Puerto Rico Adoption Agencies

Due to the small size of this American commonwealth, there are very few adoption agencies in Puerto Rico. Most adoptions are made through local agencies within the continental United States. The following are three agencies, two in Puerto Rico, and one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offering information and help with adoption services.

Puerto Rican Adoption Agencies in Puerto Rico and the Continental United States

The Adoption Services of the Caribbean, Inc. (ASC de Mayaguez, Puerto Rico), which is a non-profit agency, is located in the island of Puerto Rico and is licensed through the Puerto Rico Department of Family of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (el Departamento de la Familia del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico). Its administrator, Sarah N. Santiago, is an expert in the field of adoptions and has twenty-five years of psycho-social experience. She specializes in promoting and facilitating all types of adoptions to many resident families on the island.

The agency has defined a plan of action covering the specific needs of the families it serves, strengthening in the process the adopting families' skills so that they may participate actively in the adoptions. They teach interactive strategies with all involved in order to maximize the time and money needed as a family, as well as other related resources.

They offer domestic adoptions, whether through private or United States government programs; and international, which are further regulated throughout the world, in order to avoid the participation of careless individuals, so that participants may be able to adopt a child deemed to be an "international orphan."

For more information, you can contact the agency at the following telephone number or email address: [phone] / [phone], or [e-mail].

Their mailing address is the following:
Adoption Services of the Caribbean, Inc.
PO Box 6057
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 00681
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526052018#/group.php?gid=22679627630&ref=mf

The Puerto Rico Department of Family

For more information (in Spanish) on adoptions, and a manual written in downloadable .pdf format by the Puerto Rico Department of Family titled in Spanish, "Manual para los Padres y Madres de Crianza" (Manual for Adoptive Fathers and Mothers), please see their website at http://www.familia.gobierno.pr/, and click on the bottom left link with the title of the manual.

Their address is:
Departamento de la Familia del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico
P.O Box 11398
Hato Rey, PR 00917
Phone: [phone]

Association of Puerto Ricans on the March (APM)

Another helpful agency, but located outside of Puerto Rico, in the continental United States, is Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha (Association of Puerto Ricans on the March (APM)), located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The APM serves a culturally diverse clientele, offering services in adoption, foster care, foster care "After Care," kinship care, in home service (SCOH), and Safe Base Family Preservation.

They are located at the following address:
Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha
445-47 W. Luray Street
Philadelphia, PA 19140
http://apmphila.org
Phone: [phone]

International Adoption Agencies

Because Puerto Rico is a United States Commonwealth, and not a state, adoptions are handled as if they were international adoptions. If you desire to adopt a Puerto Rican child, you need to go through the above listed adoption agencies, or through an international adoption agency within your state. You can use the internet to make your search for these agencies easier.

Adoptive Families Searchable Directory

Adoptive Families is an award-winning national magazine with an online searchable directory that will help you search by state or country for adoption agencies. You can find their website at http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/search/agencies.php. They also offer an e-newsletter where you can submit your email to receive periodic updates for families before and after adoptions.

You can also contact them at:

Adoptive Families Magazine
Editorial and Advertising Offices
39 West 37th Street
15th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Subscription Customer Service: 800-372-3300
Email: [e-mail]

References

• Adoption Services of the Caribbean, Inc.
• Departamento de la Familia del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico
• Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha