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Posts Tagged ‘
foster care ’
Introduction
Foster care was created as a temporary arrangement. It does not meet a child's or family's need for permanency. Foster parents have a very important job that can be rewarding and challenging. When a child welfare agency removes a child from his or her biological family, the agency assumes legal responsibility for the child's care. Foster parents provide the child's everyday care. Biological parents retain their parental rights unless/until the court determines the child will be unable to return home safely. Generally, the agency, the foster parents, and the biological parents become partners in addressing the needs of the child in foster care.
In most cases, your job as a foster parent is meant to be temporary. You are often faced with developing a relationship with the child while also helping the child maintain a relationship with his or her biological family, or preparing the child for an adoptive family.
If the plan is for reunification, part of your job is to help the child and parent maintain an attachment with each other.
You should not expect the children in your care to deny the attachment they have to their biological family. The child cannot "shut off" the attachment while he/she is with you and turn it back on when he/she returns to his or her family. However, the child cannot maintain a "virtual attachment" with his or her family. Children in foster care need contact with their family in order to nurture the attachment.
At the same time, parents cannot become better parents without opportunities to parent their children. When children and families are separated, they miss the opportunity to adjust to each other as they grow and change. The relationship is like a muscle that will begin to weaken if it is not exercised.
Helping the parent and child to maintain a connection:
- Shows the biological family you are committed to helping the family reunify;
- Helps the biological family to feel supported and less threatened by the child's relationship with you;
- Helps children know you support their relationship with their parents;
- Helps children know they do not have to choose between you and their parents.
When children in foster care are unable to return to their biological family, the agency looks for a family to adopt the child. In many cases, a child's foster family will adopt the child. If not, the agency works with another family for the purpose of adoption.
If the child in your care will be moving on to an adoptive placement with another family, there are some things you can do to help the child and the adoptive family:
- Ask the child's social worker what you can do to help with the transition.
- Talk to the child about what is going on. The social worker should do this first, but children need to have this conversation many times with the important people in their lives. Explain the difference between foster care and adoption. Encourage the child to ask questions.
- Give the child a picture of you and your family to keep.
- Keep a picture of the child and let the child know you will always remember him or her.
- Explain to the child in language he or she can understand why you cannot or will not adopt him or her.
- Let the child know it is okay to live with and love his or her new adoptive family.
- Share information with the adoptive family such as: the child's likes, dislikes, progress in school, and behavior, and the names and numbers of important people in the child's life so the child can stay connected with those people.
When children enter foster care, they bring their biological families with them mentally and emotionally. They may feel as though they suddenly have two sets of parents. Sometimes they feel pulled between the two families because of their attachments to both.
Children can come to understand that they do not have to choose between their biological family and your family if you let them know this is okay and if you show respect, concern, and understanding toward the biological family.
When a child joins your family for foster care address their immediate needs, listen rather than talk at first, and accept the child's feelings. If you help the child express his or her feelings, you will help the child feel better and help him or her form an attachment with you.
Some children will not want to talk and you can be supportive without insisting that the child talks. Just let them know it is okay to miss their family, their feelings are understandable and you are there to support them.
Children and youth in foster care want information. They want information about why they were removed from the home, what is going on with their family now, and what is going to happen to them and to their siblings. They want to be consulted about the process and about visits with their biological parents. They also want information about the court process. They want to know what to expect when going to court. You can discuss with the child's social worker and/or attorney whether or not the child or youth should attend court hearings. If the youth is not able to attend, help the youth get information about what happened in the hearing.
You might feel you are protecting a child from hurt feelings, disappointment, or confusion by not sharing information with them. But, children will try to fill in the gaps of information on their own. Be honest with the children in your care. Of course, you will need to gear the information you share with them to their developmental level.
Researchers asked youth in foster care what advice they would give to foster parents. Here's what they said:
- Foster parents should know something about the child's history and why he/she came into foster care.
- Foster parents should find out about the child's personality, what the child likes and doesn't like, what hurts the child's feelings, and how to help the child.
- Foster parents should know how to take care of children.
- Foster parents should know the "rules" of being a foster parent.
Families who need foster care have reached a crisis. Families who are in crisis need support to strengthen their family. Whenever possible, your job is not to rescue a child from his or her family, but to help strengthen the family.
Sometimes the best way to help a child is to help his or her parents. It can be hard to have positive feelings about your foster child's parents if you know the child has been abused or neglected by them. Try to remember that the parent may not have known a better way of dealing with their child or may have had a mental health or substance abuse problem. That doesn't mean the abuse or neglect is acceptable. But, most of the parents you will encounter have been doing the best they knew how to do.
