Washington programs
Alongside is a trailblazer in youth engagement and permanency recruitment. We help young people in Washington and the Pacific Northwest build lasting family connections through adoption, guardianship, and other permanent family relationships.
Our work began in 1976 as the Northwest Adoption Exchange. Originally a regional adoption exchange, the program has evolved beyond its initial services to provide innovative youth engagement, family recruitment, and permanency services for children and youth in foster care.
In the 1990s, the program was one of the first in the nation to bring adoption recruitment online through a website featuring youth profiles. This early innovation expanded awareness and created new opportunities to connect youth in foster care with prospective adoptive families.
Today, Alongside continues to advance our profile and connection technology through secure and youth-centered practices that uphold the privacy, dignity, and safety of the young people we serve.
The Washington team is known for its strengths-based approach to engagement and leading initiatives in youth empowerment.
Washington programs and services
- The Youth Narratives Project: empowering youth to create short videos that share their stories, strengths, and hopes for the future in their own words.
- Youth-led permanency consultations: helping youth take an active role in permanency planning.
- In-Depth Profiles®: youth-driven multimedia projects that allow a young person to introduce themselves to potential permanent families.
- Caregiver connections: family recruitment, engagement, and connection-building for youth in foster care.
- Connection technology: a secure platform where families can learn about youth in Washington and Oregon foster care and explore opportunities to create lasting connections.