National Adoption Foundation

Founded in 1994 by Norman Goldberg, the National Adoption Foundation provides both adoption grants and adoption loans, as well as a service called Adopt Directly, begun in early 2015, which displays parent profiles to allow prospective birth mothers to browse directly and arrange an adoption for their child without a middleman or an agency.

The National Adoption Foundation's mission statement is as follows:

"The National Adoption Foundation is dedicated to providing financial support for adoptive families in order to assist them in the successful adoption of children. We are committed to improving each child’s chance of becoming part of a loving family. The Foundation’s programs are available to any family whether they are adopting a child domestically, abroad or from foster care."

One of the National Adoption Foundation's defining characteristics is the fact that they tend to give adoption aid to people of any religion, race, gender, sexuality, or economic background. Their application process is also relatively simple. In these ways, they are one of the most open adoption aid companies available. They also service international and domestic adoptions alike.

Since its founding, the NAF has helped over 6,000 parents to fund their adoption processes.

The "Angels in Adoption" award was given to the NAF in 2001 by Congress as a show of appreciation for their aid in the adoption community.

Grant Information

The NAF's grant application process has been greatly simplified. The main requirement for a complete application is the submission of a home study, either completed or in progress.

In keeping with their inclusive company ethos, the NAF's grant program has, "No exclusions as to race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, family characteristics, or income. The program is open to all legal adoptions of non-related children, and does not exclude private adoption, agency adoption, international adoption, or special needs adoption."

NAF grants usually total between $1,000-$1,500, but have at times given as much as $2,000 or as little as $500, depending on the circumstances of the adoption and fiscal situation of the couple applying.

The NAF determines grant recipients through quarterly meetings of its board of directors, who determine the recipients and the quantities of any grants given based on available funds. Their meetings are held in the last week of each quarter of the calendar year.

Notice of the status of their application will only be given to approved applicants within fifteen days of their approval. Applicants who are not approved can reapply for the next calendar quarter.

All funds granted are forwarded to the adoption attorney of the applicants. The funds are then paid out as any adoption-related expenses are incurred.

Loan Information

The NAF's loan services are provided due to a partnership with Prosper.com, and are similar to regular bank loans in most respects.

While the loans available through the NAF can at times be as high as $35,000 dollars, the more common amount is closer to $2,500-$3000. APRs can range widely, from a minimum of 6.73% to a maximum of 35.36%, depending on a variety of credit-related factors, including an applicant's credit history and income.

The loans featured with the NAF are free of either security or collateral.

Through Prosper.com, the NAF offers several loan options for differing budgets, and then allows applicants to post that loan to a platform where lenders will opt to fill it. Once the loan is financed by these lenders, the money from the loan will be deposited to the applicant's bank account. In that way, it differs from the NAF's grant program, because applicants get direct control of the money from the loan rather than having it in escrow to be meted out as deemed appropriate.

Adopt Directly

As the NAF's newest program, Adopt Directly, allows prospective parents to create and publicly post an adoption profile for a fee of $25 a month. Birth mothers, specifically pregnant women, can then search for free through the different profiles to find a couple that they want to contact, and the child's placement can then take place with little to no interaction from an agency, and a small fraction of the costs of a traditional adoption.

The program went live in February 2015. According to Goldberg, it has since helped at least two women to successfully place their child with families whose profiles were featured on the site.

Resources

National Adoption Foundation | Adoption Grants, Loans & ProgramsNational Adoption Foundation | Dedicated to growing families in America. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://fundyouradoption.org/

Interview with Norman Goldberg