Be aware of your feelings about the biological parents. Be very honest with yourself. If you are thinking negative things about the parents, do not express such thoughts to the child. If you can, find out the family's story. Everyone has a story. Then try to imagine yourself in their place.
When children see that you and their biological parent(s) are communicating and sharing the responsibility for their care, children will have an easier time seeing that their biological family is still their family.
Here are some things you can do:
- Treat the parents respectfully.
- Support the parents' efforts to parent.
- Keep the biological parents up to date on what the child has been doing. If it is advisable within the case plan, give them a call or send a brief note in the mail once a week. You may also communicate through the child's social worker or attorney.
- If you need to give the biological parent instructions or address a concern do so out of the child's presence.
- Consult the biological parent about some of the decisions about the child. Ask the parent's opinion whenever possible.
- Remember that the child will always have a biological family (whether they have contact with the family or not), and that the biological family will always be important.
- If the child does not have a picture of the biological family, help the child get one. During one of their visits, you might take two pictures or ask the social worker to do so – one for the child, and one for the family to keep.
- Don't overreact to criticism by the parent. Sometimes seeing a foster parent do the job that a biological parent would like to be doing leads a parent to feel defensive or resentful. When a parent does not know how to address those feelings, he or she might react by criticizing you.
- Some children will return to an environment that offers less material benefits than were provided in the foster home. You can help by letting the child know that it is a fact that certain people live differently, but that his or her home condition does not have anything to do with his or her worth as a person.
Honor the bonds the children in your care have with their biological family. Many children want to continue to have contact with their parents, and nearly all want to have contact with their siblings.
Often, children who are in foster care imagine that someone has hurt their parents. Or, they might think their parents do not know where they are and therefore, will never return home. To calm their worries, a visit should occur soon after placement. Generally, contacts with parents should not be used as a threat or reward for the child's behavior or for the parent's behavior.
Foster parents sometimes worry about the children in their care having visits with their biological families. Some worry that if the visit goes well, the child will experience greater distress from being away from their parent(s). Some worry about the disappointment a child might have if the parent does not show up for a visit or forgets to call. It might seem easier to prevent this disappointment by not planning the visits or by not telling the child a visit is planned.
But trying to protect the child in this way does not help the child or the parents in the long run. When children and their parents are protected from these feelings, it teaches them not to be sensitive to each other and adds to the breakdown in their relationship. Children who do not experience the unreliability of a parent do not have the opportunity to demand accountability from their parent. A parent who does not have to face their child's demands does not have the opportunity to become more responsible toward their child. At the same time, we do not want to subject a child to recurrent abuse or neglect as a result of the visitation plan. The best interests of the child must always be foremost. Whenever concerns arise regarding visits, a foster parent should contact the child's social worker and/or attorney.
Policies and court decisions are based on the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The purpose of the law is to expedite permanency for children and youth. The courts and the agency have to decide if it would be in the child's best interest to return home or to be adopted.
The law says:
- The court must have a permanency hearing within 12 months after the child enters foster care.
- The court is required to file a petition to terminate parental rights if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months or if the child is an abandoned infant.
- You, as a foster parent, have the right to be notified and heard in hearings and reviews that involve a child in your care.
National Foster Parent Association
P.O. Box 81
Alpha, OH 45301-0081
Phone: (800) 557-5238
Fax: (937) 431-9377
Web Page: www.nfpainc.org
E-mail: mailto:nfpa@donet.ocm
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Introduction
The numbers of gay and lesbian adults and couples who are adopting children is increasing dramatically; at the same time, the number of adoption agencies willing to place children with gay and lesbian adults and couples is also increasing notably. What does this mean for children in need of healthy family environments? What does the research tell us about families with gay or lesbian parents, including those created through adoption?
First, a little background information about children awaiting adoption and the size of the adopter pool (parents interested in adopting). The number of children not living with their biological parents is at unacceptably high levels. Research suggests that there were 542,000 children in foster care in the United States in 2001 and as many as one third of these children may be eligible for adoption.
Many gay and lesbian adults and couples are interested in adopting children. However, discrimination has made it difficult for gay and lesbian adults and couples to complete the adoption process (Brodzinsky, 2003). Excluding gays and lesbians as potential adopters is not only discriminatory but it limits the number of potential adults available to adopt the thousands of children eligible for adoption.
Although it is not commonly known, the research regarding parenting by gays and lesbians is very positive. The following list shows the important findings from research on families with gay and lesbian parents:
- Lesbian mothers have been found comparable to heterosexual mothers in their desire to be parents (Kirkpatrick, Smith, & Roy, 1981; Lewin & Lyons, 1982; Osterweil, 1991).
- Lesbian mothers have been found comparable to heterosexual mothers in their warmth toward children (Golombok, Tasker, & Murray, 1997).
