The Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, known as TARE, is the online tool DFPS uses to match adoptive families with children in state care who are legally free for adoption and do not yet have a family identified. A family creates an account and a profile, searches the children and sibling groups listed, and sends an inquiry that DFPS staff answer. If you are thinking about adopting an older child or a sibling group from foster care, in San Antonio or anywhere in Texas, TARE is where you will see the children, and this post explains how it works.
One thing to say first. A child appears on TARE only after the effort to return them to their birth family has ended. DFPS states that children are placed in adoptive homes if efforts to reunify them with their birth families are unsuccessful, and the same is true at every step below.
When is a child listed on TARE?
Only when three things are true. According to the DFPS TARE FAQ, workers must register a child when the parental rights of the child's parents have been terminated, DFPS has approved the child for adoptive placement, and a relative home, foster-adopt home or prospective adoptive home has not been found. A child's registration is updated yearly or when something significant changes, and the child is removed when an adoptive family is selected or the permanency plan changes.
That third condition is the important one for a family reading the site. DFPS notes that many children are never photo-listed after their parents' rights end because staff have already identified a placement with a relative, a foster family or an adoptive family.
Why are some waiting children not on the site?
Because "waiting" means more than "listed". DFPS says there are over 1,000 children photo-listed on the exchange. Other waiting children are not photo-listed because a placement is already identified, as above, or because their medical or therapeutic needs mean they are not ready for adoption yet. A child can also come off the site temporarily when a very high number of families have inquired, or when a family has been identified and the placement is pending.
How many children in Texas are waiting for adoption?
DFPS adoption data on the Texas Open Data Portal counts 3,805 Texas children waiting for adoption on August 31, 2025. Of those, 1,998 were living in a placement that was not intended to be permanent, which is the plainest measure of how many still needed a family rather than a court date. In DFPS Region 8, which is San Antonio and the surrounding counties, 692 children were waiting.
| Age on August 31, 2025 | Waiting in Texas | Waiting in Region 8 (San Antonio) |
|---|---|---|
| Birth to 5 | 1,390 | 246 |
| 6 to 12 | 1,272 | 245 |
| 13 to 17 | 1,143 | 201 |
| All ages | 3,805 | 692 |
The table shows something the TARE FAQ says in words: DFPS rarely places infants for adoption, and the majority of children placed in adoptive care through DFPS are ages 7 to 17. A family hoping to adopt a baby through the state should know that before the information meeting.
What does "special needs" mean on TARE?
Less than most people assume. DFPS uses the term for adoption assistance purposes and says plainly that it does not necessarily mean a child has a mental, emotional or physical disability. A child in DFPS care and under 18 qualifies if one condition applies, and two of the conditions are being at least six years old and being part of a sibling group that is adopted together or adopted to join siblings already adopted. Every child six or older meets the first of those conditions by age alone. What adoption assistance provides, and when the agreement has to be signed, is covered in our post on adoption in San Antonio.
How does a family inquire about a child?
Through the system, after a home study. The DFPS page about TARE says that once a family creates an account and completes a family profile, it can view the full profiles and inquire on children or sibling groups. Families can search by gender, age, individual children or sibling groups, race or area. DFPS staff can view the families who have registered, including a link to the family's home screening where one has been provided.
An inquiry goes to the child's TARE Coordinator, not the caseworker. DFPS describes the coordinator as the person who tracks all of a child's inquiries and routes them to the caseworker, who can then view your family's profile and contact information. Before any of that, DFPS says a family needs a licensed child-placing agency to complete a home study. There is no maximum age to adopt, only a minimum of 21, and DFPS says adoptive families may seek up to $1,200 in reimbursement for reasonable and necessary adoption fees.
What are the Heart Galleries?
The Heart Galleries are portrait exhibits of children waiting for adoption, run region by region. DFPS's Heart Galleries of Texas page describes a network of 11 heart galleries, one in every region of the state, working out of the Moritz Center for Societal Impact at the University of Texas School of Social Work. San Antonio's is the Heart Gallery of South-Central Texas, for Region 8. DFPS asks families to contact their local gallery for information about the children waiting in their region. For the rules on keeping brothers and sisters together and what older youth are entitled to, see our post on fostering teens and sibling groups.
Where Angelheart fits in
Our adoption page says it the same way DFPS does: family reunification is prioritized, and it is not always possible. When it is not, we especially look for families with a heart for older children, sibling groups and children with special needs, and we point them to TARE and the Heart Gallery of Central Texas to see the children who are waiting. Families who want to adopt complete our foster-to-adopt licensure process, which is the home study TARE asks for. Relatives already caring for a child whose parents' rights are terminated can use a shorter licensure path, described on our adoption page.
We serve adoptive families from four offices, in Round Rock, North Richland Hills, Temple and San Antonio. If a profile on TARE has stayed with you and you want to talk through what comes next, call (512) 310-9857 or start an inquiry and the office nearest you will reach out.