Approaching Adoption and Foster Care in Brazil

Adoption and foster care have recently undergone various changes in Brazil. Nonetheless, there is a lack of official research data on children who have been adopted or have been living in foster families or institutions. In this paper, after a brief account of the historical aspects of adoption and foster care in Brazil, we focus our discussion on two major points: (1) the difficulties in promoting a “new culture of adoption,” which would develop in “the child's best interest,” and (2) the meanings and prejudices related to late adoption that increase the number of children who remain for many years in institutions.     

Hardiness of Foster Families and the Intent to Continue to Foster

ABSTRACT

Recent research in the area of foster care has examined a number of external factors that may influence foster family retention. However, insufficient research has been devoted to the question of foster family hardiness, or internal strengths of foster families, and how it may affect retention. Hardiness in families means that families possess a belief that they can control or influence events of their experience, feel deep commitment, and anticipate change as a positive challenge. Additionally, hardy families exhibit a confidence in their abilities. Utilizing the Family Hardiness Index, this research reports findings from a study of 82 foster families from one southeastern United States metropolitan area. Foster families who reported an intent to continue to foster scored higher on the Family Hardiness Index than families from a non-clinical sample. Foster families who reported an intent to continue also scored higher than those foster families who reported they did not intend to continue. Logistic regression indicated that higher levels of hardiness and fewer years of licensure as foster parents were significantly associated with intent to continue to foster. The study also discusses implications of hardiness screening of prospective foster families and its potential value for improving support to and retention of foster parents, thus increasing stability and service efficacy for the children they serve.     

Historical Analysis of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 in an attempt to provide safety, stability, and permanency for maltreated children. To help provide a historical context, child welfare legislation preceding ASFA is reviewed. In this historical analysis, the precipitating events that led to the creation of ASFA are assessed. In addition, a detailed review of congressional hearings related to this Act is given. The key components and goals of this policy are outlined. Finally, revisions made to ASFA are discussed, and its influence on proceeding legislation is presented.     

Open Adoptions of Children From Foster Care in New South Wales Australia: Adoption Process and Post-Adoption Contact

In Australia, adoptions from care are infrequent and mostly conducted in New South Wales (NSW) despite being legislated in other states. This qualitative study explored the experiences of the adoption process and post-adoption contact of eight foster parents adopting children in their care through the public welfare agency in NSW. The interviews were analyzed following a structured approach, by means of thematic networks. The study revealed that adoption processes and maintenance of birth family relationships depend on a number of factors (e.g., the behavior of the professionals, adoptive and birth parents, children's reactions, policy and practice contexts). However, the adoptive parents' experience of the adoption process was largely determined by the system, and in most cases this appeared to subsequently influence post-adoption connection in the families. The findings and the adoptive parents' recommendations are likely to apply beyond specific geographical jurisdictions. In addition, the reported complexities regarding connections through open adoptions at times resemble those tensions faced by children living in other family types such as those referred to in the foster care literature. Further research on some of these commonalities may expand in some countries the debate regarding adoption as an inherently contestable practice.     

Youth Perspectives on Being Adopted from Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents: Implications for Families and Adoption Professionals

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from a qualitative study on the perspectives of youth who were adopted from the United States foster care system by lesbian and gay parents and includes focus group data from adopted persons and survey data from adoptive parents. This study fills a unique gap in the literature by hearing directly from the youth through focus groups. Findings indicated that children use a variety of strategies for sharing or not sharing that their parents are gay or lesbian and that many experience bullying and teasing that may be different than experienced by other children. The children adopted by lesbian and gay parents often perceive themselves as being more accepting of others, having more understanding of people, and being more compassionate toward people than those not raised by lesbian or gay parents. Suggestions are provided for training of adoption professionals and prospective families about the challenges and benefits for youth adopted by lesbian and gay parents.     

Adolescents in Foster Care with Their Grandparents

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research was to analyse the relationships between foster grandparents and their adolescent grandchildren. The sample consisted of 54 grandparents from Malaga (Spain), with a mean age of 65.9 for grandfathers and 63.6 for grandmothers, who foster 70 adolescents, 31 boys and 39 girls, with ages ranging between 11 and 17. The majority of the grandfathers were retired, while the grandmothers worked at home. The grandparents presented a low level of education and scant economic resources. The results indicated that the relationship between the grandparents and grandchildren was mainly perceived as good or very good. The grandparents perceived that grandchildren maintained a better relationship with their grandmothers, whom they trusted more and to whom they disclosed more, than with their grandfathers. The grandparents recognised that their relationship with their grandchildren was perceived more as parent-child than grandparent-grandchild. The grandparents were more affectionate and communicative with their grandchildren than critical or rejecting. They also used more inductive styles than rigid or indulgent forms when applying rules.     