- Lesbian mothers have been found comparable to heterosexual mothers in their parental behaviors (Harris & Turner, 1986).
- Lesbian couples have been found equal to or superior to heterosexual couples in dividing responsibility for chores equally, in financial cooperation, decision-making, relationship satisfaction and emotional expression (Brewaeys, Ponjaert, Van Hall, & Golombok, 1997; Chan, Brooks, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998).
- Gay fathers have been found comparable to heterosexual fathers in involvement with their children, intimacy with their children, provision of recreation, encouragement of autonomy, problem-solving and parental satisfaction, but superior in the way they respond to child needs, and communication of reasons for appropriate behavior (Bigner & Jacobsen, 1989a; 1989b; 1992; Peterson, Butts & Deville, 2000).
- Gay and lesbian couples value and desire commitment in relationships to the same extent that heterosexual couples do (Kurdek, 1995; Peplau, Veniegas, & Campbell, 1996)
- Children raised by gay and lesbian parents have no apparent adjustment problems that have been found to be related to their parent's sexual orientation (Chan, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998; Flaks, et al., 1995; Patterson, 1994; 1997).
- In comparison to children raised by heterosexual parents, children raised by gay and lesbian parents have been found comparable in intelligence, behaviors, moral development, and peer relationships (Allen & Burrell, 1996; Falk, 1994; Flaks, et al, 1995; Tasker & Golombok, 1995; 1997).
There is a limited number of studies involving children adopted by gay and lesbian adults and couples but once again the results are very positive. The following shows important findings from research on adoptive families with gay and lesbian parents:
- Adoptive families with gay and lesbian parents have been found to have positive family functioning, well-behaved children, and helpful family support networks (Erich, Leung, & Kanenberg, 2005a).
- There were no significant differences between gay and lesbian adoptive parents and heterosexual parents in terms of family functioning, their children's behavior problems, and their family support networks (Erich, Leung, & Kanenberg, 2005b).
- In a study involving three groups of adoptive families, "parent's sexual orientation" was not found to be a significant predictor of how well families function (Leung, Erich, & Kanenberg, 2005c).
This research provides clear support for the well-being of children being reared in homes with gay and lesbian adults or couples. In concert with the National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics which prohibits discrimination in any form, these findings direct social workers to support the practice of adoption by gay and lesbian adults and couples.
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Introduction
Here are two articles on how social workers help in the adoption and foster care arenas. The first is a general description of how social workers assist adoptive and foster care parents. The second is a first-person narrative of a social worker based in Washington, DC who works in the foster care system.
Tags: adoption, birth parents, child, families, foster care, help, legal state, process, resources, social workers, tips, trends
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Introduction
In my role as supervisor of Resource Parent Training with the Child and Family Services Agency in the District of Columbia, I talk with and meet prospective foster and adoptive parents everyday. Once an individual who is interested in foster care or adoption submits an application at one of our Orientation sessions, I call them to schedule an office appointment. During this brief meeting, I explain the required paperwork and give them a folder of documents to work on prior to the pre-service training class they are planning to attend.
All applicants must complete a 30-hour program (the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) as part of the licensing process; these classes are held twice a week for five weeks. We start a new class every month of the year except December and we offer different combinations of class times so applicants have many opportunities to enroll. Though time-consuming for both presenters and participants, these classes are fun and rewarding. As a supervisor, I no longer am required to teach, but I sometimes volunteer to train with a new social worker in my unit or pinch-hit when someone is unavoidably absent. I always enjoy the time I spend in the classroom.
Recently, I met with a woman who I’d describe as the ideal candidate to be a foster or adoptive parent for a child from the Washington, DC neglect system. After speaking with her, I felt rejuvenated and reaffirmed in my conviction that I’m in the right place doing the job I need to be doing. What was it about her that made me feel this way? A number of factors come to mind: She had been thinking about adoption and foster care for a long time and had been informally helping children in her community – through tutoring and being a welcoming neighbor for many years. She had indicated on her application that she was interested in adoption but as soon as I asked her whether she’d also consider being a foster parent, she said, “yes.” Her level of openness signaled to me immediately that she is likely to be very successful in working with our foster care system.
This applicant was also forthcoming about several challenges she had faced in her own life. In our pre-service training, we stress how important it is to be able to talk about our own losses as adults so that we can be a guide for children who are suffering from the trauma of abuse and neglect combined with the loss of their birth family. This applicant exhibited an immediate comfort level with sharing some of these aspects of her life. At the same time, the information she provided on her application in addition to areas we discussed clearly established that her home life and career are stable and that she is in a reasonably financially secure position. We don’t look for applicants with high incomes, but all too often people come to the agency hoping to be foster parents when their own houses are not in order.
