Post-Adoption Services & Post-Adoption Services & Maintaining Permanency Maintaining Permanency in Adoptionin Adoption

Center for Women in Government Fellow’s ForumAmanda J. LesterJune 23, 2010

Overview and Background: Origin Overview and Background: Origin of Need for Post-Adoption Servicesof Need for Post-Adoption Services

Each year, thousand of children are adopted out of foster care in NYS

“Hard to place” childrenAbout 33% of adoptive children are reported

as having emotional difficulties; 40% behavioral problems*

Difficulties faced by adoptive children which range beyond those that may be addressed by “typical” parenting solutions

*North American Council on Adoptable Children, 2007

Overview and Background: Some Overview and Background: Some problems that may be experienced problems that may be experienced

by adoptive childrenby adoptive children

Social, emotional, psychological, neurological, and cognitive disorders, grief, separation trauma, attachment disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum

Some problems may present later or increase with time

Milestones and child development may exacerbate or reinitiate problems or reactions

Overview and Background: What Overview and Background: What are Post-Adoption Services?are Post-Adoption Services?

Post-adoption services (PAS) are specialized services to provide parents of adoptive children possessing emotional,

behavioral, medical, or learning problems due to prior abuse or neglect.

Provides support and addresses unique needs of adoptive children in the context of the family

Improves family dynamics and addresses unique needs of adoptive children while they remain at

home

Overview and Background: Why Overview and Background: Why are post-adoption services needed?are post-adoption services needed?

Demands placed on families by needs and problems experienced by some

adoptive children may result in adoptive children being served in residential

treatment placements if no supports and resources are available to parents.

“Adoptive parents can feel overwhelmed by the transition”PAS supports families and children within the

family structureReduced likelihood of adoption disruption and

adoption dissolutionMay increase rate of adoption out of foster care

Overview and Background: The Overview and Background: The Current Problems are…Current Problems are…

Most funding for services provided in foster care are eliminated at adoption

PAS are not equally available to all families in NYSLack of services negatively impacts adoption

permanency in many waysExpansion of regionally available services are

neededMore PAS training programs and trained providers

needed Inadequate data collection and tracking systemsFunding for existing PA Services in NYS are in

jeopardy of being eliminated in the current budget process.

Overview and Background: What Overview and Background: What happens to families when post-happens to families when post-

adoption services are not adoption services are not available ?available ?

Increases in residential treatment placements

Reductions in adoptions from foster careAdoption disruptions (temporary removal

from family to receive residential treatment/return to foster care)

Adoption dissolutions (adoption failure after finalization)

PAS in NYSPAS in NYS

Beginning in 2000, PAS services were offered through the development of Prevention and Post-Adoption Programs funded through RFP process

Program is subject to annual budget appropriations

Funding comes 100% from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds

Currently, 13 regional programs are in existence throughout NYS

PAS in NYS: Where are post-PAS in NYS: Where are post-adoption services currently adoption services currently

available? available?

Regional PAS Service

Locations:•Western NY: 2•Central NY: 1•Capital Dist.: 1•Mid-Hudson: 1•NYC: 8

Implementing PAS in NYSImplementing PAS in NYS

Regional structure generally supported as best approach

Gaps in service provisionEfforts to expand services impeded by

economic crisisExisting services concentrated in urban areasAreas without regional PAS locations receive

county supports which vary in services offered Funding for PAS is complicated and conditional

on appropriation

PAS in NYS: Types of Services PAS in NYS: Types of Services AvailableAvailable

*Not all services are available from all providers*

Information about available services Support groups (child/parent/family) Parenting education Counseling Crisis intervention Advocacy services (negotiating the system) Respite/after-school care/babysitting Integrated services/training in integrated behavior plan Peer training/support Referral and resources

Commonly Used PA ServicesCommonly Used PA Services

New York State Citizens Coalition for Children (Feb. 2010). Post Adoption Services Survey.

PA Services Needed and Not PA Services Needed and Not AvailableAvailable

New York State Citizens Coalition for Children (Feb. 2010). Post Adoption Services Survey.