Using Subsidies to Promote the Adoption of Children from Foster Care

Since 1978 the federal government has implemented a variety of programs to promote the adoption of children from foster care. A key part of these programs has been the use of subsidies to lower the cost of adopting and parenting children who have been in foster care. Although subsidies are a key part of federal policy, there has been little empirical research on the effect of subsidies on adoption rates. This paper uses data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System to estimate the impact of subsidy rates on adoption rates. Subsidies to families have a positive and statistically significant effect on adoption rates.

Open Adoption and Post-Adoption Birth Family Contact: A Comparison of Non-Relative Foster and Private Adoptions

This study used data from the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) to compare post-adoption contact in families with non-relative private domestic and foster care adoptions. This study is the first to use a nationally representative sample to examine and compare the extent of post-adoption contact in both private and foster adoptions. The results suggest that children adopted from foster care were less likely to experience post-adoption contact with their birth families than children adopted privately despite the fact that they were more likely to have lived with their birth families.     

Food in Foster Families: Care,Communication and Conflict

This study explores the significance of food and mealtimes in relation to the transition into foster care and the therapeutic settling of the child in a new family. In doing so, we draw upon an in‐depth, qualitative case study of 10 experienced foster families in the UK focusing on what helped them to be successful. At the time of the study, there were 16 foster children, aged 9–16, living with the families. Data collection included semi‐structured qualitative interviews and audio‐diaries with all family members who wished to be involved as well as eco‐maps produced by the young people. Thematic analysis and data extracts are reproduced in the study to demonstrate that meals and food preferences can function to affirm identities, membership and boundaries of family life as well as provide a site of conflict and control.     

Patterns and Predictors of Early Care and Education for Children in Foster Care

Patterns and predictors of center-based early care and education (ECE) of children in foster care were examined. Participants included 192 pre-Kindergarten age children in foster care. Foster parents reported demographics, ECE and other service use. Foster care history data was abstracted from case files. High rates of attendance in ECE prior to Kindergarten, including Head Start, other center-based ECE, or both were found. Children who attended Head Start were younger when first placed in foster care. Children who attended other center-based ECE services were more likely to live with kinship foster parents and foster families with higher incomes. Latent class analysis of ECE quantity, quality, type, and duration revealed three patterns: part-time Head Start, part-time other ECE, and full-time mixed ECE. Child and foster family characteristics predicted these patterns, illustrating distinct groups with potential implications for the development of children in foster care.     

Attachment Behavior of Children Adopted Internationally at Six Months Post Adoption

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe attachment behavior in children adopted internationally at six months post adoption. Twenty-two children and their adoptive mothers were observed at home for completion of an attachment measure. Mothers also completed a questionnaire on their child's preadoption care. Comparisons of children low and high in attachment security suggested that low secure children showed predominantly ambivalent attachment behavior or that they were still in the process of forming an attachment. Children having foster versus orphanage care prior to adoption differed in quality of preadoption care and in certain attachment behaviors, but not in overall attachment security.     

Agency-Related Barriers Experienced by Families Seeking to Adopt From Foster Care

ABSTRACT

Although about 100,000 children in foster care await adoption, families approved to adopt encounter obstacles in the adoption process. This nationwide longitudinal study identified agency-related barriers faced by prospective adoptive parents. A pur-posively recruited sample of 300 families seeking to adopt from foster care completed an in-depth, semi-structured telephone interview and quarterly follow-up surveys until they either finalized a foster care adoption (n = 98) or discontinued (n = 102) the process, followed by an exit interview by telephone. Findings revealed the top barriers encountered were adoption process logistics (n = 185, 92.5%), agency communication and responsiveness (n = 159, 79.5%), agency emotional support (n = 130, 65%), availability of services (n = 65, 32.5%), and juris-dictional and interjurisdictional issues (n = 52, 26%). Policy and practice implications are provided with recommendations for improving procedures, services, support, and communication to better retain prospective adoptive parents and improve adop-tion outcomes.     

