Florida’s adoption database is actually two separate systems run by the Department of Children and Families. If you want to adopt a child from foster care, the Statewide Adoption Exchange at AdoptFlorida.org has photo listings and profiles of every child in state care who has been legally freed for adoption.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.167 – Statewide Adoption Exchange; Establishment; Responsibilities; Registration Requirements; Rules If you are an adoptee or birth relative trying to reconnect after an adoption was finalized, the Florida Adoption Reunion Registry is the free, voluntary channel for that.2Florida’s Adoption Information Center. Florida’s Adoption Reunion Registry Which one you need depends on where you are in the process.
The Statewide Adoption Exchange at AdoptFlorida.org
Florida law requires DCF to maintain a statewide exchange with photo listings of every child who has been legally freed for adoption and placed in the department’s care or with a licensed child-placing agency.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.167 – Statewide Adoption Exchange; Establishment; Responsibilities; Registration Requirements; Rules The site is AdoptFlorida.org, launched as the central hub for families interested in adopting from foster care.3Florida Department of Children and Families. DCF Launches New and Improved Website to Help Families Interested in Adoption Each child’s profile includes a photo, a description, and background information meant to help you decide whether to pursue a match.
The timing rules matter if you’re trying to understand why a particular child may or may not appear. Children must be referred to the exchange within 30 days of being accepted by DCF for permanent placement. If a family has already been identified, the child’s name still goes to the exchange with a documented explanation, and the full profile and photograph must be posted if no placement materializes within three months. Children still waiting for a family also get referred to regional and national exchanges.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.167 – Statewide Adoption Exchange; Establishment; Responsibilities; Registration Requirements; Rules
Sibling status is noted on profiles. If you’re open to adopting more than one child, sibling groups often wait longer, and agencies actively look for families willing to take them together.
Heart Gallery Programs
The Heart Gallery is a network of regional programs across Florida that use professional photography to advocate for children in foster care awaiting adoption. Each gallery works with partnership agencies in its area to recruit adoptive families, foster parents, and mentors.4Florida Department of Children and Families. Heart Gallery Separate galleries operate in Tampa, Sarasota, and other regions.
Access to detailed child profiles is restricted. The Heart Gallery of Tampa, for instance, limits waiting and matched child profiles to families with approved home studies, current licensed foster parents, or professionals working within the child welfare system.5Heart Gallery of Tampa. Heart Gallery of Tampa – Section: Learn More About Our Children If you haven’t started a home study, you can still browse general information, but detailed case files stay out of reach until you are further along.
What You Need Before You Can Be Matched
Browsing the exchange is open to anyone, but no child can be placed in your home until you clear three things: a favorable preliminary home study, criminal background screening, and completion of pre-service training.
Preliminary Home Study
A licensed child-placing agency, registered child-caring agency, or licensed professional must conduct the study. It has to be completed before placement unless your home is already a licensed foster home. If the child is in DCF custody, the study must be finished within 30 days of being started, and a favorable result is valid for one year.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 63.092 – Report to the Court of Intended Placement; At-Risk Placement; Preliminary Study At minimum it covers in-person interviews with everyone in the household, criminal and abuse records checks, a review of your health and finances, verification of marital and prior adoption history, and a physical inspection of the home.
Stepparent and relative adoptions are generally exempt from the home study, though a judge can still order one for good cause.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 63.092 – Report to the Court of Intended Placement; At-Risk Placement; Preliminary Study
Background Screening
Florida requires criminal background checks on everyone being considered for a child’s placement and on all household members age 12 and older. Adults 18 and over are fingerprinted and submitted through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to the FBI for a national records check, with separate local law enforcement checks. Anyone who previously lived in another state also triggers an out-of-state check.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 39.0138 – Criminal History Records Checks; Placement of a Child
Certain convictions permanently disqualify a household regardless of when they occurred: child abuse, abandonment or neglect; domestic violence; child pornography or any felony where a child was the victim; and homicide, sexual battery, or another violent felony other than assault or battery against an adult. Felony convictions within the past five years for assault, battery, drug offenses, or resisting arrest with violence also block placement.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 39.0138 – Criminal History Records Checks; Placement of a Child
Pre-Service Training
Prospective foster and adoptive parents must complete an approved pre-service program. The two most common are MAPP (Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) and PRIDE (Parents’ Resources for Information Development Education). Which one you take depends on your community-based care agency.
The Florida Adoption Reunion Registry
The Florida Adoption Reunion Registry, operated by DCF since 1982, is the state’s channel for adoptees and birth relatives who want to find each other after a finalized adoption. It is free and entirely voluntary. The registry does not conduct active searches. A match occurs only when two or more eligible people have both registered and both agreed to share their identifying information.2Florida’s Adoption Information Center. Florida’s Adoption Reunion Registry
People eligible to register include:
- Adult adoptees
- Birth parents
- Birth siblings
- Birth aunts, uncles, and grandparents
- Adoptive parents registering on behalf of a minor child
You can download the application from AdoptFlorida.org or request one by mail from the registry or Florida’s Adoption Information Center.8Florida Department of Children and Families. Florida Adoption Reunion Registry The registry also provides a channel for adult adoptees to request non-identifying background information about their birth family, such as medical and social history, without a court order.
Getting Adoption Records Without the Registry
Florida treats adoption paperwork as confidential by default. Court files, the original birth certificate, and agency records are sealed and can only be inspected by court order, which must specify exactly which portions can be viewed. Even when a judge grants access, the order may redact names and identifying details.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 63.162 – Hearings and Records in Adoption Proceedings; Confidential Nature
There is a path that avoids court entirely. Florida’s confidentiality statute allows identifying information to be shared without judicial involvement when the right people consent in writing:9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 63.162 – Hearings and Records in Adoption Proceedings; Confidential Nature
- A birth parent’s identity can be disclosed if the birth parent authorizes it in writing and the adoptee is 18 or older. For a minor adoptee, an adoptive parent must also consent in writing.
- An adoptee’s identity can be disclosed if the adoptee is 18 or older and authorizes it in writing, or, for a minor, with an adoptive parent’s written consent.
- An adoptive parent’s identity can be disclosed if the adoptive parent authorizes it in writing.
This sits directly within the confidentiality statute, separate from the reunion registry. If both an adult adoptee and a birth parent independently file written authorizations with the entity holding the records, identifying information can be released without a court petition. It is worth checking this route before paying for a formal good-cause petition.
If written consent isn’t available, the court applies a “good cause” standard when deciding whether to open sealed records. It weighs the reason the information is sought, whether another method could get you what you need without revealing identities, the known wishes of the adoptee and both sets of parents, the adoptee’s age and maturity, and the recommendation of the agency that handled the original adoption. The adoptee’s best interests get primary weight, and even a favorable order can still redact selectively.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 63.162 – Hearings and Records in Adoption Proceedings; Confidential Nature
Adoptions Involving Another State or a Tribal Child
Two situations fall outside the standard Florida database path. If a child is moving between Florida and another state for adoption, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children applies. The sending state must give written notice to the receiving state, and the receiving state must approve the placement in writing before the child crosses state lines.10Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.401 – Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children If the child is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized Indian tribe, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act controls placement preferences and requires formal notice to the tribe.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1915 – Placement of Indian Children In both cases, you’ll be working with your agency rather than the exchange alone.