Home > Postadoption Services: A Bulletin for Professionals > What Are the Implications For Practice?

	Rate this Publication Average Rating: Not yet rated. Printable Version PDF (14 pgs, 266 KB) Email This Order Publication (Free - Add to Cart)

Postadoption Services
Bulletin for Professionals

Author(s):  Child Welfare Information Gateway

Year Published:  2005

previous

You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - Introduction 2 - Who Benefits From Postadoption… 3 - How Can Postadoption … 4 - What Postadoptive Services… 5 - What Postadoptive Services Do S… 6 - How Are Postadoption Services… 7 - How Are Postadoption Services… 8 - Why Evaluate Postadoption s… 9 - What Are the Implications Fors… 10 - What Future Research… 11 - Conclusion 12 - References 13 - Resources

next

9. What Are the Implications For Practice?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the National Consortium for Post Legal Adoption Services, a coalition of child welfare agencies and mental health providers in seven States, received a Federal Adoption Opportunities grant to create a "concept model" of postadoption services. The resulting diagram, which can be viewed on the Information Gateway website (http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/conceptmodel.cfm) provides a model of the guiding principles of adoption support and preservation and the characteristics and outcomes of postadoption services.

The lack of rigorous evaluation of postadoption services programs has thus far prevented the development of an evidence-based best practice model. Research is, however, increasingly highlighting the importance of incorporating the "systems of care" values into postadoption service delivery. Those values include building partnerships with families and providing culturally competent, community-based services that are individualized to meet each family's specific needs. Interagency collaboration is another key component of a successful, comprehensive postadoption services program. Such a program would encompass financial and medical subsidies and access to existing service delivery systems (health, mental health, education, and child welfare) as well as to formal postadoption services programs (Casey Family Services, 2003b; Barth, Gibbs, & Siebenaler, 2001).

In light of these guiding principles and values, as well as the other findings discussed in this bulletin, agencies may wish to consider incorporating the following elements into their postadoption services practice:

• Comprehensive approaches to adoption-competent support, education, and mental health services. The composition and needs of adoptive families are diverse. No single community agency has the resources or capability to address the entire range of issues families present. Agencies and professionals working with adoptive families must partner with a broad range of community organizations, formal and informal, to build a seamless network of adoption-competent help and support, from in-home services to services within residential treatment facilities. As one example, many agencies are now forming partnerships with existing mental health systems of care to develop adoption-competent mental health services for children and families.
  
  
• Information about community resources and supports available to parents. Families need to have this information in written form, so they can refer to it when issues arise.
  
  
• Peer support and education groups for adoptive families. Adoptive families frequently express that having other parents listen to and understand their experiences with their adopted children is critical. This is a service that agencies can often provide at a fairly low cost. Agencies may also wish to consider supporting or promoting Internet-based opportunities that link families with information and support.
  
  
• Enhanced educational opportunities for families, community providers, and mental health professionals. Education and adoption preparation for families must be reality-based. Service providers need to understand the unique experiences and needs of children who are adopted and of their families. Some agencies are partnering with schools of social work or private agencies to develop innovative adoption-competent professional educational models for child welfare practitioners, community-based providers, and mental health professionals.
  
  
• Culturally competent services for all adoptive parents. Culturally competent practices include acknowledging and respecting cultural differences, values, and practices and using each family's native language (or interpreters when necessary) (Festinger, 2001).
  
  
• Regular evaluation of services. Agencies need to know if the services they provide (and services provided by contracting agencies) are meeting the identified needs of families and if they are being provided in an adoption-competent way. (Barth, Gibbs, & Siebenaler, 2001)

previous

You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - Introduction 2 - Who Benefits From Postadoption… 3 - How Can Postadoption … 4 - What Postadoptive Services… 5 - What Postadoptive Services Do S… 6 - How Are Postadoption Services… 7 - How Are Postadoption Services… 8 - Why Evaluate Postadoption s… 9 - What Are the Implications Fors… 10 - What Future Research… 11 - Conclusion 12 - References 13 - Resources

next

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Updated on July 3, 2008