Thursday, January 04, 2007

Agency Data

Should data from agencies (number of families homestudied, number of placements, number of finalizations, etc.) be collected annually on a state level and made available to all prospective adoptive families to assist them in selecting an adoption agency?

Why or why not?

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill, foster and adoptive family recruiter in TX, says:

I have no problem with the information being collected, but am a bit concerned that the numbers would be used as a primary tool for families selecting an adoption agency. There are many excellent smaller agencies that may only make a few placements each year, but who do an excellent job in preparing their families and offering a lot more personal guidance and assistance than would be available at most agencies with lots of annual placements. It is also rare for a placement with a small agency family to disrupt, possibly due to more interaction between all parties and a better understanding of what "special needs" in children really means.

On the other hand, agencies making many placements often have the ability to provide quicker and more services than small agencies. They may also develop better contacts and communication with state staff, courts, etc. due to their frequent interaction with those offices.

I think the most important statistic would be the success of their placements, not the numbers.

11:02 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home