Adoption Families Research Articles

Post-ASFA Permanency Planning for Children in Foster Care: Clinical and Ethical Considerations for Art Therapists

ABSTRACTThe process of determining permanent living arrangements for children residing in foster care is referred to as permanency planning. I provide a preliminary framework for art therapists working with foster children and their families during the permanency planning process, and identify clinical and ethical issues that have resulted from the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). I recommend that therapists implement a trauma-informed approach to treatment that strives to align all caregivers in the child's life, and encourages collaboration with providers and legal personnel to determine the best placement decision for the child. Future research should utilize the unique aspects of trauma-informed art therapy to develop specific assessment tools to support art therapists in making ethical custody decisions.

The Adoption and Safe Families Act: Proposing a “Best Efforts” Standard to Eliminate the Ultimate Obstacle for Family Reunification

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) was enacted in an attempt to expedite the child's permanency plan by pushing for adoption of children in foster care. The ASFA requires the U.S. Department of Health to make reasonable efforts to reunify and preserve existing families while rewarding the states for increased adoption of foster care children. The ASFA was enacted to ensure the best interests of the child are to remain paramount, but in practice, the ASFA is furthering the best interests of the state. This Note proposes amendment of the ASFA to increase the obligation of the Department of Social Services (DSS) to make its best efforts to preserve and reunify the existing family unit, while also imposing a penalty if the DSS fails to do so.

Characteristics of children transitioned to intercountry adoption, domestic adoption, foster care, and biological families from institutions in St Petersburg, Russian Federation

Young children ( N = 381) from three institutions in St Petersburg (Russian Federation) who were transitioned to intercountry (USA) adoption or to various domestic families in Russia did not differ in birth weight, length, head circumference, and rated condition at birth, nor did they differ upon departure from the institutions with respect to physical growth and behavioral development. These results provide little support to the occasional allegation for the possibility that intercountry adopted children are selected to be developmentally more (or less) advanced, or that outcomes for children in alternative family placements simply may be associated with pre-placement developmental differences. The generality of these results to other institutions and countries is unknown.

Healing Families: Outcomes from a Family Drug Treatment Court

AbstractFamily drug treatment courts (FDTC) have been acknowledged as a promising intervention for substance‐abusing parents involved in the child welfare system. Over the past decade, the number of FDTC programs has grown substantially, yet questions remain regarding the efficacy of these courts. This study examines the ability of the Snohomish County (WA) FDTC to address the three main goals of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Utilizing propensity score matching, this study found that participants were more likely to have their children returned, experienced stronger treatment completion rates, and had less use of foster care. Implications for replication and further analysis are discussed.

How Chinese Are You? Adopted Chinese Youth Negotiate Identity and Culture by Andrea Louie

Andrea Louie, How Chinese Are You? Adopted Chinese Youth Negotiate Identity and Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2015. 304 pp.How Chinese Are You? joins a growing body of anthropological literature on transnational adoption (see Kim 2010, Marre and Briggs 2009, Seligman 2013, Volkman 2005a, Yngvesson 2010), including studies of the adoption of Chinese children to the United States (Dorow 2006). Louie's distinctive contribution to this literature is her comparative focus on white American and Asian American adoptive parents.1 She asks how these parents differently approach the challenge of fashioning Chinese identities and for their children. Conducted over an eight-year period in the California Bay Area and St. Louis, Missouri, the research has an important longitudinal perspective. Most of the children whose parents Louie met in the earlier phase were still quite young, as adoption from China to the US only began in substantial numbers in the mid-1990s. By the final phase of her research, in 2009, these children had grown into young teens, with voices and opinions of their own to complicate-and make more interesting-the efforts of their parents.Louie's interest in these issues builds on her earlier work on Chinese Americans who travel to China on roots trips and on her broader concerns with Asian American culture, politics, and history (Louie 2004). In the first two chapters, she contextualizes her project both in terms of these interests and the emerging literature in the field. Throughout the book she positions herself sensitively, as a Chinese American anthropologist, aware that her interlocutors may respond to her in particular ways-either as embodying some sort of Chinese American to which they aspire, or as not really Chinese or Chinese American. Louie does not speak fluent Chinese, she is married to a half-Chinese man who grew up in Salvador and has relatives in Kentucky, and her young (not adopted) son is not quite sure of his identity. Louie struggles to decide whether she should be providing him with Chinese language lessons to help him craft his (2), and she asks how her struggles connect to or differ from those of adoptive parents, both white and Asian American.Questions about cultural identity and race will be familiar to both scholars of adoption and adoptive families, as for more than two decades adoption professionals in this country (and elsewhere) have exhorted adoptive parents to teach their children about their birth culture and to foster the child's respect and love for her country of origin. Parents get these messages from many quarters: adoption social workers at home, the media, organizations like Families with Children from China, entrepreneurs selling China-themed picture books and panda pajamas, adoption officials in China. Embedded in these admonitions are unspoken and unclear assumptions about and identity. Must families perform a celebratory version of culture? Incorporate values assumed to inform a Chinese approach to and the world? Acknowledge and address long histories of racialization and discrimination in the US?The desire to shape Chinese identity is etched into the adoption process from the start. In Chapter 3, Beginnings, Louie accompanies a group of parents on their two-week adoption trip to China. In Chapters 4 and 5, we meet a number of adoptive parents, primarily Asian Americans in the Bay Area and whites in St. Louis. In contrast to white parents, Louie argues, Asian Americans have the privilege of authenticity (90): they look Chinese (or Asian) and they have at least some degree of history and tradition to draw upon. One Chinese American mother commented: cannot help but be authentically Chinese...I can do I want, I don't have to eat jook [Chinese rice porridge] or anything (88). This privilege, Louie contends, enables [Asian American parents] to flexibly interpret both new and old practices as representing Asian or Chinese traditions for their family (91). …