This applicant also expressed a willingness to engage with school age and older children. She was even interested in sibling groups, adolescents and teens who she could mentor into adulthood, even though they may maintain ties with members of their birth families. She communicated a sound appreciation for the needs of the children and youth and was able to set their needs clearly ahead of her own. She expressed a desire to build a family of her own through adoption while at the same time being open to helping children in a variety of ways as she moved towards this goal.
In contrast, I often speak with applicants who come with a narrow view of the type of child they are willing to consider parenting. Sadly, couples that have suffered infertility come to our agency hoping we can provide them with the perfect infant they have longed for or lost through miscarriage. When they hear that the majority of the babies committed to our system have been born drug-exposed or that we cannot guarantee that they will be available for adoption until we rule out any and all members of the birth family, these applicants can become deeply frustrated and hurt. I have to explain that this is one of the critical differences between a child welfare agency and an adoption agency: though we pursue adoption as a viable permanency goal whenever appropriate, our first mandate is to work with the birth family, except in extreme cases where reunification is not an option. I have witnessed a number of successful infant placements in my six years with the agency, as well as several painful disappointments.
I also speak with a number of well-meaning prospective foster/adoptive parents who feel that only a child under the age of five is “salvageable,” and that the older children are already “set in their ways.” I always tell prospective foster and adoptive families that I believe each family should pursue what feels right for them and never feel coerced into accepting a child into their home when the fit isn’t right, for whatever reason. But that being said, I also know the best rewards will come to those whose minds and hearts are the most open. I tell people too that having a child through whatever means – adoption, foster or kinship care, or biologically – takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I’m not sure I could do what successful foster and adoptive parents do everyday, but I know what it takes.
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Here is a general list of characteristics of successful foster parents and some of the duties they can expect to perform.
- I enjoy helping children grow positively!
- I am a caring, mature person who gets satisfaction from helping others.
- I have the time and energy to devote to working through behavioral problems with children.
- I want to contribute to the life of a child or young person with special needs.
- I enjoy teamwork and working with other people.
- I am naturally optimistic and successful at embracing the many challenges of life.
- I want the opportunity to grow personally and professionally through pre-service and in-service training programs.
- Provide family atmosphere in which physical and emotional needs are met.Provide a temporary clean, safe, and nurturing environment.
- Ensure all necessary health care (including dental) as specified by his/her pediatrician.
- Assist the therapist and other team members in the development of treatment plans by attending treatment team meetings.
- Monitor and coordinate with school systems regarding attendance and progress, and attend parental conferences and activities.
- Assume primary responsibility for implementing the in-home treatment strategies specified in the treatment plan.
- Develop and maintain positive working relationships with service providers in the community such as schools, department of recreation, social service agencies, and mental health programs and professionals.
- Advocate on behalf of the child/youth to achieve treatment plan, to obtain education, vocational, medical, and other services needed to implement the plan.
- Assist the child/youth in maintaining contact with his/her biological family and aid in visitation when indicated in the treatment plan.
- Continually upgrades skills and knowledge through reading, workshops, and at least 30 hours of in-service training each year.
- Partner with team members in helping youth achieve permanency.
- Inform the caseworker of any problems.
- Assist with identifying and integrating interested families into treatment foster care.
- Through phone calls and letters, advocate for the treatment foster care program with regards to pending legislation.
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Adoption Statistics and Trends
- Since 1987, the number of adoptions annually in the United States has remained consistent from 118,000 to 127,000 children.
- Adoption costs range from no cost to more than $40,000. Foster care adoptions are the least expensive, costing a maximum of $2,500. Independent adoptions tend to be the most expensive. Intercountry adoption fees range from $7,000 to $30,000, but additional fees may include travel, translation fees, and other expenses.
- In a 2003 study, a majority (60%) of adoption agencies accepted applications from gay or lesbian couples and 40 percent had already placed children in GLBT homes.
- Foster parents are strongly encouraged to adopt children in their care.
- In the past, child welfare agencies did not consider placing children with relatives when the children were in foster care due to abuse or neglect. Today, more agencies are working with extended families on successful kinship adoptions.
- Kinship adoptions: when a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative adopts a child
- Adoption from the foster care system
- Adoption from the United States using a public agency, private agency, or an attorney
- Open adoption, in which adoptive parents have information about or contact with birth parents before, during, or after placement (not legal in all states)
- Adoption from another country through a licensed adoption organization
- Federal adoption subsidies for eligible children (special needs)
- State adoption subsidies for children from foster care
- Federal and state tax credits
- Employer benefits, such as paid or unpaid leave of absence, reimbursement for adoption expenses, assistance with adoption services
- Adoption loans and grants for eligible parents
- College tuition and scholarship programs for youth aging out of foster care
- Counseling and psychotherapy
- Educational services
- Support groups
- More than 500,000 children live in foster care in the United States.
