5.3 Post-adoption services
Many adoptive families report the need for on-going help even after the adoption has been finalized. Post adoption services and supports can respond to the unique challenges of special needs children, many of whom continue to have emotional, behavioral or physical challenges that need to be addressed. While adoption provides them with the comfort and safety of a permanent and loving family, these families will continue to need support to stay together.
According to a 2002 assessment of the post adoption needs of adoptive families, on-going support is needed in five areas: information (lectures, seminars, training and workshops); clinical (counseling and mental health services); respite, material services, and support networks. [i] Some of the services that work to keep families together are the same that are outlined in Policy Area 2: Preserving and Reunifying Families, particularly Intensive Home Based Services. Others are unique to families with children with special needs, including adoption competent mental health services and support groups for adoptive families.
Many agencies use Title IV-B funding, the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, to support post adoption services. Under the terms of the PSSF, states are allowed to use Title IV-B, Subpart 2 funds for adoption support and preservation. Oregon uses PSSF funding for the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORParc), which provides post adoption resource statewide. Other states, such as Illinois, have dedicated units within the public agency to provide access to services for adoptive families.
Policy Options:
States can support adoptive families to stay together by promoting any of the following options:
·
Require state agencies to provide access to post adoption services for families who adopt children from foster care
·
Fund post adoption services with state dollars, or funding saved from reducing the number of children in foster care
·
Require state agencies and/or courts to assess family needs for post adoption services during the annual subsidy re-determination process
·
Require that evidence based practices supported by local, state or federal funds be assessed for their relevance to the post adoption needs of families