Drupal 6.0 customization

The National Adoption Center asked Message Agency to develop a national matching site (similar to match.com) that pairs prospective adoptive families with suitable agencies, based on criteria supplied by the families. The site provides a critical step in the adoption process for non-traditional families, such as interracial, LGBT, or non-native English speaking families, who often find it difficult to find agencies that can adequately serve their needs.

Highlights include:

• Matching Algorithm. The algorithm compares options that are common across agency and potential parent profiles to help determine appropriate matches, using parameters such as age of child, number of children already in the household, family type, etc. Given that the matching system has a national scope, we tied into the Google API for geocoding to help with proximity search. When a match between agency and current/prospective parent occurs, the parent and agency are recommended automatically on each party's user dashboard.
• Agency Rankings/Ratings. Registered families have the ability to rank and comment on agency profiles, based on their experiences with the agency.
• User Dashboard with Proposed and Saved Matches: The site contains a sophisticated user dashboard where Agencies and Current/Prospective Parents can manage their settings, as well as view all recommended and saved matches from the site. Parents can save, drop, or contact agencies from this interface, as well as complete a survey about why certain agencies are dropped. The site tracks this activity for outcomes and quality assurance reporting.
• Messaging System: Agencies and families have the ability to contact one another directly through the website. The email communication is facilitated by contact forms on the website during the initial stage, until a parent-agency match is made.