AREVA, Adoption Resource Exchange of Virginia, is a photo listing of waiting children and prospective adoptive families used by adoption agencies all over the country.

Some adoption workers say that a guarantee of subsidy for every waiting child would quicken the pace of placements. Yet federal guidelines stipulate that an agency first must try to find a family that will adopt a child without assistance, Ms. [C. Lynne Edwards] said.

Bill Ballard, the adoption and foster care worker for Culpeper County, said the alternative is to spend money on foster care payments and institutional costs. "Far better to spend it on adoptive parents," he said.