- Foster care placements have increased dramatically in the past 10 years.
- African American children make up two-thirds of the foster care population and stay in foster care longer than other children.
- Children are placed temporarily in foster care due to parental problems, such as abuse, neglect, substance abuse, abandonment, and incarceration.
- Most states encourage programs that provide birth parents with support so that their children can return home.
- Child agencies attempt to place children with relatives. In 2001, 24 percent were living in relative homes and nearly 50 percent were living in foster family homes.
- The average foster care stay is 32 months.
- The average age of children in foster care is 10.
- More than 30 percent of children in foster care have severe emotional, behavioral, or developmental problems.
- Nearly 20,000 youth age out of foster care at age 18 each year. Without support and community services, they are vulnerable to unemployment, homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, and incarceration.
- In a study of former foster care children, only 54 percent earned a high school diploma, 84 percent became a parent from 12 to 18 months after leaving foster care, and 25 percent had been homeless.
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Adoption.com and Foster Parenting.com
Adoption.com and Foster Parenting.com are committed to helping as many children as possible find loving, permanent homes. The organizations also provide critical information at the decision-making moment to women facing crisis pregnancies. They assist adoptees and birthparents to find birthfamilies, and we help hopeful adoptive parents make adoption dreams come true. We are especially committed to helping special needs children in the U.S. and around the world, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to find families.
www.adoption.com and www.fosterparenting.com
American Bar Association, Center on Children and the Law
The ABA Center on Children and the law works to improve children’s lives through advances in law, justice, knowledge, practice, and public policy.
http://www.abanet.org/child/home2.html
Casey Family Services
For over 25 years, Casey Family Services has assisted vulnerable children and families. Today, programs operate throughout New England and in Baltimore, Maryland. Casey Family Services is a fully licensed and accredited non-profit child welfare agency providing a broad range of programs to meet the changing needs of vulnerable children and families. Founded in 1976 solely as a source for long-term foster care, Casey Family Services today offers foster care for children, as well as post-adoption, preservation and reunification services for families. In addition, Casey has established a number of specialized and innovative community-based programs to help strengthen families and enable parents to provide the healthy, nurturing environments their children need to grow and thrive.
http://www.caseyfamilyservices.org/
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.childwelfare.gov
Child Welfare League of America
The Child Welfare League of America is an association of more than 900 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist more than 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a range of services.
http://www.cwla.org
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Adoption touches most Americans. All of us seem to have a neighbor, family member, or friend, who has been part of an adoption experience. And many of us are part of an adoption triad—the term for the interrelationship between people who were adopted, their birthparents, or adoptive parents. Social workers are pivotal in helping families through the transitions in adoptions. What is adoption like today, and how do social workers help with adoption?
Adoption is changing rapidly, mirroring our society. Adoption practices need to be inclusive– respectful of diverse families. Families may be adopting age ranges from infancy to adolescence. Transracial adoptions are becoming more common. People with disabilities are both adopting and adopted. Many birth relatives are continuing to ask for, and to receive, information on their adopted child or children. Social workers can help families involved in adoption by providing support and information regarding the ethical, legal cultural, and emotional issues they may face.
Children are being adopted from the foster care system in increasing rates. There is a strong public policy drive to place children into permanent families if they cannot be returned to a safe, biologic relative. Supports for children who are placed after maltreatment must be intentionally designed. Social workers are instrumental in predicting necessary resources for children, as well as helping to access those resources so that families will be successful.
The effects of multiple foster care placements on attachment, education, and psychosocial functioning have been raised as an advocacy issue by social workers. The drive for permanent families and a shorter time in the foster care system are both initiatives propelled by social workers. They have demonstrated that by the time legal determination has been made on custody, a large proportion of children have been emotionally damaged by multiple moves.
There are over one half million children in our foster care system. While many of these children can return to birth relatives, over 125,000 are available for adoption. The average age at which these children entered foster care was four-years-old. They remain in foster care an average of 44 months. The average foster child becomes available for adoption by age eight.
There is a social work led drive to help children to become legally free for adoption or returned to readied birthparents with two years, so that children are not living for years with the painful uncertainty of not knowing who their family will be. As children get older, even if they are legally free for adoption, families are less interested in adopting them.
The countries from which people are adopting internationally have expanded. Almost a quarter of a million children have entered our country through international adoption over the last 10 years — triple the number of international adoptions of the previous decade. Children adopted from outside the United States have cross-cultural issues of which families need to be aware. Like children from our domestic foster care system, many have health and educational issues when arriving after neglect or trauma. The estimated rate of prenatal exposure to substance is about one in four children entering from Eastern Europe.
