Care-leavers and their children placed for adoption

Young people in and leaving state care are more likely than the general population to become parents at a young age. Relatively little is known about the experiences and progress of care leaver parents and their children, but emerging evidence suggests an increased risk of intergenerational state intervention. Drawing on data from the Wales Adoption Study, this paper examines the prevalence and profiles of care leavers amongst birth parents whose children were placed for adoption. Findings showed that more than a quarter (27%) of birth mothers and a fifth (19%) of birth fathers with children placed for adoption were themselves care leavers. There were no significant differences between care leaver and non-care leaver birth parents in terms of involvement in crime or substance misuse, but carer leaver birth parents were distinguishable from other birth parents by their own experiences of abuse and neglect. Care leaver birth mothers were also more likely than their non-care leaver counterparts to have diagnosed mental health problems and were less likely to appeal the adoption plan. The profiles of children placed for adoption between care leaver and non-care leaver birth parents were similar. The findings presented in this paper strengthen the moral imperative to address the over-representation of care leavers amongst birth parents whose children are placed for adoption. There is an urgent need to revise how children and young people in state care are prepared for parenthood and supported as parents.     

The distribution of a federal entitlement: The case of adoption assistance

Adoption assistance entitlements support children whose birth parents cannot care for them. The entitlements are meant to offset the extra cost to adoptive families of raising children whose early adverse experiences leave them with special needs. Unlike other Social Security Act programs, adoption assistance is not federally administered but is administered by states or localities. State-to-state variation in administration of this federal entitlement leads to unequal treatment of similar children. Moreover, although adoption assistance is an entitlement for children, payments made by many states are systematically correlated with the characteristics of adoptive families.     

Special-needs adoption

In the last 15 years there has been a change in adoption patterns toward the adoption of children with special needs. A major problem with this type of adoption is the disruption rate. The purpose of this study is to provide multivariate analysis on the characteristics of families and the characteristics of children that can be utilized to predict successful adoptions of these children.Data were collected from a private, nonprofit agency in a large southwestern city that specializes in special-needs adoption by analysis of home study reports, supervision reports, and information accompanying a child for families that have adoption finalized or disrupted by this agency (N = 91).Several factors were found to influence adoption outcome, including age of the child, presence of other children in the home, placement number, age of the woman, family income, and type of placement. The reasons for these findings and their implications are briefly discussed.     

The future of adoption for children in foster care: Demographics in a changing socio-political environment

As the next century unfolds, adoption will be influenced by economic, social, and political factors that will influence the number of children needing adoption and the number of families seeking to adopt. For children in foster care who need adoption, these forces are likely to challenge current policy and practice and place greater demands on the child welfare system to respond to the needs of a growing number of children who cannot be reunited with their birth families. Demographic data and the sociopolitical factors impacting the adoption of children in foster care suggest that adoption demand will increase dramatically in the near future, far outstripping the current, already inadequate supply of adoptive families. While demand is not likely to be amenable to any significant level of change given the poverty-related forces already at work, supply can be more readily effected by policy and practice that embrace creative strategies to recruit and support adoptive families. The dynamics of supply and demand can provide the conceptual framework to support resource reallocation and shape a positive future for the adoption of children in foster care     

Matching to prevent adoption disruption

The number of children being freed for adoption placement is increasing due to legislation. These children are frequently the victims of chaotic environments. Their exposure to adversity makes it more difficult for them to maintain long term placements. Suggestions are made toward the utilization of standardized instruments in the matching of adoptive parents and children to prevent adoption disruption.     

Does Reunion Cure Adoption?

Adoption and reunion experiences were examined in birth‐mothers who were reunited with their adult children following a change in adoption laws. Their feelings surprised, bewildered, and sometimes even shocked them. Whilst they described initial reunion meetings in uniformly glowing terms, they also experienced enormous turmoil. Reunion was expected to be a resolution, but in fact, constituted a major life crisis. The policy of one mandated counselling session prior to reunion is examined in this light The author discusses the wider implications of the legislation in terms of society's acknowledgement of past injustice, and the lost potential for healing. Implications for family therapy are discussed.     

Partitioning the adoption process to better predict permanency

Under federal outcome standards established by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, discharges to adoption are expected to occur within 24 months of the most recent removal from home for at least 32% of cases. In the research recounted here, adoption is treated as a process composed of two discrete steps: adoptive placement and adoption finalization. It was hypothesized that the predictors of completion may differ for each step, offering direction for practice and policy. Predictors included child characteristics, maltreatment history, placement history, system variables, and service delivery variables. Children's adoption event history was viewed through five annual entry cohorts, including all children with adoption case plans, rather than the exit cohorts of the federal measure, which includes only adopted children. Over this five-year period, the length of time from removal to adoption finalization decreased significantly, primarily as a result of decreased time from adoption placement to finalization. Child and family characteristics and abuse/neglect history were found to be much more predictive in the analysis of timely adoption placement than of time from placement to finalization. These and other significant predictors suggest strategies for improving timely adoption outcomes.     

