support groups very helpful.1
The availability and quality of post-adoption services may vary by geographic location. Families living in rural areas may have less access to services than those living in urban areas. Furthermore, just because services are available does not mean families are aware of them or that they will access them. According to the Children’s Bureau report, 41 percent of the families surveyed said they had problems accessing post-placement services. A common barrier to accessing needed services noted by the families was a lack of insurance coverage.2
Post-adoption services may be available through the agency you choose, the state or a private organization. They may be free, covered by the child’s insurance or your insurance or you may have to pay out of pocket for some services. Families who are waiting for an adoption to be finalized should qualify for most if not all post-adoption services. Post-adoption services and benefits available to families who have adopted domestically or internationally may include:
• Follow-up home visits by the agency (requirements vary by state and adoption type)
• Mental health assessment and treatment
• Respite care
• Medical, dental and vision care
• Physical or occupational therapy
• Educational services
• Tuition reduction
• Crisis intervention
• Residential treatment
• Walk-in centers
Parents of children who are adopted from other countries may receive fewer post-placement services than parents of children adopted from the US foster care system. Public agencies can connect parents more easily with public services as compared to private agencies. Recurring public adoption subsidies are only available to families adopting domestically and other free services, such as mental health care, may only be available to these families as well. Parents of children who are adopted internationally should call their county or state child welfare agency to learn about services available to their child.
Those who adopt domestically will receive post-placement home visits by their adoption caseworker as required by state law, while parents who adopt internationally may not receive any face-to-face post-placement visits.
Parents who have adopted internationally may be required to submit regular post-placement reports to the country from which they adopted. Certain countries also require the agency to file post-placement reports. Ask your agency what post-placement reporting your country program requires. A mother who adopted her daughter from Ukraine described that country’s post-placement requirements:
For Ukraine we do not need any follow-up visits from a social worker but have to send yearly reports to the Ukrainian embassy for the first three years, then every three years after. Other countries have different requirements. Russia required visits and reports by a social worker at six months home, twelve months home and then every year after for the first three years home.
We received no financial support [for the adoption] from our government or from the Ukrainian government. We did some fundraising with Reece’s Rainbow [www.reecesrainbow.com] where people could donate to our adoption and many friends and family did this since we did not have a baby shower or anything. We also got money from my husband’s company when the adoption was finalized.
Additional post-placement support and services that may be available to families through their agencies include:
• Adoptive parent support groups
• Support groups for adopted children
• Culture camps
• Online discussion forums
• Mentors
• Parent training and education
• Special events
For a child adopted from the US foster care system by someone who is not a relative or foster parent, the process of coming home is gradual. First you meet with your prospective child at the agency, then the agency arranges for the child to visit with you. The initial outings or visits will be short, while later visits will be longer. As the relationship grows, the child may come to visit you for a few days and then gradually increase to a week or two. The child’s school schedule may affect the timing of these visits and you may need to discuss the timing of the visits with the child’s foster parents.
During this visitation period, the child’s caseworker as well as your caseworker will check in with you and the child about how you are getting along. If all parties are feeling positive about the visits and the placement, the agency will make a pre-adoptive placement of the child in your home. At this point he leaves his foster or group home to come to live with you until the adoption is legally finalized. During this time the agency will continue to make home visits and you may be asked to complete additional paperwork or training.
Children adopted by their foster parents or relative caregivers or guardians are already home, so the process of being legally adopted may not be as pronounced a transition as it is for other foster children. Nonetheless, they too have to adjust to the idea of having permanent parents. This could be scary for these children as well, because they will not want to do anything to disrupt the adoption. Some children may be confused about what being adopted means and how this will change their relationships with their caregivers. According to research by Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Q. Hutson, children adopted by relative caregivers may have fewer adjustment problems, because they can maintain closer contact with biological parents and other family members.1
For children adopted from another country, the coming home process is more abrupt but more countries are implementing protocols to make the transition easier for older children and teens. At first you may be permitted to visit with the child at the orphanage and take walks with her around the grounds. After that, you may be permitted to make longer visits and eventually have the child stay with you overnight.
Children adopted internationally may have more difficulty than children adopted domestically when adjusting to their new homes. Not only are they adjusting to living in a family, which they may never have done before, but they must adjust to a new culture, language and country too!
PREVENTING ADOPTION DISRUPTION
Adoption disruption occurs when an adoption never reaches legal finalization. Ten to fifteen percent of American domestic adoptions are disrupted while intercountry adoptions are rarely disrupted,