Socioemotional Problems Among Young Children in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparison of Kinship and Foster Care Placement

This study examined socioemotional problems among children age 0 to 5 years in formal kinship and foster care across a northeastern state. Findings revealed that more than one third of children in both types of care showed socioemotional problems. More children were placed in kinship care when they lived in rural settings, were biracial, or spent time in the neonatal intensive care (NICU) after birth. Unique child and maltreatment characteristics predicted socioemotional problems scores for each placement type. Among children in kinship care, being biracial, spending time in the NICU, and being referred to child welfare for either caregiver substance abuse or neglect were related to socioemotional problems. When children were in foster care, spending time in the NICU, being referred to child welfare for child neglect, or being referred for intimate partner violence were all related to socioemotional problems. The results have implications for child welfare policy and practice, especially in light of increased efforts to place children with kin.     

Foster Parents Speak: Preferred Characteristics of Foster Children and Experiences in the Role of Foster Parent

Foster parents play a pivotal role in the child welfare system. A study that employed focus groups with foster parents was conducted at a private foster care agency with the initial purpose of understanding the characteristics of foster children that foster parents both preferred and not preferred. In the qualitative research tradition, their answers addressed the topic of characteristics and expanded to provide additional data on their experience as foster parents. Using theme analysis, the following themes were generated: foster care as service; foster parents' preferences of foster children's characteristics; foster parents do not feel valued or trusted; increased caseworker and foster parent partnership; problems in the foster care and related systems; and focus group as support. Implications for research and practice are forwarded.     

Children in Foster Care and the Development of Favorable Outcomes

Young foster children have invariably faced a variety of risks that are strongly linked to long-term deficits in functioning across multiple developmental domains. Despite these risks, however, some children demonstrate more favorable outcomes and exhibit adaptation and the development of assets. In the present study, the relationship of early childhood factors (e.g., maltreatment history, placement history, parenting practices, environmental stress, developmental status, and attachment behavior) to the development of favorable outcomes in middle childhood was examined in a sample of foster children who had been in foster care in preschool (N = 35). Favorable outcomes were defined as demonstrations of emotion regulation and school adjustment during middle childhood. Developmental status (particularly attention and executive functioning) and a lack of environmental stress during early childhood foster care experiences had a significant positive relationship with the development of emotion regulation and school adjustment in middle childhood.     

Fictions and Facts about Parents and Parenting Older First-Time Entrants to Foster Care

Knowledge about the parents of older first-time entrants into foster care is embedded in fictions created by media images, anecdotal stories of professionals in the child welfare system, as well as reports and observations of youths who have experienced foster care. Even though there are caring and effective nonrelatives who are foster parents, the public perception of non-relative foster parents is sometimes quite negative. In order to separate some of the facts from some of the fictions about the parents/caregivers of older first-time entrants to foster care, this article will describe the parents and relative caregivers (grandparents and others) of older first-time entrants to foster care in an urban public welfare agency by examining maltreatment data.     

Identity Formation in Children and Young People in Open Adoptions from Out-of-home Care in New South Wales,Australia

Semi-structured interviews were used to explore identity development for nine adoptees (aged 9–23 years) who were adopted by their foster carers in New South Wales, Australia. Adoptions were open, with court-ordered face-to-face contact with birth families. Findings suggest that participants had healthy adoptive identities, with coherent and meaningful narratives about their life histories. Adoption provided a sense of security and belonging. Openness provided information to build a self-narrative and encouraged discussion of adoption issues within adoptive families. Adoptive parents were critical in helping children understand their adoption and facilitating direct contact with birth families, thus laying foundations for positive identity development.     

Mental Health Risks to Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care

This paper describes mental health risks to the birth-to-three foster care population. The paper describes risks of a relational and contextual nature. Relational risk factors, which have been previously identified by foster care researchers and clinicians, include the following: 1. Poor attachment signaling by foster infants and toddlers; 2. Discomfort with infant and toddler dependency by some foster parents; and 3. Regulatory problems of foster infants and toddlers. Contextual risk factors include the following: 1. Lack of coordinated and coherent efforts to help foster infants and toddlers and; 2. Lack of support for the parent–child relationship during placement. A case example and discussion is offered to illustrate these risks.