Child’s Hope (ACH) provides domestic adoption services with the primary purpose to place North Carolina children with adoptive families in North Carolina.
Adoption Counselor/Social Worker
General Job Description:
Areas this social worker will service includes Goldsboro, Kinston, Greenville, Wilmington, Outer Banks and down east North Carolina. The adoption counselor provides adoption counseling and various services to birthmothers (and sometimes birthfathers) and adoptive parents, assists with birth parent community services, completes relinquishment paperwork with the birthparents, completes pre and post placement assessments (home studies) for adoptive parents, and completes community outreach for the agency. Hours vary and include various daytime hours, evenings, and weekends. The adoption counselor will be required to have a personal computer with Internet and email capabilities, a document scanner, Microsoft Excel, and personal access to a fax machine. The adoption counselor is expected to read and respond to all applicable emails at least once a day or more as needed. The adoption counselor is also required to carry an agency cell phone at all times. The adoption counselor will also be expected to immediately become a Notary Public. The adoption counselor position is a contract position and amounts to part time or less than full time income that varies from month to month. The adoption counselor must have either a master's degree in social work, or a related field of study from an accredited institution, or bachelor’s degree in social work, or a bachelor’s degree in a related field and two years experience working directly with children. This is a contract position.
Specific Responsibilities and Duties:
There are 3 components to this job:
1.Birth mother counseling and Adoptive parent counseling:
Birthmother/Birthfather
•Contact birth mother promptly after her initial call to the agency hotline or office.  Arrange to meet with her within 24–48 hours for initial home visit.
•Conduct initial screening and ongoing counseling sessions throughout pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after delivery. Identify community resources and make appropriate referrals as
well as provide post partem grief counseling. The adoption counselor may also work with birth fathers if they are involved in the pregnancy and adoption process.
•Coordinate and supervise match meeting between birth mother (and birth father if present) and prospective adoptive parents.
•Take relinquishments of the birth father when he is available and has agreed to sign.
•Take relinquishments of the birth mother at the hospital after delivery and coordinate all hospital procedures including discharging the baby. The adoption counselor is also responsible for collaborating with the respite care provider prior to delivery then transporting the baby to respite care upon discharge.
•Maintain contact with the birth mother (birth father) after delivery and assess what type of follow up, if any, is needed. Post partem counseling may involve phone calls and possibly weekly home visits through the 6-week period.
Adoptive Parents
•The adoption counselor is expected to attend one Parent Orientation class held at the agency. This is the class that all incoming prospective adoptive parents take to help them learn about the agencies policies and procedures. The adoption counselor attends one of these shortly after beginning work, to help her also become familiar with the agencies policies and procedures. These classes are usually held on a Friday once a quarter.
•The adoption counselor will coordinate and supervise match meetings between both birthparent(s) and Adoptive Parents. Once a match is made, the adoption counselor keeps the adoptive parents updated weekly via email and calls them every 2 weeks. Match meetings are typically held at least 4-6 weeks prior to the birthmother’s.
•The adoption counselor will inform the adoptive parents of the baby’s birth after the birthmother signs relinquishment documents and will coordinate communications between birthmother and adoptive parents if appropriate for that case.
•The adoption counselor will be responsible for staying in touch with the respite care provider for updates on the baby's progress and then relaying information to the adoptive parents and birth mother if appropriate.
2.Preplacement and Post placement assessments
•Meet with prospective adoptive parents for the purpose of writing their preplacement assessment also known as a home study. The adoption counselor is responsible for completing the preplacement assessment report within the agency’s time frame.
Rev 5/2025 2
Typically, six weeks for a regular preplacement assessment; and 3 weeks or less for an expedited preplacement assessment.
•Meet with adoptive parents who have been placed with a child for the purpose of conducting and writing their post placement visit and report. There are typically 2 visits (i.e.: 2 reports) required after the child has been placed in the home.
•The adoption counselor will have assignments to complete Pre and post placement assessments for couples who are signed up and waiting to adopt through ACH, and also for couples who may be adopting through another agency, or via an attorney in an independent adoption situation. (The agency no longer completes Preplacement assessments for international adoptions)
3.Community Outreach (Marketing)
•The Adoption counselor will be required to establish and maintain contacts in their specified geographic area for the purpose of community outreach in order to acquaint clinics, MCC (maternity care coordinators), Pregnancy Life Care Centers, physician’s offices, Planned Parenthood and other sources about the services of A Child’s Hope. This outreach will also include in service education about our agency and adoption at various hospitals and clinics. Currently, the agency requires a minimum of 2 face to face visits per month to health care providers such as those listed above. The agency will assist the adoption counselor in identifying appropriate places to visit.