Factors affecting adoption in Wales: Predictors of variation in time between entry to care and adoptive placement

In the UK, there has been an increasing emphasis in recent years on reducing the delay in making permanent placements for children who cannot remain living with their birth parents. Adoption is one such plan for permanence. This study examined those factors that predicted a lengthier care episode for a national sample of children recently placed for adoption. The data was drawn from the Wales Adoption Study. This is a mixed methods study that analysed information from the adoption reports of all children placed for adoption over a 13 month period during 2014 and 2015 (n = 374). Children were aged between 0 months and 6 1/2 years on entry into care. On average, the time between entering care and moving into an adoptive placement was 528 days. The results of the regression analysis showed that four child-related factors were associated with a longer wait in care before being placed for adoption. These were developmental delay, externalizing behaviour, serious and enduring health problems/disability and exposure to domestic violence. The procedural factors examined showed no association with length of time to placement. The findings from this study make a substantial contribution to further developing what is known about the timeliness of adoption within the current UK context. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

The economics of adoption of children from foster care

Federal initiatives since 1996 have intensified the efforts of states to achieve adoption for children in foster care. For many waiting children, the path to adoption is long. The authors offer an economic analysis of adoption from foster care, with an emphasis on the reasons why achieving the goal of adoption for all waiting children may be so difficult. The authors then estimate the determinants of adoptions from foster care across the states using data for fiscal years 1996 and 1997. Adoption assistance subsidy rates stand out as the most important determinant of adoptions from foster care, followed by use of alternatives (e.g., intercountry adoption). Adoptive matching on the basis of race does not appear to prevent adoptions from foster care in the aggregate, leaving flaws in the matching process, such as a lack of information and difficulty using the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), as a primary reason why children wait.     

The sociological significance of ambivalence: An example from adoption research

The current adoption controversy in the United States has prompted researchers to study factors that influence adoptees' attitudes towards obtaining identifying information ¹ about their birth parents. This paper considers the usefulness of some recent methodological perspectives on the contextuality of meaning for the purpose of conducting and analyzing adoption interviews. I will argue that, because of the tendency among researchers to look only for adoptees' reasons for or against requesting genealogical knowledge, the dilemma-ridden nature of their thinking has been ignored. Theoretically, the paper proposes an alternative approach to adoption research and raises the issue of the sociological and methodological significance of ambivalence. Empirically, it shows that contradictory or ambivalent attitudes towards the disclosure of identifying information can be interpreted, not as signs of inconsistency, immaturity or delusion, but in terms of two intersecting moral vocabularies: the ethic of self-discovery and the ethic of reciprocity. Rather than merely expressing individual differences in experience or temperament, these vocabularies reflect moral themes in the culture at large.     

Integrating special-needs adoption with residential treatment.

Current estimates indicate that 76% of Iowa children whose parents' rights have been terminated and who are listed on the adoption exchange are older children with emotional/behavioral disabilities. Residential treatment can play a significant role in preparing difficult-to-place children (e.g., seven- to 14-year-olds with moderate to severe emotional or behavioral problems) for adoptive placement [Powers and Powell 1982]. The SATT model offers the opportunity to effectively manage the risks in adoptive placement for these children.     

Envisaging the adoption process to strengthen gay- and lesbian-headed families: recommendations for adoption professionals

Although a growing number of child placement agencies are serving lesbians and gay men, a dearth of literature exists for adoption agency policies and practices related to working with this population. This article explores the unique characteristics and strengths of prospective gay and lesbian adoptive parents throughout each of the three phases of the adoption process-preplacement, placement, and postplacement-as well as provides suggestions for adoption professionals working with gays and lesbians. Data from a recent qualitative study of single, gay adoptive fathers are used to illustrate examples and expose areas of potential strengths of adoptive parents not generally explored in the preplacement or preparatory stage. Special attention also is given to the continuing needs of adoptive families headed by gays and lesbians after adoptive placement. Specifically explored are the needs for developing linkages with similar families, as well as providing resources designed to promote successful outcomes of adopted children raised by gays and lesbians.     

Supporting families throughout the international special needs adoption process

Due to changing trends in international adoption, a greater number of placements are now special needs. While most special needs adoptions are successful, they do present a higher risk for placement instability. Thus, adoptive parents and children are faced with an increasing need for support services. This article explores literature related to support throughout the international special needs adoption process including medical, information/education, social support and direct intervention both pre- and post-adoption. While many support strategies, both formal and informal, are utilized by families and adoption professionals, and some are promoted in policy related literature, few have been validated through empirical evidence. Findings reveal a need for further research around effective pre-adoption training programs for parents, preparation tools for children, and larger scale studies to evaluate post-placement services for each sub-group of international special needs adoptees.     

