The Impact of Historical Trauma and Mistrust on the Recruitment of Resource Families of Color

ABSTRACT

The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (MEPA-IEP) require states to diligently recruit “potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in the state for whom foster and adoptive homes are needed” (42 U.S.C. §622b(3)(9)). Nationally, 53% of the children in foster care and 55% of the children waiting to be adopted are children of color (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2014). Recruitment of resource families of color has historically presented challenges. This article critically examines the diligent recruitment efforts of an urban county targeting Black/African American, Latino, and Native American communities through a critical race theory lens. Although there was an overall increase in resource families, the racial and ethnic representation of resource families to children in care within the county improved for Latinos yet declined for Black/African Americans and Native Americans. Theoretically, these results indicate that the historical mistrust of communities of color toward the child welfare system is a barrier to successful recruitment of resource families from these communities.     

Assessing lesbian and gay prospective foster and adoptive families: a focus on the home study process

Foster care and adoption by gay men and lesbians is not a new phenomenon. Children and youth have always been placed by states and public agencies in homes with gay and lesbian parents. Some gay men and lesbians have fostered or adopted children independently from private agencies or have made private adoption arrangements with individual birthmothers, while others have fostered or adopted through the public system. Drawing on research literature, practice wisdom from 31 years of child welfare experiences, and case examples, this article offers child welfare professionals guidelines for competent assessment with prospective foster or adoptive parents who identify as lesbian or gay.     

Making MEPA-IEP work: tools for professionals

The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (MEPA-IEP) require states to develop plans that "provide for the diligent recruitment of potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in the state for whom foster and adoptive homes are needed." This paper explores the background of MEPA-IEP, describes the disparate outcomes for minority children in the child welfare system, and identifies agency challenges in finding permanent families for African American children. Tools are provided for successfully recruiting families while following MEPA-IEP and avoiding potentially discriminatory practices in placement decisionmaking.     

Improving Relationships in Child Welfare Practice: Perspectives of Foster Care Providers

Foster parents care for our nation’s most vulnerable children and adolescents. Their ability to provide care is impacted directly and indirectly by their interactions with public child welfare agencies and workers. This study examines the perspectives of 1095 foster parents in a southwestern state in the U.S. regarding what they believe child welfare workers are doing well and their suggestions for ways to improve relationships between foster care providers and child welfare workers. Foster parents commended caseworkers who were responsive to their needs and provided ongoing concrete and emotional support, and believed there was a need for improved communication and enhanced teamwork. Foster parents consistently acknowledged an overwhelmed child welfare system and the impact on child welfare workers and child welfare-involved families. Understanding the perspectives of foster parents can improve relationships between child welfare workers and foster parents, improve recruitment and retention efforts of foster parents, prevent disruption of children from foster homes due to license closure, and improve the overall well-being of child welfare-involved children and families.     

Intergenerational Programming for Foster-Adoptive Families

Abstract

Generations of Hope serves foster and adoptive children, their adoptive families and older adults through an innovative program that is breaking new ground in the development of caring intergenerational communities. It was created in 1993 as a non-profit social service agency designed to improve the service delivery and policies of the child welfare system; it ended up helping not only foster and adopted children but senior citizens as well. This paper examines critical social issues facing both foster children and senior citizens in the United States and how this program created a neighborhood that combines several generations of kin-like support to meet the needs of these vulnerable groups. We describe how the Generations of Hope model brings together in tangible ways critical shifts in perspective regarding foster care and gerontology. The lessons we have learned speak to research, policy making and practice.     