PAS in NYS: Possible Funding PAS in NYS: Possible Funding Streams and the Current Funding Streams and the Current Funding

of PAS of PAS Funding for PAS is fragmented

and conditional…Some possible funding streams

◦ TANF*◦ Adoption Subsidies*◦ Medicaid◦ Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance◦ Bridges to Health◦ OMRDD◦ Private insurance◦ Donations

Overview and Background: Cost-Overview and Background: Cost-Benefits of Maintaining PASBenefits of Maintaining PAS

What does PAS Provide?: What does PAS Provide?: The ResearchThe Research

PAS are needed to help establish permanency despite any trauma-related difficulties that a child may exhibit◦ A loving home cannot overcome these

problems alone◦ Many problems exhibited require specialized

services to support the child within the social structures of family, school and community

◦ Without specialized support, needs of the child may exceed capabilities of the parent

◦ More research is needed, but supports success of PAS in increasing permanency

Adoption Permanency and Adoption Permanency and Why it MattersWhy it Matters

Permanency: achieving a lifetime of safe, healthy, and supportive relationships and connections for children◦ Lifetime family support and involvement◦ Family intimacy, belonging, familial status (connections)◦ Critical for positive growth and development◦ Can be achieved for children in foster care through

adoption

When permanency is not achieved, negative consequences may occur◦ Social/emotional difficulties into adulthood ◦ Homelessness, incarceration, substance abuse, under-

education, reentry into system as an adult

Other Factors Affecting Other Factors Affecting Permanency: Gender, Race, Class Permanency: Gender, Race, Class

& PAS& PASClass plays a direct role in availability of post-

adoption servicesAdoptions from foster care can often lead to the

establishment of transracial families, affecting the adjustment of the adoptive child and family beyond existing issues. Discrimination and lack of available services based on race can be a factor, especially for males.

Being male or being the only adoptee in a family of birth children can increase the likelihood of maladjustment.

Stresses in parenting can also be sometimes linked to gender roles

PAS in States Other than New York: PAS in States Other than New York: Models and Components for Models and Components for

ExpansionExpansion

NYS is one of 48 states offering some level of PASServices vary state-to-state In most states, services are provided by private

agencies, but some PAS is provided by state agencies

States identified as having the most comprehensive programs: Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah◦ Programs are statewide, include the key components

identified as needed by NYS families and have more comprehenive approaches to funding

Seeking Alternatives and Viable Seeking Alternatives and Viable Solutions to Sustain PAS in NYSSolutions to Sustain PAS in NYS

Current focus: sustaining services and improving areas with negligible fiscal impact

Improving access to informationPrioritizing services to be sustainedContinued lobbying for funding restorationSeeking out new ways to utilize existing funding

streams (piecing together and rethinking “siloed” funding to provide resources to the greatest number of families)

Developing long-range plans to address short-comings of current system and plan for cost-effective expansion through a more comprehensive approach and new funding possibilities

Advocacy and PersistenceAdvocacy and Persistence

In the current economic crisis, small steps must be pursued to achieve incremental change

Constant advocacy is needed to keep the issues surrounding PAS “on the radar”

Non-appropriation actions must be pursued and supported to improve information and referral for services that remain

Current Legislation to Current Legislation to Address PAS Need in NYSAddress PAS Need in NYS

Introduction of A.11175/S.8132: Post-Adoption Services Information Bill

Would require that family courts provide adoptive families with up-to-date information about available post-adoption services and their location by adoption finalization

Summary and ConclusionsSummary and ConclusionsCurrent economic sustainability of programs

will not likely include preservation of programs at the current levels of service provision.

Vigilant and persistent advocacy is needed to keep efforts to address shortcomings of the current system in motion

PAS in NYS has provided assistance to many families in maintaining adoption permanency, but its shortcomings and tenuous funding structure need to be improved to achieve greater effectiveness and to reduce need to request appropriations for expansion and reorganization

Summary and ConclusionsSummary and ConclusionsA more effective model would include:

◦ Greater interagency collaboration◦ Improved data collection systems to track

movement of children when disruptions and dissolutions occur

◦ A self-sustaining and dedicated funding structure◦ Expand services state-wide using a more structured

regional model that would include community outreach and expansion into rural areas

◦ The creation of social services training programs to improve and expand the availability of trained PAS workers

Q&A/Contact InformationQ&A/Contact Information

Amanda Lester, 2010 Fellow

Center for Women in Government and Civil Society

alester1025@gmail.com

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