Single Parent Adoption in Arkansas: Eligibility, Home Study, and Costs

Yes, single parent adoption in Arkansas is allowed. State law lists “an unmarried adult” as a person who may petition to adopt, with no extra conditions tied to marital status.¹ You follow the same steps a married couple does: clear background checks, complete a home study, have a child placed with you, wait at least six months, and finalize in circuit court. Plan on at least six months after placement before you walk out with a final decree, and often longer depending on the path you choose.

Who Qualifies as a Single Adoptive Parent

Arkansas Code 9-9-204 names the people who may file an adoption petition. One category is “an unmarried adult.” The statute sets no minimum age beyond adulthood and no marital-status conditions for that category.¹

If you adopt through the Department of Human Services foster care system, DHS layers its own eligibility rules on top of the statute. Applicants must be at least 21 and no more than 45 years older than the child they want to adopt.² A 50-year-old can adopt a 6-year-old through DHS; a 70-year-old cannot adopt an infant through DHS.

Arkansas courts have jurisdiction if either you or the child is a resident. Residency for a prospective parent means living in a dwelling in Arkansas with genuine intent to remain, supported by ongoing physical presence. A child under six months old counts as an Arkansas resident when the birth mother lived in the state for more than four months before the birth and the child was born in Arkansas or in a border city adjoining the state line.³

Background Checks and What Will Disqualify You

Every prospective adoptive parent must pass two separate screenings before a child can be placed. The first is a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check covering your state of residence, every state you lived in during the past five years, and your state of employment if different. Every household member age 14 or older is checked as well. A founded record of child maltreatment can end the application.⁴

The second runs through the Arkansas State Police and the FBI. Every household member age 18 or older submits to both state and federal criminal record checks.⁵ The disqualifying offense list is long and covers:

Violent crimes including murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, kidnapping, battery in any degree, and aggravated assault
Any sexual offense under Arkansas law, including child exploitation and computer child pornography
Child-specific crimes such as endangering the welfare of a minor, permitting abuse of a child, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor
Controlled substance violations, including distribution to minors
False imprisonment, incest, interference with custody or visitation, prostitution-related offenses, and criminal attempt or conspiracy to commit any listed offense

A conviction, a guilty plea, or a no-contest plea to any listed offense triggers disqualification.⁴ If anything in your history gives you pause, pull your own criminal record before you file. This is the stage where applications most often collapse, and finding out early is cheaper than finding out after you have paid for a home study.

Choosing an Adoption Path

Foster Care Adoption Through DCFS

Adopting through the Division of Children and Family Services is usually the most affordable option. DCFS does not charge application or placement fees, and families adopting children eligible for subsidies may receive reimbursement for limited nonrecurring costs such as attorney and court fees.⁶ Children who meet Arkansas’s special needs definition may also come with ongoing monthly subsidy payments and Medicaid, which matters for a one-income household.

Private Domestic Adoption

Private adoption works through a licensed agency that matches you with expectant birth parents who are making an adoption plan. Costs include agency fees, legal fees, and sometimes birth parent living expenses as allowed by law. Timing turns on the match. As a single applicant, your wait can be longer because some birth parents prefer two-parent families; others specifically prefer single parents, and agencies experienced with single-parent placements can help target the right matches.

International Adoption

If the child lives in a country that participates in the Hague Adoption Convention, you must file Form I-800A with USCIS to establish your suitability before any match occurs.⁷ The State Department must certify compliance with Convention procedures before a U.S. state court can finalize the adoption.⁸ Some sending countries restrict adoption by single parents or add requirements, so check the specific country’s rules at the start. International adoption is typically the most expensive route, often running $25,000 to $50,000 or more once travel, translation, and multiple legal bills are counted.

The Home Study

No child can be placed in your home until a home study is complete. In Arkansas, the study must be done by a licensed child welfare agency or a licensed certified social worker. If you live out of state, someone authorized to conduct adoption home studies under your state’s law can perform it.⁹

The study evaluates whether your home is a suitable environment and ends with a recommendation on whether you should be approved. Expect a home visit, interviews about your motivation and readiness, and requests for health records, financial documentation, and personal references. The completed report goes to the court before your petition is heard.⁹

DHS does not charge fees for the home study or placement when you adopt from foster care. For private adoption, home study fees from licensed agencies generally run from around $1,000 to $5,000 or more, depending on the agency and the complexity of the evaluation.

