs
track the families and children profiled at ARE events to measure the number of matches resulting from AREs, to make informed improvements year-to-year to serve the cohort of children profiled
utilize an evaluation form/survey for all ARE attendees and for adoption workers and professionals that includes, but not limited to, sections for ease of use, event day execution, online platform and presentations/speakers
as part of ARE events, support capacity building and training for families, society adoption workers and private adoption practitioners across the province
build relationships with society workers across the province to design ARE events that effectively meet societies’ needs
use the AdoptOntario ARE Online Platform for all children and youth presented at ARE events. The Online Platform should provide greater opportunity for families to expand on their interest in a child and research and consult about a child’s specific needs prior to submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) form to a worker, as workers have reported that the additional information included in the EOI submitted online is helpful to The Online Platform should act as a vehicle for matching children and adoptive families and for information sharing for families and adoption workers/practitioners from the private and public sectors. The Recipient should also use the Online Platform to improve the experience of families attending ARE events
lead and chair the ARE Committee with representatives from Private Practitioners, Adoption Workers, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiters, Adopt4Life and individuals with lived/living adoption experience with the following goals
Increase society involvement and registration of children by working with societies to identify and address potential concerns and challenges that may have prevented the involvement of soieties in participating in AREs and/or registering children
Increase registration of private families seeking to adopt children in society care, where appropriate, by working with private practitioners
Design marketing and communication approaches with OACAS and DTFA
Determine the best schedule for regional AREs and online events that complement the timing of provincial ARE

Reporting requirements

The transfer payment recipient will monitor and evaluate the program to ensure that program goals and service objectives are being met.

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.

Service Data Name	Definition
# of adopt ready families	The total number of adopt ready families registered for the ARE during the reporting period.
# of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of provincial ARE event (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of a provincial ARE event from the current fiscal year.
# of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of provincial ARE event (last fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of a provincial ARE event from last fiscal year.
# of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of Regional ARE event (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of a regional event from the current fiscal year.
# of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of regional ARE event (last fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth awaiting placement as a result of regional ARE event from last fiscal year.
# of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of a provincial ARE event (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of a provincial ARE event from current fiscal year.
# of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of a provincial ARE event (last fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of a provincial ARE event from last fiscal year.
# of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of regional ARE events (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of regional ARE event from current fiscal year.
# of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of regional ARE events (last fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth placed for adoption as a result of regional ARE event from last fiscal year.
# of children and youth registered/presented at provincial ARE (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth registered/presented at the provincial ARE.
# of children and youth registered/presented at regional ARE events (current fiscal year)	The total number of children and youth registered/presented at regional ARE events.
# of EOI’s received from families as a result of Provincial ARE events	The number of Expressions of Interest received from families for Provincial ARE events during the reporting period.
# of EOI’s received from families as a result of Regional ARE events	The number of Expressions of Interest received from families for Regional ARE events during the reporting period.
# of families attending their first ARE event	The total number of families attending the ARE for the first time during the reporting period.
# of prospective adoptive parents	The total number of prospective adoptive parents registered for the ARE during the reporting period.
# of societies involved in the ARE events	The total number of unique societies that participated in ARE events during the reporting period.
Ages of children profiled: 0-2	The ages of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: 0- 2.
Ages of children profiled: 11-14	The ages of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: 11-14.
Ages of children profiled: 15+	The ages of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: 15+.
Ages of children profiled: 3-5	The ages of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: 3- 5.
Ages of children profiled: 6-10	The ages of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: 6- 10.
Average age of child sought	The average age of child sought during the reporting period.
# of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area: Central	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: Central.
# of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area: North	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: North.
# of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area: North East	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: North East.
# of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area: Grand River	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: Grand River.
# of societies participating at AREevents by geographical area: East	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: East.
# of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area: Southwest	Total number of societies participating at ARE events by geographical area during the reporting period: Southwest.
The number of children with specific needs profiled in the following categories: Requirement for openness with birth family	The number of children with specific needs (requirement for openness with birth family) profiled at ARE events during the reporting period.
The number of children with specific needs profiled in the following categories: Medical diagnosis and/ or developmental delays	The number of children with specific needs (medical diagnosis and/or developmental delays) of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period.
The number of children with specific needs profiled in the following categories: Physical diagnosis	The number of children with specific needs (physical diagnosis) profiled at ARE events during the reporting period.
The number of children profiled in the following categories: Older child: 11-14	The breakdown of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: Older child: 11 -14.
The number of children profiled in the following categories: Older child: 15+	The breakdown of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: Older child: 15+.
The number of children profiled in the following categories: Older child: 3-5	The breakdown of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: Older child 3-5.
The number of children profiled in the following categories: Older child: 6-10	The breakdown of the children and youth profiled at ARE events during the reporting period: Older child 6-10.
The number of children with specific needs profiled in the following categories: Part of a sibling group	The number of children with specific needs (part of a sibling group) profiled at ARE events during the reporting period.
The number of children with specific needs profiled in the following categories: Racial or cultural minority	The number of children with specific needs (part of racial or cultural minority) profiled at ARE events during the reporting period.
Adoption Resource Exchange: Ministry-funded agency expenditures	Total ministry-funded expenses for the transfer payment recipient to administer and/or deliver this service in the reporting year (cumulative).

Updated: May 23, 2023

Published: May 23, 2023