Changing Agency Practices Toward Openness in Adoption

Abstract

The impact of openness in adoption on private adoption agencies' practices and services was examined. In 1987-89 and 1993 staff from private agencies participated in structured interviews concerning their current practices regarding openness and the services offered by the agency. Over time, agencies tended to offer a greater range of openness options. Agency personnel reported that client demand, changes in agency philosophy, and competition from independent or private adoptions were among the most salient reasons for this change. Compelled to adopt new roles in response to openness, many agencies now offer mediation services to help address requests for information or problems within the adoptive family-birthparent relationship. The perspectives of adoption staff regarding the main advantages and disadvantages of each type of openness are explored, and implications for practice are discussed.     

Setting Performance Goals for Adoption Services

ABSTRACT

Adoption is one of the several goals for child welfare services when children cannot remain at home. Adoption does not, however, become a goal of child welfare services unless family reunification cannot occur. Further, adoption is also not always the appropriate goal when children are living with relatives available to reunify. Yet, President Clinton's Adoption 2002 initiative offers incentives for adoptions that only depend on the number of adoptions, not on their relationship to reunifications. California's adoption initiative takes a different but also oversimplified approach to setting adoption standards by basing them on the number of adoptions per adoption worker. Under these approaches, agencies that increase their reunifications and keep their adoptions constant are not rewarded and agencies that decrease their reunifications and increase their adoptions are rewarded. This can create a misunderstanding of the program as antifamily and resentment toward adoptions. Agencies' adoption rates should be rewarded only after estimating the pool of adoptable children and taking the likelihood of reunification into account. A model for estimating these factors is presented.     

Factors Influencing African American Adoptive Parents' Attitudes Toward Open Adoption

Abstract

This study explores the attitudes toward open adoption among 83 African American families adopting children through two private California agencies. Independent t-tests compared families who would and would not consider some level of open adoption. Findings reveal that the majority of families were quite hesitant about open adoptions, based primarily on the fear that birth parents would want the child back. Those with attitudes that are more positive were more likely to be in two-parent families and to have had personal experience with informal adoption.     

Adoptions, 2000–2001

ABSTRACT

The number of domestic adoptions has remained relatively constant over the past 15 years, varying between 121,000 and 127,000, but placements have increasingly been completed by public agencies. Adoption of foreign-born children in the United States has nearly tripled in the past 20 years. Despite the increased national interest in adoption in the past decade and the efforts of many dedicated individuals and agencies, it is still difficult to determine the total number of adoptions in the United States. No one agency is charged with compiling adoption information on all adoptions in the United States, and the agencies that do have access to some types of adoption information have no mandate or incentive to compile that information so that it could be integrated with other sources of adoption information.     

Lesbian,Gay, and Heterosexual Couples in Open Adoption Arrangements: A Qualitative Study

Little research has attended to the role of gender and sexual orientation in shaping open adoption dynamics. This qualitative, longitudinal study of 45 adoptive couples (15 lesbian, 15 gay, and 15 heterosexual couples) examined adopters' motivations for open adoption, changes in attitudes about openness, and early relationship dynamics. Key findings revealed that heterosexuals often described feeling drawn to open adoption because they perceived it as the only option, insomuch as few agencies were facilitating closed adoptions. In contrast, sexual minorities often appreciated the philosophy of openness whereby they were not encouraged to lie about their sexual orientation in order to adopt. Attitudes about openness varied over time, and changes in attitudes were attributed to a variety of factors such as perceived birth parent characteristics and the perceived nature of the birth parent relationship. Overall, although some participants reported tensions with birth parents over time, most reported satisfying relationships.     

Grief Resolution of Birthmothers in Confidential,Time-Limited Mediated,Ongoing Mediated,and Fully Disclosed Adoptions

Abstract

This study examines grief resolution issues for 75 birthmothers who placed infants for adoption four to twelve years ago in confidential, time-limited mediated, ongoing mediated, or fully disclosed adoptions. Interview data from sets of birthmothers and adoptive families were analyzed. Birthmothers in each of the four adoption arrangements exhibited the continuum of grief resolution, from “very poor” to nearly “very good” resolution. However, birthmothers in fully disclosed adoptions had significantly better grief resolution than those with confidential and time-limited mediated adoptions, and those in ongoing mediated had better grief resolution than those with time-limited mediated adoptions. Implications of these findings for pre-placement planning as well as pre- and post-adoption services are discussed.     

