"The reality is that adopting a baby is very expensive," says Cathleen Schmidt, president and CEO of Citizens Bank in New Hampshire. "We've learned from colleagues that adopting a child can unfortunately become a financial decision." But the group's adoption-friendly policies, including additional paid vacation and funds to help defray associated costs, have helped employees bring home dozens of youth in need of permanent families since 1997. The bank's adoption assistance program is also part of a growing corporate trend already paying dividends for some foster care youth and others in need of adoption, this recent article says.

As more firms position their benefits coverage to entice workers and remain competitive, a growing number are expanding such packages to include adoption assistance. Citizens Bank topped the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's rankings of the most adoption-friendly workplaces, but it now stands as one of more than 700 companies surveyed offering at least $4,000 in financial aid and one week of paid leave to employees who adopt. Industry leaders now pledge up to $20,960 in financial assistance and offer 16 weeks paid time off.

Other well-known companies on the Foundation's list include Timberland, Bank of America, Domino's Pizza, Patagonia and Harley-Davidson Motor Co. The 10-year-old adoption assistance program at Citizens Bank has been among the most successful at encouraging adoptions, and Schmidt estimates one child has been adopted by an employee there almost every month since the program's genesis. But numbers only tell one side of the story.

"It's just nice to know your company supports you in that way," says one Citizens Bank employee. "For us, it's something you really can't put a value on." The hundreds of children living in happy homes thanks to adoption assistance probably can't put a value on it either.