Filing the Petition and Getting to a Final Decree

Once a child has been placed and the home study is in hand, you file a Petition for Adoption in circuit court. The petition must state the child’s date and place of birth if known, the name you want the child to have, how and when you got custody, your age and residence, your marital status, and that you have the resources to care for the child. If the child was born to an unmarried mother, the petition must confirm that the Putative Father Registry was checked.¹⁰

Before the court will hear the petition, any period for withdrawing consent must have run. The court then sets a hearing and requires at least 20 days’ notice to anyone whose consent is required but not yet obtained, including a putative father who acknowledged paternity or registered.⁹

The Six-Month Post-Placement Period

A final decree cannot be issued until the child has lived in your home for at least six months after being placed by an agency, or for at least six months after you filed the petition. A social worker makes supervisory visits during this period to check on how the child is adjusting and whether the placement is stable. There are narrow exceptions for children under six months old who are not in DHS custody and for children who must live outside the home for medically necessary care.¹¹

The Finalization Hearing

At the hearing the judge reviews the home study, post-placement reports, consent documents, and background check results. If all required consents are in place or properly excused and the adoption is in the child’s best interest, the judge issues a final decree. The court may instead issue an interlocutory decree that becomes final automatically after a period of six months to one year. If the requirements are not met, the court dismisses the petition and the child returns to whoever had custody before the filing.¹²

Financial Help for a Single-Income Household

Federal Adoption Tax Credit

You can claim a federal tax credit for qualified adoption expenses, including agency fees, attorney fees, court costs, and adoption-related travel. For adoptions finalized in 2026, the maximum credit is $17,670 per child. It begins to phase out at a modified adjusted gross income of $265,080 and disappears entirely at $305,080. A portion, up to roughly $5,120 for 2026, is refundable, so you can receive that amount even if your tax liability is zero. For special needs adoptions, you are treated as having paid the full $17,670 regardless of what you actually spent, which effectively locks in the maximum credit.¹³

Adoption Subsidies for Foster Care Placements

If you adopt a child with special needs from Arkansas foster care, you may qualify for ongoing financial support. Arkansas’s special needs definition includes Caucasian children nine and older, healthy children of color who are two and older, members of sibling groups being placed together, and children with severe medical or psychological needs requiring ongoing treatment.

Subsidies can include monthly maintenance payments, special services payments tied to specific needs, reimbursement for one-time adoption expenses, and Medicaid coverage for the child. Monthly amounts depend on the child’s needs and the family’s circumstances and cannot exceed what the foster care maintenance payment would have been. Payments can be adjusted as circumstances change.⁶

FMLA Leave After Placement

Federal law gives adoptive parents the same leave rights as biological parents. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, you can take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the placement and bonding, used within 12 months of placement. You qualify if you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the past year, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Federal government employees are covered regardless of agency size.¹⁴ FMLA leave is unpaid, but you may be able to apply accrued paid time off or employer parental leave concurrently. Arkansas has no state paid family leave law, so paid time off during the adoption depends entirely on your employer’s policies.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-204 – Who May Adopt
2
Arkansas Law Help. Adoption – Children’s Law
3
Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-205 – Jurisdiction – Inconvenient Forum
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 9-28-409 – Criminal Record and Child Maltreatment Checks
5
Code of Arkansas Rules. Code of Arkansas Rules 9 CAR 30-204 – Child Maltreatment Central Registry and Criminal Record Checks
6
AdoptUSKids. Arkansas Foster Care and Adoption
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Fact Sheet – Adoption in U.S. Courts of Children from Hague Adoption Convention Countries
9
Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-212 – Hearing on Petition – Requirements
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Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-210 – Petition for Adoption
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Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-213 – Required Residence of Minor
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Justia. Arkansas Code 9-9-214 – Appearance – Continuance
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 23 – Adoption Expenses
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28Q – Taking Leave from Work for Birth, Placement, and Bonding with a Child Under the FMLA