Initial Validation of the Open Adoption Scale: Measuring the Influence of Adoption Myths on Attitudes Toward Open Adoption

All adoptions, including those facilitated by public agencies, should be evaluated for openness. Although there are no national figures related to openness in public welfare, there are indications that it is not considered in all cases. Adoption myths may be one of the reasons that adoption workers do not always assess a family's ability to maintain a more open adoption arrangement. The following study is the initial validation of a multidimensional psychometric instrument developed to measure myths as they relate to open adoption. Based on a sample of 547 university students, the results indicate very good reliability and acceptable factorial and construct validity. The instrument was designed as a training and research tool to inform child welfare personnel and policy makers of the influence of adoption-related myths on child welfare adoption practice.     

Training for Transracial Adoptive Parents by Public and Private Adoption Agencies

ABSTRACT

Social work literature strongly suggests that parents who adopt across race need specialized training to develop cultural competence in order to help their children develop positive racial identity and survival skills for life in a multicultural society. None-the-less, there is little documentation of agency training for transracial adoptive parents. The purpose of this study is to describe aspects of training provided to transracial adoptive parents by public and private adoption agencies in the United States. Utilizing a survey with a random sample of public and private agencies, results (n = 195) indicate that about half of the agencies that facilitate transracial adoption provide relevant training. Implications for social work practice and research are discussed.     

The practice of open adoption:Findings from a study of 1396 adoptive families

Adoption agencies, centers and attorneys are arranging and creating open adoptions in increasing numbers across the United States, but little is known about how widespread this practice is, or how adoptive families manage the day to day practice of openness. New evidence from a survey of 1,396 newly adoptive families in California sheds light on the practice of open adoption and shows that the majority of these adoptions are open in some form, and that many adoptive families are cautiously comfortable with post-placement contact. Open practices across transracial and relative adoptions are also explored.     

Openness in International Adoptions

ABSTRACT

Along with the increasing numbers of international adoptions, there is a developing trend toward openness. In this study, the authors examined the experiences of U.S. adoptive parents who adopted children from the Republic of Marshall Islands. The surveys addressed their initial motivations, the facilitation process for openness, the terms and conditions and the level of understanding of them by birth and adoptive parents, and insights gained from their experiences. The results suggest that in general, this group of parents embraced openness from the onset, they have had difficulty maintaining contact with birth parents, and still would recommend open international adoptions to prospective adoptive parents. Policy and research implications are discussed.     

Communicative Openness in Adoption,Knowledge of Culture of Origin,and Adoption Identity in Adolescents Adopted From Romania

Eighty adolescents (39 male, mean age = 15.74 years) adopted from Romanian institutions in early childhood rated their own and their adoptive parents’ communicative openness, their knowledge of Romanian culture, and positive and negative feelings concerning birth parents, being placed for adoption, and being adopted. Adolescents were moderately comfortable talking about their adoptions but perceived their parents to be very comfortable. Nearly 40% reported no familiarity with Romanian culture. Youth with more familiarity with Romanian culture were more communicatively open and had more positive adoption identities. Greater communicative openness was also associated with more positive adoption identities. Gender and age at adoption differences are reported.     

