Lisa Espericueta, Leticia Lopez and Julie Brown
There are several ways to adopt in California and adoption agencies play a pivotal role in this process no matter whether you adopt a relinquished infant or a child in foster care. HFS, just like all adoption agencies, must follow rules and regulations set by California and the counties in which we work, but we also do so much more than what is required. The work we do as an agency focuses on educating, supporting, and helping our clients make the best decisions for themselves and their families, regardless of whether they are birth parents or adoptive parents.
HFS is the oldest adoption agency in Southern California. Through our almost 75-year history, we have made it our mission to improve the lives of our clients and to provide services needed for our ever-changing community. Today HFS offers more supportive services than ever to the diverse families that reflect communities across Southern California. We service single and couple families, LGBTQIA+ clients, those with religious affiliations and others without. The unifying thread among all our clients is that they all believe in the beauty of adoption and want to improve the lives of the children.
HFS commits to providing up-to-date information about adoption options for all our clients because, ultimately, it is the birth parent or adoptive parent that decides what services best fit their needs. With our birth parents, we discuss the diverse experiences that come with parenting, just as we also talk about what the adoption process would look like for them. Furthermore, we are the only agency in Southern California that allows birth parents to return to the agency for free counseling at any time after their adoption decision. For our adoptive parents and adoptees, we are also available post-adoption for resources and support as needed.
One of our most significant differences as an adoption agency is that we try to limit the emotional and financial risks for our clients. HFS is the only agency that utilizes short-term foster parents to care for a baby while a birth mother weighs her options, giving her comfort and time. Another program we use to aid our families is having all adoptive parents contribute to a single birth parent fund to cover costs for services for all our birth mothers. In this way, all adoptive parents pay a universal lower fee instead of funding individual escrow accounts, which can vary for each birth mother. This also prevents money from being an impediment to the future relationship between the birth parents and adoptive parents.
As a nonprofit organization, we compete for clients with lawyers and facilitators who charge astronomically more than HFS. Yet, we are the one-stop shop for the adoption process. Attorneys and facilitators cannot complete home studies for their clients, nor do they provide services such as post-adoptive support. They can only facilitate connecting birth and adoptive parents. Adoption agencies serve clients throughout the adoption process, even after the finalization of the adoption. HFS is exceptional in offering unlimited, free counseling to our birth parents throughout their lives, thanks to generous donors like you.
Your tax-deductible donations enable HFS to serve pregnant mothers in need and adopting parents of all income levels. Your support also ensures that birth mothers and adopting families receive the compassionate quality care and service they expect and deserve. From all of us at HFS Adoption & Foster Care, we value and appreciate your kind support.
Julie Brown
Executive Director
