The Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange (PAE) was established in 1979 by the Department of Human Services to help county children and youth agencies find adoptive families for Pennsylvania’s waiting children. The Adoption Act requires DHS to maintain PAE, including development, management and oversight of the waiting child and waiting family registries and publication of an annual report. PAE manages the Resource Family Registry (RFR), established by Act 160 of 2004, which amended the Child Protective Services Law to require all foster, adoptive and formal kinship families to be registered. PAE also manages the Pennsylvania Adoption Information Registry (PAIR), established by Act 101 of 2010, which amended the Adoption Act to require DHS to collect and maintain social and medical history information on all adoptions finalized or registered within the Commonwealth.
PAE is a major component of the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN), as it serves the counties, SWAN affiliate agencies, and the general public and interfaces with other state and national adoption exchanges. PAE is not an adoption agency, but serves to connect families who want to adopt with children waiting for a permanent home. Final decisions about adoption are the sole responsibility of the county agency with custody of the child.
Subsections:
- Role and Purpose
- Website
- Reports
- Regulations and requirements
- Recruitment Strategies
- Family Selection Training
- Events