Adoption in Arizona

At the core of every adoption or ART arrangement is the law. Legal agreements establish expectations, define parental rights, and create enforceable protections for everyone involved.

Adoptions come in all shapes and sizes. No matter if this is private, agency, stepparent, second parent (LGBTQ+), Department of Child Safety (State), kinship, foster parent or foster care, Interstate Compact on the Placement of Child (ICPC), international or domestic, surrogacy-based, or open or closed adoption – our office handles them similarly.

There are times when a second parent must adopt to obtain legal rights of their own child.

In our firm’s experience, Arizona DCS has allowed increased Indian tribal participation in child welfare cases (dependency, severance, termination, adoption). Our firm has observed, in several cases, that Arizona seems to allow even greater tribal participation than federal law would require.

The Adoption Subsidy Program is available to children with special needs.

Foster parents do not require formal certification to adopt a foster child, as their licensing meets this requirement.