Post-permanency discontinuity: A longitudinal examination of outcomes for foster youth after adoption or guardianship

For over two decades, federal policies and case practices in child welfare have shifted to prioritize legal permanence for children in foster care, and increasing numbers of children have been placed in permanent adoptive or guardianship homes. Despite this change, little research has examined the long-term stability of legally permanent adoptive and guardianship homes for former foster youth. This study used child welfare administrative records to track a population of 51,576 children in Illinois who exited foster care through adoption or guardianship for ten years or until the age of majority. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to describe the population, and a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was estimated to examine the relationship between child age and discontinuity, controlling for several pre-placement characteristics. Results indicated that the vast majority (87%) of children did not experience post-permanency discontinuity. In addition, African American children and children who had more moves in foster care had a higher hazard of discontinuity, while children placed with siblings and children who spent three or more years in foster care had a lower hazard of discontinuity. Study findings also indicated that prevention efforts should be targeted at families with adolescents. This study contributes significantly to the scant literature on long-term outcomes for adoptive and guardianship families, and suggests several areas for future research.     

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.     

From Foster Care to Adoption and Guardianship: A Twenty-First Century Challenge

For nearly four decades, child welfare policy and practice have focused on the achievement of legal permanence for children in foster care. Although federal child welfare policy has resulted in the movement of children from state custody to legally permanent adoptive or guardianship families, little is known about the quality and enduring nature of these placements. A significant challenge of the twenty-first century child welfare system is how to ensure the well-being of children currently living with adoptive parents or guardians. This paper discusses child welfare policy and trends related to post-permanency well-being, including the decrease in Title IV-E foster care caseloads nationwide and the simultaneous increase in Title IV-E adoptive and guardianship caseloads. We highlight the needs of a twenty-first century child welfare system, including increased federal efforts to ensure child permanence and well-being after legal adoption or guardianship has been achieved, as well as more rigorous longitudinal and interdisciplinary research focused on the post-permanency adjustment of children and their families.     

Preparing and Partnering with Families to Support the Adoption of Children from Foster Care

ABSTRACT

This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of a pre-placement education and preparation curriculum (PREP) for prospective foster/adoptive parents in improving attitudes toward children with prenatal substance exposure and their substance-using birth parent and increasing willingness to adopt these children. Participants included 1,836 prospective parents seeking adoption through foster care who received three 3-hour sessions of PREP. Prospective parents completed questionnaires assessing their knowledge about important issues involved in adopting a child from foster care, attitudes, and willingness to adopt children with a variety of characteristics. Changes from pre- to post-intervention were examined. Results indicated significant increases in self-reported knowledge; significantly more positive attitudes toward substance-abusing parents and children with prenatal substance exposure; and significantly increased willingness to adopt children with a variety of potential difficulties, including children with serious behavior problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a biological history of mental illness. In sum, findings suggest that prospective adoptive parents who attended the PREP sessions felt better prepared by the end of training with regard to issues related to adoption of high-risk foster children with special needs, particularly those with prenatal substance exposure.     

An Assortative Adoption Marketplace: Foster Care,Domestic, and Transnational Adoptions

Among sociologists of the family, there has been relatively little attention paid to child adoption. When it is mentioned, many characterize the process as a universal family form. The goal of this review is to complicate this subject by disaggregating adoption into three different market segments: foster care, domestic, and transnational. Specifically, the paper argues that adoption is an assortative process that stratifies parents and children. Of the members of the adoption triad (e.g. the birthmother, adoptive parent(s), and adopted child), prospective adoptive parents possess the greatest degree of choice when deciding which market segment to pursue. However, their options are often tempered by strict eligibility requirements and financial restraints. Drawing broadly on the extant sociological and child welfare literature, the bulk of the review is devoted to identifying and analyzing how these social forces funnel parents and children into forever families. I pay particular attention to the demographic profiles of children and adoptive parents, including how transracial adoption factors into foster care, domestic, and intercountry adoptions.     