Развитие детей-сирот в условиях институционализации и в замещающей семье. Рецензия на книгу: Проблема сиротства в современной России: Психологический аспект / Отв. ред. А.В. Махнач, А.М. Прихожан, Н.Н. Толстых. М.: Изд-во «Институт психологии РАН», 2015. — 670 с. (Фундаментальная психология практике)

The review contains detailed and full analysis of the study , which helps to understand some possibilities of psychological development of children who remained with- out parents, in situation of socializing and in adoption family, as well as to understand challenges for such families. This work deals with various aspects of development and upbringing of children in early ages: preschool, elementary school and teenagers. Anal- ysis of important contemporary issues has been done, such as international adoption, professional approach of adoption families, its status, difficulties and problem solving suggested by Russian, Italian and Spanish scientists.

The justifications for terminating parental rights and adoption in the United States

This article examines the normative basis for prioritizing adoption in the “Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997” (ASFA) as expressed by legislators and public witnesses in congressional hearings. By examining six congressional hearings in the period that led to the ASFA, the article provides new insights to understand how adoption is justified in the U.S. not only as an acceptable form of public intervention but also as an actively promoted and preferred approach when reunification is not possible. The article uses a discourse theoretical framework based on Habermas that distinguishes pragmatic, ethical–political, moral, and legal arguments. It reveals that U.S. federal adoption policy is based on three pillars. Pragmatic risk-oriented thinking forms the central knowledge base to inform policy. Parent responsibility ethics stresses individual responsibility for rehabilitation, with secondary support from the welfare system. Child refamilialization ethics emphasizes decisive and authoritative action to protect the child's needs for safety and permanence.

Group Therapy at a Prison for Women: A Therapist's Perspective

A wide range of issues are explored that are identified by incarcerated mothers during their participation in a Family Reunification Group at a prison for women. They include concerns regarding parent–child visits; lack of communication by child welfare social workers, attorneys, foster parents, and other caregivers; the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA); lack of finances; past and present unresolved trauma issues; and the absence of notification of scheduled court hearings. This article also provides an in-depth look at how a group therapist established a therapeutic alliance with varied women in the group over a period of 5 years (2008–2013) and maintained a sense of professional self in this controlled setting. Finally, the implications for clinical social work practice and social work education are presented. Confidentiality is ensured with the use of de-identified case composite clinical material.

The Effects of Judicial Personnel on Hearing and Outcome Timeliness in Juvenile Dependency Cases

This article examines how the amount of judicial personnel work hours available for each juvenile dependency case in a county may be related to the percentage of cases reaching key decision hearings in a timely manner. Panel analyses of data from Washington State indicate that, when controlling for community risk factors, counties with more judicial personnel per case held timely fact‐finding and permanency planning hearings more often and more often achieved timely adoptions. Judicial personnel per case, however, was not a significant predictor of the percentage of permanent placements completed within timeliness goals.Keypoints Many states are not achieving the requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), leading to children languishing in care The juvenile dependency system needs to examine ways in which it can increase the timeliness of safe and permanent placements for children Courts are being overburdened with an increase in juvenile dependency petition filings without a corresponding increase in judicial personnel Courts should increase their number of judicial staff, so they can process cases faster and meet outcome goals more easily

Historical Analysis of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 in an attempt to provide safety, stability, and permanency for maltreated children. To help provide a historical context, child welfare legislation preceding ASFA is reviewed. In this historical analysis, the precipitating events that led to the creation of ASFA are assessed. In addition, a detailed review of congressional hearings related to this Act is given. The key components and goals of this policy are outlined. Finally, revisions made to ASFA are discussed, and its influence on proceeding legislation is presented.