Alternatives to international adoption: Emotional issues in the Korean cultural context

International adoption has been a significant part of South Korea's response to displaced or unwanted children since the 1960s. This paper discusses the growing concern prompted by Korea's continuing reliance on international adoption, and highlights the emerging range of alternative options for children's care. The paper explores the impact of traditional Korean cultural values on public attitudes toward adoption and adopted children, and contrasts Korea's current government policies and placement programs with those in Australia, where adoption occurs only rarely.Among the alternative forms of care currently being promoted in Korea are domestic adoption, foster care, congregate care and youth-headed households. The discussion includes an overview of their advantages and limitations, and their prospects for future expansion.The paper concludes by highlighting a number of key measures that need to be addressed in Korea if the current alternatives to international adoption are to be successful. The authors argue that it is well within Korea's capability to initiate change and implement programs inside its own national boundaries to provide effective care and services to its vulnerable children.     

Birth Mothers' Perceptions of Their Parented Children's Knowledge of and Involvement in Adoption

An examination of birth mothers' perceptions of the relationship between the children she is parenting and the children she placed for adoption offers unique insight into the life course of openness. In the present study, 94 birth mothers from the United States participated in a semi-structured interview, discussing their oldest parented children's knowledge of and experience with their siblings placed for adoption. Results show that 59 birth mothers have an oldest parented child who is aware of their adopted sibling, although 4 of these do not know their true relationship with the adopted sibling. Of these, 27 had direct contact with the adopted sibling, 4 had indirect contact through the birth mother, and 1 had previous contact that has since ceased. A majority of birth mothers indicated that their oldest parented child would like more contact, direct contact, or more information about the adopted youth. Implications for research and practice with birth mothers and their children separated by adoption are discussed.     

Chinese adoption: practices and challenges.

The majority of children in China who are the subject of protective services are either abandoned or disabled. Recent reform efforts in China's child welfare practices have focused on the importance of providing safe, permanent families for children in lieu of long-term institutional care. Although challenges still exist, adoption and foster care are increasingly being seen as viable alternatives for these children.     

Privatization and subsidization of adoption services from foster care: Empirical evidence

This paper analyzes empirical differences in adoption services of public and private agencies. The empirical investigation includes cross-sectional time series aggregated data for the 50 states within the United States from 1996 to 2010 with detailed statistical analysis of the period from 2000 through 2010 for which consistent and comprehensive data exists. Under private agencies, only 11.6 months elapse from the time the courts terminate the natural parents' custody until the child is adopted, while with public agencies the same process lasts for 16 months. Furthermore, during the decade from 1996 to 2006 private agencies completed more adoptions than public agencies. However, the performance gap in favor of private agencies was eliminated in 2006 and in the following years. The results suggest that privatization of adoption of young and healthy children did not show an advantage for private services. However, transitioning adoption services to private agencies for older children or children with complex special needs, improves the adoption services compared with those of public agencies. Subsidization especially improves the adoption of older children and of all children with special needs while it appears to be statistically insignificant or implied as unnecessary for healthy babies.     

The Development of Adoption Law

Abstract

Adoption law in the United States, since its inception in 1851, has reflected changes in society and in child welfare practices. The author reviews its evolution from an issue involving property and inheritance, to a means of helping children and creating the ideal nuclear family, to the current understanding that virtually all children needing permanent homes are “adoptable” and that families can take many forms. She also recounts changes in the perceived “best interests” of all members of the adoption triad over time, and the growing recognition of links between adoption and child welfare policy. Finally, she discusses current controversies including open adoption; rights of birth parents, including unmarried fathers, and the role of culture and race.     

The role of faith in adoption: achieving positive adoption outcomes for African American children

African American children are overrepresented in foster care by more than twice their proportion in the population (U.S. Government Accountability Office [USGAO], 2007). Building upon research relating faith (religiosity) to positive health and mental health, this study utilized cognitive and religious coping theories to examine the influence of faith on choosing to adopt, achieving positive adoption outcomes, and reducing disproportionality. From Louisiana and Texas, 113 families who adopted 226 children, 48% African American, participated in a survey measuring children's behavior and parent distress (PSI-SF Difficult Child and Parent Distress Subscales) and religiosity (Hoge Intrinsic Religiosity Index). Of the respondents, 93% of the respondents belonged to a religious congregation, 86% attended church weekly. Controlling for child's behavior, religiosity predicted lower stress in adoptive parenting; church attendance was related to improvement in parental health since adopting. Faith was rated most frequently as essential in parents' decisions to adopt. The study concludes that faith may be an asset in increasing adoptions and improving adoption outcomes resulting in increased numbers of African American children adopted.