Moving children from foster care to adoption

1. Moving children from foster care to adoption Presented by Utah Youth Village Talon Greeff, LPC Charity Hotton, SSW

2. Introduction • Advantages of permanence • Child • Provides a child with their very own family • Creates permanent home for a child • Agency • Brings adoptive parents into foster care • Family saves money over a private adoption • Builds credibility for your program • State • Recent emphasis on providing permanence for children • Cost savings

3. OUTLINE Information about Foster Care and Adoption What Children Need for a Successful Adoption What Families Need for a Successful Adoption What Agencies Need for a Successful Adoption

4. THE STORY Adoption experience Marshall Islands Cooper and Jacxon Latency-age Girls Danny/Megan Battles with Utah DCFS Permanence Mandate for a charity

5. STAGES TO ADOPTION

6. What children need for a successful adoption

7. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… • A high level of supervision and support • 24/7 crisis management by their consultant • Get youth from agencies that do not provide our level of support

8. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… • Children have often learned to shape adult behavior through many failed placements • We need to be ready to provide creative, positive motivation systems • Parents and a team who will try many different things

9. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… • Relationship Building – common elements • One on one time • Quality components are critical (humor, touch, eye contact, proximity, voice tone, body language) • Fun family activities weekly

10. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… • Non-verbal communication is key • They will watch what you do not necessarily listen to what you say • Expectations and structure must be clear - provides a sense of safety and control

11. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… Special issues with adoption Mental health diagnosis – a sampler Reactive-Attachment Disorder (RAD) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Sexual reactivity

12. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… Specialized care for physical and emotional disabilities Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) Birth defects Abuse and neglect Enuresis/Encopresis Physical disabilities Hearing loss Blindness Cerebral Palsy

13. WHAT CHILDREN NEED… Examples Severe reactive attachment disorder – deepening relationship creates anxiety, feeling unsafe (Megan) Emotional and physical disabilities (Emily and Vlad)

14. WHAT FAMILIES NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL ADOPTION

15. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… • First, What Doesn’t Work? • Pathologizing ‘normal’ kid behaviors • Danny’s adoption • No matter what they do, it is just a behavior

16. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… • Assuming a relationship you haven’t yet earned • “Barbie doll” • Normal kids • You are not mom and dad until you ‘earn’ it • Pre-teach that children and youth will not appreciate the adoption

17. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… They will, however, provide superficial behaviors suggesting relationship Calling you “mom” and “dad” Want hugs immediately If we do this correctly, we are moving foster parents from foster care to adoption

18. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… Money from foster care generates dependency Families budget for additional money Find resources In Utah, adoption subsidy REALLY, what they need to know is that they can get SSI money Moving from more structure to less structure

19. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… Relationship Building If you don’t like the child you won’t want him in your home. Use the praise experiment Keep discipline positive Children with special needs or attachment issues need special care in bonding with adoptive parents – creative treatment planning

20. WHAT FAMILES NEED… Moving from system dependence to independence Financial Support Hybrid families first/consultation approach Working with state agencies Federal and state programs and resources Closure on children’s and families’ needs – moving from formal to informal

21. WHAT FAMILES NEED… Services Formal Informal Often need strict structure to stabilize the home Later, normalized family structure customized for their adoptive children

22. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… Hybrid Family Preservation/Program Consultation approach Consultation Components Initial intense supervision and support Regular consultation and in-home schedule Family Preservation Components Move to Phases approach Problem solve with family-Assume they have the answer Emphasis on natural/logical consequences/structure

23. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… You are not creating a “tool” that will work with many different youth, you are customizing a “tool” for the specific children in the home Treatment foster care is about developing a home to provide treatment for children and youth – general Intensive in-home services are about developing a home that will be successful for the children and youth living in it

24. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… Phases Finding their agenda – must know this Assessment – relationship building Criticism by suggestion Build strengths into skills Treat them as experts Help them implement structure Implementation of 4:1 ratios and contingent environment are key

25. WHAT FAMILIES NEED… Tapering off service delivery and develop independence Fewer/shorter in-home visits Doing assignments and applying concepts More spontaneous problem solving by couple Tell them “You know what to do” Act as a support not a supervisor

26. WHAT AGENCIES NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL ADOPTION

27. WHAT AGENCIES NEED… Commitment to permanence and children’s best interest Creative policies and willingness to think “outside the box” Pressures to provide permanence Consumers see you as a partner in creating a home for a child

28. WHAT AGENCIES NEED… TFM prepares families for success through the transition Partnering with case workers and advocating for use of the TFM with adoptive parents Adoptive families often think they can handle behaviors for which they are unprepared

29. CONCLUSION

30. CONCLUSION It may appear that benefits are only for the kids but ultimately good for the agency and family More rewarding to individuals because it provides permanence for the “hard-to-adopt” child Changes the life of the child and their children, forever “It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love”