The multiethnic placement act: Implications for social work practice

The issue of transracial adoption has been a controversial issue in foster care and adoption placement decisions. In 1994, the 104th Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA), forbidding agencies receiving federal funds from solely considering race, culture, and ethnicity in making foster care and adoption placement decisions. Congress mandated that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) develop policy guidelines for child placement agencies to follow. In April 1995, DHHS issued the guidelines that agencies were to follow. The authors of the paper discuss the MEPA, DHHS's policy guidelines for agencies and the guidelines' legal support, and the implications for social work practice in foster care and adoption placements.     

Domestic and International Transracial Adoption: A Synopsis of the Literature

While adoptions are as ‘old as humanity itself’, transracial adoptions are a fairly recent phenomenon, particularly in the United States. This article reviews the state of transracial adoption research through an examination of the domestic and international transracial adoption literatures. Special attention is paid to the controversy that erupted in the 1970s over Black–White adoption placements and to the emergence of international adoption as the dominant form of transracial adoption.     

Preventing disruption of special needs adoptions

The incidence of adoption disruptions is much higher in special-needs adoptions than in infant adoptions. This article reports the results of an analysis of differences in functioning between families able to sustain special-needs placements and families in which they disrupted. The finding is that the father plays a pivotal role in maintaining these placements. If he is actively involved in parenting, and able to nurture and support the mother in her role, placements are more likely to be sustained.     

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.     

Transracial and Inracial Adoption of Special Needs Children

About 300 families who adopted a special needs minority or mixed race child responded to a mailed questionnaire. Twenty-two percent of these adoptions were transracial. Transracial adoptees were more often handicapped and had more often experienced sexual abuse, group home or psychiatric placement, and adoption disruption prior to placement. Inracially adopting families evidenced less problematic parent-child relationships but little difference was apparent when multiple regression controlled for the above-mentioned factors. Exploratory analyses reveal interactions of transracial placement with several other factors.     

Post-adoption needs of families adopting children with developmental disabilities

The post-adoption service use and needs of 125 families who had adopted children with developmental disabilities were examined using a structured mail questionnaire. Although satisfaction with services used was generally high, many families did not have access to basic family support services such as respite care, life planning and support groups. Income was the only demographic variable which correlated with service need. Middle income families (mean = $30,000 to $34,999) were more likely to need support groups and babysitting for other children than either lower or higher income groups. Of particular note in this study is the relatively high incidence of transracial adoptions. Thirty-one percent of the sample had adopted children of a different race than the family. The implications of the findings and service recommendations are discussed.     

Transracial Adoption of Children with Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the transracial adoption of children with developmental disabilities. Thirty-four families who had adopted a child transracially were compared with 63 families who had adopted a child inracially; additionally, we compared adoptions in 13 families who had adopted both transracially and inracially. The adjustment of mothers and fathers was gauged separately at three time points using measures of depression, stress, family strengths, and subjective well-being. Results indicated few differences in functioning between transracial and inracial adoptive parents. Mothers in both conditions maintained low depression scores and comparable means on all other outcome variables. Fathers also revealed similar adjustment patterns despite adoption type. Thus, parents experience both short- and long-term positive outcomes from the transracial adoption of children with developmental disabilities.     

Adoption and the Race Factor: How Important is It?

As of 1997 federal law prohibits a state from delaying or denying adoption on the basis of race, color, or national origin. This article reports the major research findings, going back over 25 years, pertaining to transracial adoptions. The findings show that transracial adoptions serve the children's best interest and are consistent with the recently enacted federal law.     

Attachment and Racial Identity Issues:

Court battles are being wages and state laws are being challenged to enable white foster families to be considered as viable adoptive placements for black infants and young children. This article examines the issues associated with transracial adoption decision making and provides recommendations for agency practice and policy.     

Predicting adoption dissolutions for children involved in the child welfare system

While the majority of foster care adoptions are stable and secure, some dissolve, resulting in the return of children to the system. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with children’s reentry into the foster care system after adoptions are formally finalized. Using case records from the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) Bureau of Information Systems (BIS), we compared 123 dissolved adoptions to 74 successful ones. We found that children’s gender, history of physical abuse, exposure to drug use, and the number of foster care placements prior to adoption are associated with greater odds of dissolution. Furthermore, the odds of dissolution were higher for relative adoptive parents and for adoptive parents with prior substantiated Child Welfare cases. Implications for practice include ongoing targeted training and supportive services for families and improved screening procedures that address the unique needs of adoptive parents.     