Psychotropic medication use in foster children: An opportunity for psychiatric pharmacists

The use of psychotropic medications in United States foster care children is an issue of growing concern among clinicians, child serving agencies, and legislators. Although pharmacologic interventions are accepted as part of multi-modal treatment strategies for many symptoms of mental illness, the relatively high use of psychotropic agents in this population, as well as the limited data on efficacy and both short and long-term adverse effect risks, have led to increased scrutiny. In addition to safety, issues of concern include indications for use, overdiagnosis, appropriate consent for treatment, oversight/monitoring of psychotropic prescribing and psychiatric consultation, and the availability of medication information for clinicians, foster parents, and care givers.

Substance Use, Policy, and Foster Care

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) may have an impact on parents struggling with alcohol or other drug (AOD) problems, who are appealing the termination of their parental rights. We conducted a mixed-methods content analysis of court cases from Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia involving parental appeals of the termination of their parental rights pre- and post-ASFA. Decisions to uphold termination of parental rights for parents with AOD issues were statistically more frequent post-ASFA. Qualitative differences emerged between pre- and post-ASFA cases with regard to reasons for appeals, substance use factors considered in the appeals, and rationale for final decisions.

Improving Juvenile Dependency Case Timeliness Through Use of the One Family, One Judge Model

AbstractMotivated by the timelines set forth by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, courts are working toward moving cases safely and expeditiously through the juvenile dependency court system. One strategy to improve timeliness is the implementation of a one family, one judge (OFOJ) model. This study examines the effects of OFOJ implementation on timeliness of case processing. Implementation of the OFOJ model showed a trend toward improved timeliness. Post‐OFOJ cases were quicker to reach case closure than pre‐OFOJ cases. Every additional judge on the case increased time to permanency (i.e., case closure) by 31 days, which means children are spending one additional month in care per judge. Resolving cases quicker could improve the courts' ability to meet statutory timelines, and could lead to better outcomes for children and families.

Counseling Families Formed by Transracial Adoption

This article provides a review of the literature regarding transracial adoption and counseling families formed through transracial adoption. Recommendations are reported according to essential awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary in work with this client population. The need for counselor competency in addressing client racial and ethnic identity development is a salient theme highlighted throughout the literature.

Reentry into Out-of-Home Care: Implications of Child Welfare Workers' Assessments of Risk and Safety

This longitudinal analysis examined predictors of reentry to foster care among children and youths who entered foster care between 2001 and 2007. Three sources of administrative data (Chapin Hall Center for Children longitudinal files, National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, and structured decision making) from one state were used to assess whether Child Protective Services workers' risk and safety assessment decisions are predictive of reentry into foster care. Cox regression modeling identified characteristics associated with reentry during this period. Findings suggest that current neglect assessment, problems with parenting skills, motivation to improve parenting, safety assessment decision, length of stay, substantiated allegations, and unsubstantiated allegations were associated with likelihood of reentry. The results suggest that child welfare systems could more effectively use assessment tools to match families with needed services. KEY WORDS: child maltreatment; foster care; risk assessment; safety assessment; structured decision making ********** When social workers and other child welfare professionals reunify maltreated children and adolescents with their parents, it is with the expectation that known risks have been minimized and that homes are safe. Decisions to reunify families increasingly rely on child welfare workers' perceptions of both risk of maltreatment and household safety. However, there has been little examination of whether social workers' assessments are predictive of child welfare outcomes such as reentry into care. Since passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 (H.R. 867, 1991), child welfare agencies have been required to seek more timely permanency for children through family preservation, time-limited reunification efforts, and, when reunification was not possible, through termination of parental fights and adoption promotion and support (Child Welfare League of America, 1997). While promoting family reunification through the provision of services, ASFA reduced the amount of time parents have to reunify with their children from 18 months to 12 months. ASFA also required the development of performance indicators and outcome measures related to the achievement of timely permanency. These changes in policy and practice, and the outcome measures used to evaluate state performance, have led to increased efforts to quickly reunify families after a child has been removed from a home due to child maltreatment. There is general consensus that in some cases, these reunification efforts are unsuccessful and children reenter out-of-home care after being returned to live with their parents. In an effort to protect children from subsequent maltreatment and to standardize assessment practices, many states have implemented empirically based assessment tools for use in child welfare practice. LITERATURE REVIEW Decision Making in Child Welfare Increasingly, child welfare and juvenile justice agencies are adopting assessment instruments as decision-making tools (DePanfilis & Scannapieco, 1994; Krysik & LeCroy, 2002; Shook & Sarri, 2007). In child welfare agencies, these tools generally focus on family-level risk and environmental factors, whereas in juvenile justice settings, they are used to assess individual behavior (Shook & Sarri, 2007). Literature has suggested that these tools can be used to measure or predict case outcomes (Lyle & Graham, 2000), but there have been few empirical studies using assessment instruments in this manner. Rather, the literature related to these assessment tools has largely examined four domains: (1) definitions required for assessing risk and safety (DePanfilis & Scannapieco, 1994; English & Pecora, 1994); (2) implementation of specific decision-making systems (Doueck, English, DePanfilis, & Moote, 1993; K. Johnson, Wagner, Scharenbrock, & Healy, 2006); (3) challenges related to the use of existing tools and models, including reliability and validity of instruments (Baird & Wagner, 2000; Baird, Wagner, Healy, & Johnson, 1999; Baumann, Law, Sheets, Reid, & Graham, 2005, 2006; Camasso & Jagannathan, 2000; Dorsey, Mustillo, Farmer, & Elbogen, 2008; English & Graham, 2000; Gambrill & Shlonsky, 2000; W. …

