Supporting Post-Adoption Contact for Children Adopted From Care: A Study of Social Workers' Attitudes

New legislation in England and Wales requires adoption agencies to specify the contact adopted children will have with their birth families and obliges agencies to offer all parties support to maintain such contact. This study, based on responses from 112 adoption social workers in England and Wales, used a case vignette methodology to explore workers' attitudes towards supporting post-adoption contact. The findings suggest that social workers think primarily about the child's needs and about providing services to or on behalf of the child. In contrast, adults' needs, especially the relationship between birth parents and adoptive parents, were less often considered. Workers were least orientated toward supporting birth parents. Workers from different agencies had very different attitudes towards the case vignette. This study suggests that supporting post-adoption contact is a complex professional task likely to be influenced by workers' own attitudes. Implications for training, support and supervision are discussed.     

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.     

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.     

Descriptive Analysis of Foster Care Adoptions in New South Wales,Australia

This paper describes the population of children in care in New South Wales, Australia, who were adopted by their foster families (N?=?372) from 2003 to 2014. Data pertaining to 370 of these adoptees were available and obtained from administrative records accompanying adoption applications. Most of these children had been placed with their subsequent adoptive family during infancy. However, adoption orders occurred much later in their lives. According to the available information at the time of adoption, these children did not suffer the high levels of mental health problems typically identified in populations of children in foster care. Though the data do not include follow-up to determine if the contact agreed upon at the time of adoption orders translated into practice, the most frequently postadoption arrangement recorded was face-to-face contact, four times a year with mother and siblings. The high levels of openness and face-to-face contact in Australian adoptions from care are a significant point of difference with other adoption models, and presents a need for research in the area.

IMPLICATIONS

• Following the change of legislation in New South Wales, Australia, that prioritises open adoption over foster care, social workers in the field of child protection are well placed to assist in this process.

• Social workers can assess children entering care to identify those who will benefit from adoption in a timely manner; undertake casework and administrative aspects of the adoption process; work closely with the child, and birth and adoptive families by delivering pre- and post-adoption supports; and conduct longitudinal research on the outcomes for children adopted from care.

     

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.

Foster Care to Kinship Adoption: The Road Less Traveled

ABSTRACT

Although a rather extensive literature concerning informal kinship care and kinship foster care has emerged over the past 30 years, much less is known about the children and families involved in kinship adoption. This article pays particular attention to recent research that investigates placement decisions and outcomes for former foster children adopted by relatives. This review suggests conclusions similar to broader reviews, in that kinship placement tends to show some consistently favorable outcomes across a range of study populations and methods. Financial need may be the greatest concern for relatives who adopt. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 expands adoption subsidies and provides states with the option of providing ongoing subsidies to certain relatives who take guardianship of family members from the foster care system. However, relative caregivers often are not well informed about financial supports afforded them by federal and state policies. Specialized programs for kinship adoptive families are still limited. Much of the growth of kinship placement has been due to the absence of other placement options for many children and value-based decision making that places a premium on kinship, rather than on evidence of the advantages of kinship adoption.     

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.     

Achieving Permanence in Foster Care for Young Children: A Comparison of Kinship and Non-Kinship Placements

ABSTRACT

A number of child welfare policies have reinforced the use of kinship care as the most preferred placement for foster children, reflecting the philosophy that maintaining children within their own extended family system contributes to their stability and well-being. Given the growing utilization and legislative emphasis on kinship care along with the push for an immediate implementation of permanency plans for children in foster care, this study examines how the permanency goal under the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) is being implemented and achieved. The reunification and permanency placement (adoption or legal guardianship) outcomes of children in relative and non-relative care are analyzed, focusing on the experiences of young children. Based on public child welfare agency data from 2000 to 2003, child, case, and placement variables are explored to identify which set of factors best explains case outcomes. The present study identifies the total length of foster placement (kinship and non-kinship), the length of family maintenance services, and the number of placement changes as the most important variables in determining family reunification and permanent placement (legal guardianship and adoption) outcomes for young children.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Educational and employment outcomes of adults formerly placed in foster care: Results from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

This study evaluated the intermediate and long-term effects of family foster care on adult functioning using a sample of 659 young adults from two public and one private child welfare agencies, case record reviews, structured interviews, and a survey response rate of 76%. Foster care alumni completed high school at a rate comparable to the general population, but a disproportionately high number of them completed high school via a GED. Alumni completion rates for postsecondary education were low. Consequently, many alumni were in fragile economic situations: one-third of the alumni had household incomes at or below the poverty level, one-third had no health insurance, and more than one in five experienced homelessness after leaving foster care. Two foster care experience areas were estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes in the Education outcome domain: positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications), and having broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care). For the Employment and Finances outcome domain, receiving broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care) was estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes.     

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.     

Promoting Well-Being Through Relationship Building: The Role of Smartphone Technology in Foster Care

Mindful of the tremendous risk factors that foster youths encounter, a federal demonstration project sought to increase their protective factors and to mitigate their adverse experiences. The ability to form and maintain healthy relationships is a key protective factor as it helps youths navigate life’s challenges, especially those challenges that result from unresolved loss and grief as a result of being in care. The study was guided by a relational competence framework. The youths were issued smartphones, and their social service providers were given a Web-based application designed to increase communication between the foster youths, their providers, and their mentors. Findings reveal several favorable outcomes associated with the use of the smartphones but also several unintended negative consequences. Recommendations for balancing youths’, caregivers’, and providers’ needs, positions, and rights are discussed. Likewise, the authors discuss the study’s implications for program development that utilizes smartphone technology to increase youths’ ability to experience healthy relationships.     

Children in Need in the South of Italy: Features and Distortions in the Deinstitutionalisation of Care

Despite the shift in emphasis from institutional to foster family care, in the south of Italy children in need are mainly looked after by residential services. These are required to provide family‐style care and to place children on a short‐term basis. Using data from research on a 100% sample of day units, residential services and children in care in the Calabria region, this article investigates the functioning of the system of care for vulnerable children at the sub‐national level, describes looked‐after children’s characteristics and life conditions and questions the extent to which a real deinstitutionalisation process has occurred in this area. Finally, some deinstitutionalisation recommendations are given.     

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.