Communicative Openness About Adoption and Interest in Contact in a Sample of Domestic and Intercountry Adolescent Adoptees

Adolescent intercountry (n = 122) and domestic (n = 40) adoptees and their adoptive parents were asked about their views on communicative openness. The adoptees were also asked for their thoughts on birth parents and contact. A modest association between communicative openness and feelings about adoptive status and self-esteem was found. Girls were more interested in many aspects of their adoptions than boys. Compared with the situation at 11 years of age, there was greater parent-child agreement on whether the child had difficulties talking about adoption. Nevertheless, at age 15, children were still nearly twice as likely to report difficulties talking about adoption issues than their adoptive parents realized. At the age of 15, the majority of the adoptees expressed a desire for contact with birth relatives, but this was a reduction from the numbers at age 11. They also reported finding it easier to talk about adoption issues than they did at the age of 11. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

A Comparison of Biological and Adoptive Mothers and Fathers

ABSTRACT

While poverty is suspected to be the major reason for birth families relinquishing their children for international adoptions, little is known of the impact of the interplay among the economic, familial, and cultural aspects of a particular sending country which culminates in the adoption decision. In this study, the authors studied 73 birthmothers in the Republic of Marshall Islands, a small Western Pacific island nation with a total population of 68,000, to explore the influences that led to their adoption decision. Their findings reflect an environment of extreme poverty, the breakdown of traditional family support systems, and the exploitation of the cultural understanding of adoptions.     

Adolescents' feelings about openness in adoption: implications for adoption agencies

Adoption research commonly uses parents' reports of satisfaction when examining openness in adoption arrangements. This qualitative study aimed to fill a gap in the adoption research by using adolescents' voices to gain a better understanding of their adoption experiences. Adopted adolescents (n = 152) were interviewed concerning their satisfaction with the openness in their adoption arrangements with their birthmothers. Results and implications from this study may affect how adoption agencies work with adopted adolescents and their families, and may influence a broader understanding of the recent trend toward open adoption arrangements.     

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.     

Adopted Adolescents' Preoccupation With Adoption: The Impact on Adoptive Family Relationships

This study examines the relationship between the intensity of adopted adolescents' thinking about their adoptions and their adoptive family relationships. Participants included 135 adopted adolescents involved in an ongoing study of openness in adoption. Adolescents who reported high levels of preoccupation with adoption reported greater alienation from their adoptive fathers than did adolescents who reported moderate or low levels of preoccupation. Adolescents with extremely high levels of preoccupation reported significantly higher levels of alienation and significantly lower levels of trust for their adoptive mothers and fathers than adolescents with extremely low levels of preoccupation. These findings, along with the divergences between adolescents' perceptions of dyadic and overall family relationships, are discussed in terms of how they relate to the process of adoptive identity exploration.     

The effects of adoption openness and type on the mental health,delinquency, and family relationships of adopted youth

ABSTRACT

Analyzing the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents, this study examines the impact of open adoption, demographics, and other factors on adopted children’s mental health, delinquent behavior, and family relationships. Specifically, we compare findings for youth in private and public (i.e., foster care) adoptions and identify key similarities and differences between predictors of children’s well-being across these two types of adoption. We find that youth in open foster care adoptions are more likely to receive an attachment disorder diagnosis than those in closed foster care adoptions but are also more likely to have family relationships characterized by trust and adoptive parents’ willingness to recommend adoption to others. Further, we find children in both public and private adoptions who are older at placement are more likely to have posttraumatic stress disorder diagnoses. For children in private adoptions, no statistically significant predictors affected youths’ delinquency outcomes or family relationships, with the exception of parents of private adoptees in households characterized by lower levels of poverty indicating they would be more likely to recommend adoption to others. The implications of the key findings are discussed with regard to service provision for multiple types of adoptive families.     

The International Adoption Experience: Do They Live Happily Ever After?

This study presents the perspective of parents who adopted children internationally and their now adult adopted children regarding the impact of international adoption on their lives. Areas explored include adaptation of the child and family, challenges experienced along the way, influence on various aspects of their lives, parent-child relationship, rewards and regrets associated with the adoption experience, recommendations for those considering international adoptions, and an adjective that would describe their journey. The outcome illuminates the success of international adoptions and the life-changing bond that is formed when parents and children transcend all boundaries to form a family to call their own.     

Adoption in the Media

Abstract

This article reviews four print pieces from national magazines and newspapers. They cover the subjects of adoption of older children from foster care, importing pregnant women from foreign countries to facilitate American adoptions of their babies, the death of a child with reactive attachment disorder, and the adoption of Chinese girls in New York City.