Many families want to help their children become culturally connected to their countries of origin so they can complete their identities. And, like the parents of children adopted from within the United States, parents of children adopted internationally are describing the special support that teens need in completing their identities using discussions and information.
Adoption continues to be a way in which families are built through infant adoption. People who are making an adoption plan for their unborn babies are much more likely to request continuing information and/or contact about the well being of the child. And, birthparents frequently help choose the families who will adopt and parent their babies. Social workers assist birthparents in the process of determining whether or not adoption is an appropriate plan. Then they provide information and options about the amount of continuing contact with the adoptive family. Social workers support the grief process in relinquishing birthparents. They advocate for ethical decisions that are in the best interests of all the members of the adoption triad, but especially the best interests of the child. Social workers also work to help older children, especially those of color, to be adopted.
Drug and alcohol exposure prenatally, as well as neglect post-natally, have impacted many children's behavioral and educational processes. Careful attention to the design of home environments and school systems enable children, with accommodations, to have much better outcomes in both educational and social arenas. These educational and family methods are often referred to, taught, and/or designed with social work assistance. Because of these interventions, it is common to hear of drug- exposed children who attend college, move into successful vocations, and take an active role in their families and communities. Outcome studies have also demonstrated the role that counseling has in helping children who have been prenatally exposed to alcohol. Social workers are frequently the counselors.
The role of attachment in children who are placed after the newborn period is a special emphasis in adoption today. Adoptive parents are being trained in special techniques that promote bonding and attachment with children who may have lacked opportunities to attach in the past, who are grieving for parents they have lost through placement, or who are frightened of adults due to abuse. There is a now a best practices preventative approach in promoting attachments, so that children establish close, exclusive, and mutually enjoyable relationships with their families. Bonding techniques are being taught by social workers in adoption classes or through educational materials.
Researchers have determined that with other issues being held constant, adoption does not predict lower psychosocial functioning or difficulty with attachment. However, It does mean that adoptees will need extra help in defining themselves, especially by teen years. Research show that families who are open in discussing adoption issues assist their children/teens in this developmental task.
There is a well-developed literature, adoption specific, that guides ethical and research-based practices in adoption. Much of this literature has been created through the field of social work. Social workers, many of whom are part of an adoption triad, are both conversant with this literature and contributors to the literature. The literature continues to promote the need for post-placement services for members of the adoption triad.
Magazines and newsletters for families are abundant. Leading ones are Adoption Today, Fostering Families Today, and Adoptive Families Today.
Homestudies are completed on every adoptive family. The homestudy is an interviewing and educational process in which families are assessed to determine whether they can provide a safe and nurturing home. It is also an opportunity to provide adoption-specific information to families. It helps them to position themselves realistically in determining potential needs of children and their resources to meet those needs.
Social workers complete the homestudies and help acquaint families with adoption issues during the homestudy process. The homestudy process helps families to make realistic decisions including whether they can care for one child, a sibling group, or children with special needs. They explore such concepts as continuing contact with birthfamilies, the lifelong identity processes of adoptive family members, transracial or transcultural adoption, and their own strengths, limitations, and expectations.
Social workers assess children's needs as part of the preparation for placement into adoptive families. They interview children before placement, determining the types of families in which children would do best. In domestic adoptions, they describe to older children why they are being placed. In infant adoption, they work with birthparents and adoptive families in determining a good fit between the degree of openness in the adoption that both are comfortable with. They help with adoption planning so that all members are treated with respect and that the adoption is legal and ethical.
When children come into placements, they need careful and sensitive information about what is happening to them. Social workers are trained to know the fears, grief, and typical adjustments that children have during the placement process. They help children to overcome some of these challenges through a series of visits after placement. When children have behavioral issues and are hesitant to attach, which are normal initial adjustment problems, social workers can help children and families with strategies and support. They also can refer the family for the additional counseling that best meets the family’s needs as the child and family get to know each other better. Clinical social workers are often the treatment providers.
The need for support for families lasts long after the adoption is completed. Post-placement services are necessary to help children gain access to services that will help them to experience success and mastery.
People who can provide a safe, nurturing home, meeting the emotional and physical needs of children can adopt. Myths are that people must be young, a heterosexual couple, and economically well off. In fact, not only are those families adopting, but single parents, over-50 parents and gay and lesbian families are adopting. Our society is diverse, as are the adoption agencies that families determine to work with. Because adoption is such a personal decision, families may decide to work with a private agency consonant with their faith perspective. Other families use an agency that specializes in bringing children from countries from which they want to adopt. Publicly run agencies are the choice of other families, who appreciate the chance to work with a defined system that is publicly supported. Because of the Internet, there are now specific Internet groups that will allow parents to give and receive mutual support in specific areas relevant to their situations. Simply type in the key words into the search engine, and a plethora of topics, with links, will start the process of investigating adoption or supports.