Effectively addressing mental health issues in permanency-focused child welfare practice

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to highlight to the professional community the ongoing and shifting mental health needs of children exiting the child welfare system into permanent plans, dismissed from public caseloads yet still much in need of services, and, to present a model of one agency's integrated, outpatient intervention with promising preliminary data. The model offers a specialized; effective approach to the field to address the needs of families built by adoption and relative caregiving. The increasing number of adoptions, and relative and near-kin placements, mandate that competent, lifelong services to children and their permanent families correspondingly increase. This practice model poses one example of translating this responsibility into action, so that these children are discharged not just to one permanent family, but also with a plan for permanent competent support.     

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.     

Transracial Adoption:

Despite the controversy surrounding transracial adoptions, they continue to occur. Social workers in adoptions services must have a keen sense of the theoretical and practice issues that confront them and the consequent mandate to enable prospective non-minority parents to address the racial-cultural identity needs of the minority child they are adopting. An ecological framework elucidates these issues. The paper outlines examples of how adopting parents must comprehend and address the unique needs of their minority child.     

Black and White Thinking? Understanding Negative Responses to Transracial Adoptive Families

Many view adoptive families as less legitimate than birth families. Because of dissimilar appearance and racism, transracial adoptive families may be particularly devalued. White American undergraduates (N = 167) were randomly assigned to view an adoptive family photograph of White parents holding either a Black or White infant. Viewing a transracial family elicited less favorable adoption attitudes and greater negative emotions than viewing a same-race family. Participants’ own racism amplified the effect of the transracial family on negative emotions. Results suggest that transracial adoptive families are devalued due to negative feelings elicited by both dissimilar appearance and individual racism.     

Influence of Age on Transracial Foster Adoptions and Its Relation to Ethnic Identity Development

In the United States, ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the foster care system and underrepresented among potential adoptive parents. The need to find permanent homes for foster children has led to an increase in the controversial practice of transracial adoption (TRA), wherein ethnic minority children are placed in adoptive homes with Caucasian parents. While many child welfare scholars and dependency stakeholders support TRA as a positive alternative to foster care, others are concerned that such adoptions may inhibit the ethnic identity development of transracially adopted children. This article documents the large number of ethnic minority children who are adopted through TRA prior to the onset of ethnic identification and how age influences which children are adopted out of foster care. The findings indicate that young ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to be adopted through TRA compared to older children, an effect especially prominent among African Americans. Implications for the child welfare system are discussed.     

Korean transracial adoptee identity formation

Despite nearly half a million transnational adoptions to the United States, most of which are also transracial, sociological research has given little attention to this phenomenon. This review demonstrates why more sociological attention on Korean transnational adoption in particular is warranted. I review one area with overwhelming sociological significance—identity formation, including the distinct dimensions of racial, ethnic, and adoptive identities. While the bulk of this research has taken place outside of sociology, in reviewing the findings, I argue the sociological significance of Korean transnational transracial adoption to examinations of race, racialization, and identity formation.     

The Role of Worker Support and Religious Support in African American Special Needs Adoption: The Bennett Chapel Experience

Between 1998 and 2003 members and friends of Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in rural East Texas adopted 70 African American special needs children. Data from surveys of 113 Texas and Louisiana adoptive families, including 14 Bennett Chapel families, found that the amount of anticipated worker support influenced the decision to adopt, particularly for Bennett Chapel families, and actual worker support was significantly related to positive adoption impact on the family. Comparisons of Bennett Chapel with other families highlight the uniqueness of this initiative. Findings underscore the importance of worker support for facilitating adoptions in faith and rural communities and increasing adoptions of African American children.     

Mexican American Challenge to a Sacred Cow,by Deluvina Hernandez. Aztlan Publications,Chicano Studies Center,University of California,Los Angeles, 1970. 60 Pages

This study explored the attitudes of MSW students (N?=?147) toward transracial adoption and included an investigation of the students' personal experiences that may affect their attitudes. Statistical analyses revealed that although the majority of students supported the practice of transracial adoption, a number of students gave neutral responses to several items related to transracially adopted children's ethnic identity, likely indicating a lack of awareness of the consequences of transracial adoption. White students were more likely than students of other racial groups to support the practice of transracial adoption. Personal experiences, such as dating interracially and supporting interracial dating, appeared to affect students' attitudes toward transracial adoption. Limitations and implications for social work education and research are discussed.     

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.     

Family Trends and Transracial Adoption in the United States

Several demographic trends have changed family formation in the United States resulting in fewer babies being made available for adoption. At the same time the number of transracial adoptions appears to be increasing. We use the 5% Public Use Microdata Sample of the 2000 census and the National Survey of Adoptive Parents to examine the social and demographic characteristics of those who adopt transracially. Transracial adoption of Hispanic and Asian children, but not Black children, is associated with higher income and education levels. It is less likely in the South, but more likely among those who have had military experience.