Contact with birth family in adoptive families headed by lesbian,gay male,and heterosexual parents

In this study, we examined the extent and type of contact with birth family in adoptive families headed by sexual minority and heterosexual parents prior to or at the time of placement, following placement, and currently. Data were drawn from the Modern Adoptive Families project, a nationwide, non-random survey of adoptive parents' beliefs and experiences that was conducted from 2012 to 2013. The current sample consisted of 671 families headed by heterosexual parents, 111 families headed by lesbian parents, and 98 families headed by gay male parents whose oldest adopted child was less than 18 years old and who was placed domestically either from the public child welfare system or from a private agency or independent adoption facilitator. For child welfare adoptions, sexual minority parents reported higher levels of contact and tended to have more positive relationships with birth family compared to heterosexual parents. Fewer differences by family type were found for private agency adoptions. Higher rates of contact and more positive relationships with birth family were found for private domestic placements compared to those from foster care. Secondary analyses suggest that family demographic and adoption placement differences between sexual minority- and heterosexual-parent families do not account for family type differences in contact with birth family. Policy and practice implications are discussed.     

Happily Ever After? The Journey From Foster Care to Adoption

Providing the foster child with a forever family through adoption is often seen as a happy ending to the long and painful journey through foster care. This qualitative study explores this complex journey from foster care to adoption from the perspective of 30 young adults aged 18 to 25 who were adopted from the foster care system after the age of 8. The results indicate that the foster and adoption experience for these youth cannot be compartmentalized when trying to understand the impact adoption has had on their overall sense of self. Implications for future research to explore the emerging concept of foster/adoptive identity for older youth adopted through the foster care system are provided.     

Examining risk,strengths, and functioning of foster families: Implications for strengths-based practice

ABSTRACT

Foster families provide safe and stable homes for children and youth who are removed from their homes due to maltreatment. Despite the stressors associated with bringing children in and out of a family’s home, many maintain healthy family functioning and continue fostering for many years serving an essential function in the child welfare system. This study sought to understand the factors that explained higher levels of family functioning within foster families. Collaborating with one statewide public child welfare agency, 681 licensed foster parents participated in an online survey that examined the association between family functioning with family strengths and risk factors. Findings from this study can inform strengths-based practice including training, assessment, and interventions for new and existing foster families to strengthen families and improve the well-being of children and youth in their care.     

Selective Campaigning for Foster Homes: An Empirical View

Experts on child welfare agree that it is vastly more desirable to care for children separated from natural parents in foster homes than in institutions. However, a shortage of foster homes has been a perennial problem in virtually every community in which they are needed. It would appear that, to the extent to which potential foster parents do exist in a community, this shortage could be attributed to inadequate and/or misdirected publicity.     

Psychotropic medications in child welfare: From federal mandate to direct care

Background and objectiveChildren in the welfare system are prone to uncoordinated and unmonitored mental health care, including psychotropic medications. To address these issues, federal legislation mandated that state child welfare agencies improve the coordination and oversight of psychotropic medications. However, there is no clear guidance on how to improve these practices, particularly at the level of direct care. We aimed to identify specific areas for improvement through state-wide surveys of four groups.MethodsWe surveyed all known members of four groups working directly with children in foster care in one small northeastern state. Respondents included 209 foster and adoptive parents, 169 child welfare staff, 84 mental health therapists, and 33 clinical prescribers. Survey items addressed practices and perceptions related to sharing of information and cross-system communication and monitoring of medication effects and side effects.ResultsNearly two in five foster and adoptive parents reported not regularly receiving information about the purpose or side effects of psychotropic medications, and they disagreed among themselves on who was primarily responsible for monitoring safety and effectiveness. One-third of child welfare staff and two-thirds of mental health therapists reported that information about psychotropic medications is not regularly shared with the child's provider team. Half of clinical prescribers reported not regularly communicating with child welfare staff.ConclusionsWe identified specific areas for improvement related to communication, sharing of information, monitoring, and role clarification. Strategies to improving these activities are key to ensuring the safe and effective use of psychotropic medications in this population.     