Deborah Gray can be reached at (206) 819-2017.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Association of Social Workers or its members.
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The Little Boy and His Social Worker
In today’s Wednesday’s Child segment we meet a young man who says the foster care system may have saved his life.”He was a little thin kid, really quiet. Even today he doesn’t look a day older,” says Pamela Cranford from the Department of Children & Families.
Pamela Cranford and Carlos Toro are more than colleagues, they’re friends, and their union began more than a decade ago when Carlos, now 29, was in state care.
“My mother was still involved in drugs and my father was in jail and so I ended up staying with a friend of the family, and DCF became involved,” says Toro.
Social Worker a “Guardian Angel”
That family friend stepped in as Carlos’ foster mother, and, says supervising social worker Pamela, became what Carlos calls his guardian angel.”I really didn’t make my needs known too much, but I ended up going to counseling because I needed counseling to deal with what went on with my family,” says Toro.
“And when he told me, ‘No, you’re the one who made a mark’ and I guess those ice creams, the drives, and those hugs meant more than I thought,” says Cranford.
It’s Carlos’ foster mom who deserves all of the praise.
“But the bottom line is this lady’s motivation was from the heart. It wasn’t for a paycheck, it wasn’t from DCF coming if I have a problem or not,” says Toro.
Carlos Toro Becomes a Social Worker Too
As a social worker at the Department of Children and Families in Hartford, Carlos is helping many Connecticut children during difficult times. But he says it’s his faith which sustains him.
“The Lord had his hand on me since I was a young person. I didn’t know that then but now I know, he’s telling me about my life and I wouldn’t be sitting where I am."
Now this University of Connecticut graduate is married and expecting his first child. He has this advice for the hundreds of other children coping with life’s challenges, “Now you can look at your situation and be a victim or you can look at it and be victorious.”
Advice from a man who’s turned his pain into passion.
Carlos is happy to report he continues a relationship with his biological parents and siblings and all are doing well.
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For more information about foster care call Casey Family Services at 1-888-799-K.I.D.S
Casey Family Services
127 Church Street
New Haven, CT
1-888-799-KIDS
Reprinted with permission of WTHN-TV.
Tags: adoption, child, foster care, foster care system, parents, real life story, social worker
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Children need parents. When a birthparent is unable to parent a child, adoption creates a new family for the child. In adoption the birthparent’s parental rights are legally terminated and another person becomes the child’s legal parent.
Birthparents who may be planning an adoption and prospective adoptive parents need to know the range of adoption options and decide which route to adoption best fits their needs. Adoption agencies and professionals have very different philosophies and practices.
Adoptees may be newborns or older, born in the U.S. or abroad, or vary in race, culture, and ethnicity. Adoptive parents may be married, single, gay, or lesbian. Adoptions may be facilitated by public agencies, private agencies, attorneys, or adoption facilitators. Adoption laws vary by state.
Every state has a public child welfare agency whose mission is to protect children from abuse and neglect. Sometimes children who have been removed from the home of their biological parent(s) cannot be safely returned and the state terminates parental rights without the birthparent's consent. In other instances, a birthparent whose children are in state custody voluntarily terminates parental rights. In either case, the child is freed for adoption.
As a result of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, whenever a child enters foster care the state must simultaneously (1) provide services to the birthparents so that they and the child can be safely reunited if at all possible, and P(2) begin the process of freeing the child for adoption. These simultaneous activities are called concurrent planning.
Prospective parents who want to adopt a child through the public child welfare system may first become the child’s foster parent. A foster parent is not the same as an adoptive parent because a child who is in foster care is in the state’s custody, while an adoptive parent has all the legal rights and responsibilities of any other parent. When a prospective adoptive parent first becomes a foster parent, it may be in the hope that the child will ultimately be freed for adoption.
Many children available for adoption via public agencies have special needs. Newborns may have been placed in foster care at birth due to prenatal exposure to alcohol, illegal drugs, and other substances. Virtually all children in the public child welfare system have been abused and/or neglected and have experienced out-of-home placement. Some need to be adopted as sibling groups. Others have physical challenges, mental health issues, and learning differences. Many are children of color and many are teenagers.
Generally, adoptions via public child welfare agencies are publicly funded. Adoption subsidies may be available to help families who adopt children with special needs that require special education, counseling, extensive medical care, respite, and other services. An adoption subsidy is available only to families that have a written agreement, before finalization of the adoption, specifying the exact nature of the subsidy.
There are many ways to adopt a child via private agencies. Private agencies may specialize in the adoption of healthy infants; children of color; children with special medical, emotional, and educational needs; and children born abroad. Agency fees vary considerably; fees to adopt children who are older, of color, have special needs, and are in sibling groups tend to be lower.
