Adoption – The legal transfer of all parental rights and obligations from one person or couple to another person or couple.

Adoption Medical History Registry – A voluntary, confidential registry for medical history information from parents who gave birth in Pennsylvania and relinquished a child for adoption, created June 1977 by Public Law 685, No. 76 and administered by Department of Public Welfare's Office of Children, Youth and Families. The registry allows birth parents to place and update information with the court and with the registry. This information can be accessed by adoptees aged 18 or older or by the parents or legal guardians of adoptees.

Adoptive Parent(s) – An individual or couple who have chosen to adopt and have had an adoption finalized in a court.

Birth Parents – The parents to whom a child is born; biological parents.

Closed Adoption – An arrangement in which an adopted child has no contact with and/or no knowledge of the birth family.

Dependent Child – A child who is in the legal custody of a county children and youth agency.

Family Profile (Home Study) – The study and preparation of a family who wishes to adopt. Usually this includes visits to the home and talks with family members. It also includes background checks to verify employment, criminal and child abuse history checks, and character references. The profile is used to match families with waiting children.

Finalization – The last legal step in the adoption process. Only after finalization do the adoptive parents have legal rights and responsibilities to the child.

Foster Parent(s) – An individual or couple who provide temporary care of a child who is in the legal custody of a children and youth agency. Foster parents often become adoptive parents.

Goal Change – A formal decision involving the agency with custody and the court with jurisdiction to determine the permanency plan for a child.

Matching – The process of finding prospective families suitable for a waiting child; not to be confused with "placement" (see below).

Open Adoption – An arrangement in which the adopted child maintains contact with and/or has knowledge of the birth family. Pennsylvania's adoption law does not address the issue of open adoption or agreements for continued contact between the child and the birth family. Therefore, any agreement made regarding an open adoption is not legally enforceable.

Placement – The physical relocation of a child into a pre-adoptive living situation. When placement occur without termination of biological parental rights, it is preferred as a legal risk placement.

Report of Intent to Adopt – A legal document stating a family's intention to adopt, filed in the Court of Common Pleas by the attorney representing the adoptive family or by the county agency's attorney handling the adoption.

Special Needs – Refers to many categories of children, including children with physical, emotional or medical disabilities, healthy school-age children, children with siblings who need to be adopted together and minority children.

Stepparent – The spouse of a child's birth parent. A stepparent may become an adoptive parent by legally adopting the child.

SWAN - The Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network which is the public and private partnership designed to assist county children and youth agencies in expediting adoptions of waiting children.

Supervision – The period after a child is placed with a family and before the adoption is finalized. During this period, the supervising agency maintains regular contact with the child and family to provide supportive services, report on the progress of the adoption and make recommendations as to whether or not the adoption should be finalized.

Termination of Parental Rights – A court proceeding through which all legal rights and responsibilities between parent and child are severed. Termination of parental rights may be voluntary or involuntary. A termination of parental rights must occur before an adoption can be finalized.

Waiting Children – Children who have not yet been placed with a pre-adoptive family.