The Intersection of Multiple Minority Identities: Perspectives of White Lesbian Couples Adopting Racial/Ethnic Minority Children

In order to analyse the salience of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and adoptive status for lesbian adoptive parents, this study examined the challenges and strengths described by 20 White lesbian couples (40 women) who were adopting racial/ethnic minority children from within the United States. Data from two time points (pre‐ and post‐adoptive placement) were analysed qualitatively. Results indicated that the majority of women voiced concerns about raising racial/ethnic minority children in a ‘White privileged’ society. Many women reported facing a lack of understanding from others and were aware of multiple layers of stigma. However, having faced discrimination themselves as sexual minorities, many also perceived themselves as possessing unique strengths (e.g., experience coping with stigma). Many women expressed feeling that by drawing on support from their communities as well as their own awareness of and experience with diversity issues, they could prepare their children for the challenges they might face.     

Asian adolescent and young adult adoptees' psychological well-being: Examining the mediating role of marginality

Adolescent adoptees from an ethnic minority background different from that of their adoptive parents can face unique challenges to their psychosocial adjustment that may include, for some, a sense of marginality and low self-esteem. Using a web-based survey design with a sample of 100 internationally adopted Asian adolescent and young adults, the present study examined how feelings of marginality mediate the relationship between ethnic and racial socialization and psychological well-being among Asian adoptees. The results showed that (a) supports for racial socialization decreased adoptees' feeling of marginality and thereby, increased their positive sense of self; and (b) ethnic socialization was not related to feelings of marginality and self-esteem. This study illustrates the importance of providing post adoption services addressing racial socialization issues. Further, adoptive parents should teach their children how to deal with racial prejudice and discrimination, and prepare them by helping them to develop positive coping strategies.     

EDITORIAL

ABSTRACT

Many states are implementing concurrent planning as a means to expedite permanency planning for children in foster care; however, the parameters for this strategy vary significantly and the research regarding outcomes is sparse. This qualitative study sought to examine the experiences of child welfare experts, parents, foster parents and caseworkers regarding concurrent planning in New York State. The findings indicate that although concurrent planning is generally understood, training, services and supports are lacking for parents, foster parents, and caseworkers in the implementation of concurrent planning. In addition, although all parties see concurrent planning as an effective strategy, crafting and maintaining working relationships between key parties is challenging. Clearer communication with parents, joint training of caseworkers and foster parents, improved information disclosure, and fuller involvement of foster parents in the planning process are among the recommendations for improving practice.     

A comparison of foster and adoptive parent satisfaction and commitment

Recruitment and retention of foster parents, as well as the potential for disruption and dissolution of adoptions, pose significant problems for child welfare systems and the well-being of children they serve. Parent satisfaction and commitment are two important constructs that have shown bearing on these outcomes for both foster and adoptive parents. Parents who identified as foster only (n = 155), adoptive only (n = 195), or foster and adoptive (n = 60) in one northeastern state were asked about their satisfaction and commitment to the children they cared for through a cross-sectional survey. Results indicated that satisfaction and commitment were significantly higher in parents who identified as adoptive, as well as those who identified as foster and adoptive, versus those who identified as foster only. No statistically significant differences in the variables were found between the adoptive only and foster and adoptive groups. Findings highlight the potential importance of strategies to help support foster parents and the need for more research in this critical area.     

Ethnic Prejudice and Intergroup Contact in Prospective Adoptive Parents

While ethnic prejudice is considered a key factor in parental cultural socialization strategies, there is nonetheless a lack of research about this topic among prospective transracially adoptive parents and the extent of their contacts with members of minority ethnic groups. Participants in the current study were 175 couples: 102 prospective adoptive parents pursuing international adoption in Italy and 73 couples who at the time of the study neither had children nor were involved in the adoption process. Results showed, first, that prospective adoptive parents reported lower levels of ethnic prejudice and more positive intergroup contacts than the comparison group and, second, that adoptive status, together with a more positive intergroup contact, predicted lower levels of negative prejudice. Implications for pre- and post-adoption interventions are discussed.