Professional Parenting, a program of Appalachian Family Innovations, developed the Adoption Plus program in 1992 to facilitate and support healthy and successful adoptions. We are dedicated to the placement of children with special needs, including older children, sibling groups, and medically fragile youth.

Adoption Plus offers a complete package of support services for families, from pre-adoption training, to finding the right child, through comprehensive post-adoption support for at least one year after the adoption, and often for as long as the family requests. We believe in doing “whatever it takes” to provide families and children with the best support services possible in order to ensure happy and successful adoptions.

Adoption Plus does not charge fees to families or to the agencies that refer children. All the children placed for adoption are eligible for Medicaid health insurance, and all adoptive families receive a monthly adoption subsidy. In many cases, Adoption Plus families will also choose to become licensed foster parents in order to adopt children still in foster care.

Adoption Plus also provides post-adoption support services to families who adopted directly through the Department of Social Services and who are now experiencing problems. The goal of this post-adoption support program is to help families find parenting solutions that work or to help them find quality services in their local community.

To refer a child to Adoption Plus, or to request Post Adoption Support Services: County Departments of Social Services are invited to e-mail carrie.lauterbach@familyinnovations.org.

To become an adoptive parent with Adoption Plus: We are actively seeking prospective adoptive parents who are interested in adopting children. In the Winston-Salem area, e-mail us at claretha.rowell@familyinnovations.org. In the Asheville area, email us at carrie.lauterbach@familyinnovations.org.

For more information and photographs of the children waiting, go to the North Carolina website: www.adoptnckids.org.