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Foster/Adoptive Parents

Strategies, tools, and organizations to help professionals identify, recruit, prepare, and retain resource families (foster, adoptive, and kinship families) for children waiting for adoptive families. Resources include State and local examples.

• Recruiting foster/adoptive parents
• Preparing foster/adoptive parents
• Retaining foster/adoptive parents

National Resource Center for Recruitment and Retention of Foster and Adoptive Parents at AdoptUsKids Assists States & Tribes in their foster and adoptive family recruitment and retention work. Promising Approaches and Resources AdoptUsKids Emerging ideas and promising approaches related to the following recruitment topics: diligent, targeted, faith-based, older youth/teen, interjurisdictional, and child/youth-specific & centered. Includes information related to foster and adoptive family retention. Treat Them Like Gold: A Best Practice Guide to Partnering with Resource Families (PDF - 264 KB) North Carolina Division of Social Services (2009) Includes a full range of practical strategies for recruiting and retaining resource families and addresses broader considerations such as funding, diversity, community partnerships, and other systemic factors.

Adoption Incentive Awards for FY 2007
Children's Bureau
Lists States that received Adoption Incentive Awards for the Fiscal Year 2006 earning period. Adoption Incentive Awards are given to States that were successful in increasing the number of adoptions from the public child welfare system above a baseline number of adoptions - particularly children over age 9 or children with special needs (as defined by the State). For more information on adoption incentives see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/im/2004/im0404.htm.

African American Adoptions
McRoy (2004)
In Child Welfare Revisited: An Africentric Perspective
View Abstract
Examines important issues in African American adoption practice and offers suggestions, using an Africentric perspective for improving services delivery outcomes. Includes strategies for recruitment and retention of African American adoptive families.

Finding a Fit that Will Last a Lifetime: A Guide to Connecting Adoptive Families With Waiting Children (PDF - 374 KB)
AdoptUsKids
Designed to assist caseworkers with the assessment, decisionmaking, and matching process.

Dollars and Sense: A Guide to Achieving Adoptions Through Public-Private Contracting (PDF – 762 KB)
AdoptUsKids (2007)
Designed to provide public and private agency program managers, supervisors, and contract managers with information to facilitate the purchase of interjurisdictional adoption services.

Foster and Adoptive Parent Licensing, Recruitment, and Retention
Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Highlights promising approaches used by States to license, recruit, and retain resource families.

Foster Parent Adoption

Series Title:	Bulletin for Professionals
Author(s):	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability:	View Publication Printable Version (PDF - 313 KB) Order Publication (Free - Add to Cart)
Year Published:	2006 - 9 pages

This paper discusses issues related to the increasing importance of foster parents as permanency resources for children in foster care. In order to facilitate adoptions by foster parents, professionals should be knowledgeable about the benefits, costs, and practice issues surrounding foster parent adoption. Practice issues include assessment, adoption preparation and postadoption support, and facilitating ongoing connections with birth families.

Recruitment and Retention of Resource Families
National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning
Resources to help professionals identify, recruit, and retain resource families (foster, adoptive, and kinship) for children waiting for families.

Recruitment Work Plan for Adoption & Foster Care Program Managers (PDF - 1,736 KB)
AdoptUsKids (2004)
Guide to help managers respond to the national recruitment campaign and assist with developing State Child and Family Service Plans (CFSPs)and Program Improvement Plans (PIPs).

Using Private Contracts to Create Adoptions From Foster Care (PDF - 187 KB)
Hansen (2007)
Explores how the organization of the delivery of social services to waiting children and prospective adoptive families influences adoptions.

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State and local examples

Cultivating Adoptive Families: A Marketing Communications Toolkit for Agencies Seeking to Recruit Adoptive Families for Waiting Children: A Project of Northeast Ohio Adoptive Services
Northeast Ohio Adoption Services (2006)
View Abstract
Designed for social services agencies, this toolkit is based on marketing principles used by the Northeast Ohio Adoption Services to recruit, train, and match adoptive families with waiting children.

Finding Families for Children in Foster Care
North Carolina Division of Social Services
Children's Services Practice Notes, 13(3), (2008)
Focuses on the recruitment and retention of foster families in North Carolina. Explains how North Carolina recruits resource families and the system's strengths and challenges; includes findings from the Child and Family Services Review and information on recruitment and concurrent planning.

Putting Children First: A Plan for Recruitment and Retention of Resource Homes
Maryland Social Services Administration (2006)
View Abstract
Discusses the number of children in out-of-home placements in Maryland and presents a plan that addresses the State's recruitment and retention needs.

Selected Review of Foster Care and Adoption Recruitment Models and Strategies (PDF - 63 KB)
AdoptUsKids (2006)
Identifies resource material to guide the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents in Los Angeles County, CA.

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	Information Gateway Library Search Includes publications from 2000 to present Decision-making and matching Related Information Gateway Topics Achieving & maintaining permanency: Adoption from foster care

Updated on September 18, 2008