Agency Adoption

Working With Licensed Agencies to Build Loving Families

Agency adoption is a trusted and well-established way to create permanent families. In an agency adoption, a licensed child-placing agency works with both birth parents and adoptive parents to ensure the process is ethical, lawful, and centered on the child’s best interest.

At The Cooley Law Firm, we guide families from first placement through final decree — working closely with your agency to make sure every legal step is complete, accurate, and secure under Nevada law.

How Agency Adoption Works

In Nevada, only licensed child-placing agencies approved by the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), or otherwise authorized providers, may arrange or facilitate an adoption.

Licensed agencies:

  • Conduct home studies, background checks, and placement assessments
  • Provide counseling and education for birth and adoptive parents
  • Coordinate legal consents and relinquishments
  • Match children with families based on the child’s needs

Our role is to ensure that every legal requirement is met — from consent language to court filings — so your adoption is legally sound and fully recognized.

Our Role as Your Adoption Attorney

Attorney Shelly Booth Cooley and The Cooley Law Firm work alongside your agency to handle the legal process from start to finish, including:

  • Reviewing and filing specific consents and relinquishments
  • Preparing and filing the Petition for Adoption and all supporting documents
  • Ensuring ICWA compliance, when applicable
  • Drafting the Decree of Adoption
  • Representing you at the final adoption hearing
  • Handling post-adoption matters, including name changes and amended birth certificates

Our goal is simple:

Your adoption should be final, secure, and recognized everywhere.

Support for Birth Parents

Agency adoption includes important safeguards for birth parents, such as:

  • Counseling and professional support
  • The ability to choose and meet adoptive families
  • Oversight by licensed professionals to ensure informed decision-making

When appropriate, we also provide independent legal counsel to birth parents so they fully understand:

  • Their legal rights
  • The consent and relinquishment process
  • The permanent nature of adoption under Nevada law