How the Coalition Helps Families

Beth* called the Coalition’s HelpLine on a Thursday looking for information on how to search for her biological family including her birth mother and known biological siblings.

As an adult adoptee born and adopted through foster care in New York, she had already registered with the state’s Adoption Registry and had received her non-identifying information. Beth’s adoptive mother had given her the name of her birth mother, but she was unsure of the correct spelling. Beth had tried to search on her own for fifteen years only to reach one dead end after another.

We put Beth in touch with the Search Squad page on Facebook to connect with one of the many Search Angels who participate there. The next morning, the Coalition received a return call from Beth with an update. Within an hour of  asking for assistance, Search Squad had located Beth’s birth mother and passed on her contact information to Beth. That very evening, Beth contacted her birth mother and her newly found siblings − a reunion thirty years in the making.


The Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York provides support, information and advocacy for foster, kinship and adoptive families and related professionals in New York State. Founded in the 1960s and incorporated in 1975, we provide services to help support families and their children. We educate the public, legislators and government leaders about the needs and realities of foster, kinship and adoptive families. Finally, we collaborate with child welfare agencies and other groups to ensure that families are best able to support and parent the children in their homes.

*All stories are based on true events, names and personal details have been changed to protect identity.