The Permanency Plan Game Show: An Intersubjective Case Study of a Foster Care Child and Her Caregivers

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) supports permanency decisions that do not reflect the reality of relationships that exist along a spectrum for children in foster care, biological caregivers, and foster parents. A case example, conceptualized through an intersubjective lens, demonstrates the ways in which the permanency planning process may affect clinical social workers’ capacities to maintain an awareness of the third. Therapists may collude with the system's efforts to define relationships in a context of complementarity and become immersed in the game show dynamic that emerges when parents and children await the court's decision regarding their relational future.

Highlighting adolescents' involvement with the child welfare system: A review of recent trends, policy developments, and related research

Nationwide, adolescents account for approximately 35% of the total child welfare out-of-home care population. Yet research on numerous aspects of adolescents' involvement with the child welfare system is lacking relative to research that focuses on infants and toddlers. This article provides a critical review of contemporary research – including current gaps in the research literature – and of federal policies that are pertinent to this adolescent population. In addition, this article contains a broad overview of the current demographics of the child welfare dynamics of this age group, based on information from federal and multi-state statistics, as well as from empirical qualitative and quantitative research investigations. Using the structure of the mandates of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 – or the promotion of safety, permanency, and well-being – this article presents the review of the current research within this format. For the domain of well-being, the focus is largely on the need for enhanced research investigations of adolescents' mental health challenges, as well as the lack of effective policy interventions for many child welfare involved adolescents afflicted with mental health difficulties. The article concludes with recommendations for future areas of research and policy focus for the population of child welfare involved adolescents.

MOVING BEYOND GENERALIZATIONS AND STEREOTYPES TO DEVELOP INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACHES FOR WORKING WITH FAMILIES AFFECTED BY PARENTAL INCARCERATION

Competing narratives about incarcerated parents and their children are provided by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (“ASFA”) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights (“Bill of Rights”). Both the “child‐at‐risk” narrative of ASFA and the “good mother” narrative of the Bill of Rights are stereotyped and oversimplified and contribute, in opposite ways, to misperceptions about incarcerated parents and their children by suggesting a uniformity of situations and appropriate responses that does not actually exist. The time‐driven approach of ASFA—and many state termination of parental rights statutes—is overly rigid, while the Bill of Rights overlooks important differences among families, as well as tensions and trade‐offs among policy choices. In actuality, the situations of the parents and children involved vary widely and defy easy analysis and solutions. We should therefore be taking an individualized, qualitative approach that is nuanced and based on actual information about incarcerated parents and their children, rather than a quantitative, categorical approach based on generalized and simplistic assumptions. Only if we recognize and grapple with the complexities of parental incarceration can we develop sound legal and social policy to meet the needs of these families.

Infants placed in foster care prior to their first birthday: Differences in kin and nonkin placements.

Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study examines differences between kinship and foster placements for infants placed in out-of-home care prior to their first birthday. The differences examined include developmental status at time of placement, differences in the home and neighborhood environments, and the duration of time in placement. Participants included 457 infants placed in either kinship or foster care and their caregivers. Findings suggest that infants placed with kin had fewer developmental concerns 2 to 6 months after the initial Child Protective Services investigation and spent significantly less time in placement. The quality of foster and kinship homes and neighborhoods also differed: Foster homes were generally of better quality and located in safer neighborhoods. Overall, for both kin and foster care, the data suggest that even after passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA, Public Law 105-89), infants remain in care for a long time: Approximately one third of infants are still in out-of-home care 3 years after the initial investigation.

STATE LAW AND THE TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

This paper presents the findings from a content analysis of state laws authorizing the termination of parental rights. The analysis yielded a taxonomy of termination criteria and it identified those criteria that were most widely adopted by the states. State termination criteria were compared to those listed in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997. The comparison shows that state laws identify more types of termination criteria than are listed in ASFA. In addition, criteria related to neglect and “parental failure” were often ambiguous and lacked detail. The study identifies possible directions for research on state termination law.