What are the three biggest barriers to increasing the number of adoptions of children in the foster care system?
Parents? Professionals?
What are your thoughts.
posted by Claudia at 10:50 AM
Adoption Think Tank
A place where professionals and parents connect to make a difference in the lives of children.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
What are your thoughts.
Previous Posts
- Question from a Parent to Parents
- Adoption Exchange Association Executive Director C...
- Author and Executive Director of the Evan B. Donal...
- Deborah Hage Agrees to Join the Adoption Think Tank
- Another Question from a Parent
- Helpful Websites
- More Responses to the "ONE characteristic" question
- Brenda McCreight joins Panel
- First Question from the Think Tank (not originated...
- Characteristic Needed by Adoptive Families
5 Comments:
1. One of the barriers is education and recruitment of pre-adoptive parents. It is such a fine line social workers have to walk to find prospective parents with realistic expectations of the system and of the abuse many of these kids have been through while also able to maintain the hope and optimism to raise the children with love.
2. Lack of staff is definitely a problem. I don't know any social worker who isn't carrying a load to high nor any foster parents who haven't been through burnout. Some pre-adoptive families wait for years for a child when really it is a lack of staff at EVERY level in the process to handle things. They need more social workers on the front lines, but the needs go all the way down the line to things like needing more computer staff to help get other staff the tools to process information quicker.
3. When we told people we were going to adopt from foster care, more than once person took us aside asking us if we knew what we were getting into. People seemed to think we were naive or they treated us like we were bucking for sainthood. We appreciated the well-wishes from those who gave them but we just wanted to be parents - the bottom line was it was selfish action that drove us.
Some people seem to think adopting a newborn or internationally meant your child would be fine but adopting from foster care was this high risk thing that could ruin our lives immediately.
*Of course, in terms of the system's limitations itself the age of kids, amount of siblings and the time in care can impeded placement.
Alissa, adoption worker in Florida, lists:
Paperwork/Bureaucratic Red Tape issues
Money issues
Lack of services for the families and children issues
Todd, who has been practicing adoption medicine for ten years, lists:
1. Racism.
2. Age
3. Legal system, which has trouble balancing rights of children and parents, i.e., chattel rights.
Chris, a foster and adoption program director in Texas says:
1. lack of staff
2. lack of staff
3. Lack of staff
Jennifer, adoption worker in Texas, writes:
1)ICPC taking too long for children to be placed out of state.
2) Children's ages
3) Children's behaviors and adoptive parents not being open to the many behaviors that foster children exhibit.
Robyn, another adoption worker in TX, says:
Older children, children of different races, and sibling groups. It is very hard to find placements for these children.
Meg, mom of twelve, if I am counting correctly, writes:
Public knowledge! People don't know about it! Just yesterday, someone said , "I thought it took thousands of dollars!!!!!!" She was amazed at what I told her.
Brenda, an Adoption Supervisor in Texas, resopnds:
WORKLOAD CONSTRAINTS - workers can only do so much
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO FIND FAMILIES - since families are out there
CHILDREN'S BEHAVIORS - and lack of adequate post-adopt services to help families to handle those difficult behaviors - they want the security of the CPS system if things get tough
Melody, an adoption worker in Texas, writes:
Case loads that are too large, that time can not be spent on the recruitment efforts--but instead is spent in putting out the biggest fire.
In my case, a hinderance is the behaviors and issues that my children on my caseload have. Its hard to find a family that is willing to meet some of these needs.
Post a Comment
<< Home