Some private agencies do what is called "identified adoption." This means the prospective adoptive parent and birthparent find one another (sometimes through advertising or word of mouth) and then locate an adoption agency to obtain counseling and legal services.
Adoption attorneys and "facilitators" also locate children for prospective adoptive parents, help birthparents find adoptive families, and assist with identified adoptions. These are called independent adoptions. Some state laws prohibit independent adoptions and require that all adoptions be handled by licensed agencies.
Some private agencies, attorneys, and facilitators specialize in international adoption, that is, adoptions of children born outside the United States. International adoption agencies specialize in specific countries or regions. The social, medical, financial, political, and legal issues vary by country.
Lesbian, gay, single, and older prospective adoptive parents can be served by public or private agencies, attorneys, and facilitators. These groups may encounter discriminatory policies and practices.
"Legal risk" adoptions are available through private agencies, facilitators, and attorneys, just as they are through public child welfare agencies. In "legal risk" placements, a child is placed in the pre-adoptive home before the birthparent's parental rights have been legally terminated. Hence, some legal risk placements fall through before the adoption is finalized, because birthparents or pre-adoptive parents have a change of heart. This is likely to be traumatic for everyone involved.
There is a federal adoption tax credit to help qualified families offset adoption expenses. Adoption insurance may be available through the private sector to help reimburse prospective parents for adoption-related expenses if an adoption falls through before it is finalized.
Most people think of adoption as a happy event – a child who needs a family and a parent who wants a child are joined. While this is true, it is also true, and often unrecognized, that there is no adoption without loss – the child loses a birth family, the birthparent loses a child, and the adoptive parent loses the dream of a child by birth. These losses must be recognized and coped with throughout life. Pre-adoption counseling, education, and support are useful in helping birthparents and adoptive parents prepare themselves for the journey ahead.
Every state requires prospective adoptive parents to go through a home study conducted by a licensed agency. The home study is designed to help parents examine their feelings, beliefs, motivations, and readiness for adoptive parenting. Agencies differ in the pre-adoption counseling and education they offer, how much support they provide in the home study process, and how much they encourage or permit the birth family and adoptive family to know about and have on-going contact with each other. The cost of the home study varies by agency.
Prospective adoptive parents must ask themselves many important questions:
- Am I ready to love a child to whom I have not given birth?
- How comfortable am I accepting the fact that the birthparents exist and will always be important to the child, whether I know the birthparents or not?
- Am I prepared to meet the birthparents, exchange identifying information with them, and have some form of ongoing communication with them for the child's sake?
- Will I support my child if she or he decides to search for and reunite with the birthparents?
- Is my primary motivation for international adoption my wish to keep the birthparents far away from my family?
- How ready am I to become a transracial/transcultural family that assertively pursues activities linking my child to her or his ethnic/racial/cultural group of origin?
- What ages, ethnicities, and special needs can I accept and cope with?
- What risks am I able to take (for example, adopting a child who received no prenatal care, was exposed in utero to substance abuse, has learning disabilities, was conceived by rape, or comes from a birth family that has a history of mental illness)?
- What financial risks am I able and willing to take in pursuing adoption? How much money can I spend on the adoption process?
- How able am I to enter into a "legal risk" adoption?
- Am I open to adopting a sibling group?
- What kind of wait can I handle?
Honest self-exploration as one grapples with these challenging issues is crucial. It is ill advised simply to choose the fastest, most affordable route to adoption.
Adoptive parenthood involves issues that parents by birth do not face. Adoption is a lifelong process, not an event; predictable adoption issues emerge at each stage of life, for adoptive parent, birthparent, and child. Post-adoption support services need to be available throughout the adoptive family's life, including family, individual and parent/child counseling; support groups; post-adoption education; respite care; and special education. Many adoptive families and birthparents struggle to locate the specialized services they need.
Social workers can provide birthparents, adoptive parents, and children with:
- Information about adoption options
- Information about financial and legal issues and resources
- Names of reputable adoption agencies and professionals
- Home study services that help participants decide whether to pursue adoption, when, and which type feels right for their family
- Pre- and post-adoption support and counseling for all participants, helping them develop cooperative relationships focusing on shared goals
- Services for families who have children with special emotional, behavioral, medical, and educational needs
- Search and reunion counseling, support, and technical assistance
- Guidance in forming and living with open adoption in a way that honors and respects all participants' needs
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Frederic G. Reamer, PhD, is the author of The Pocket Guide to Essential Human Services which contains diverse resources compiled into a user-friendly guidebook appropriate for use by professionals, volunteers, and consumers.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Association of Social Workers or its members.
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