ARTICLE SUMMARY PERMANENCY
Exploring the Path from Foster Care to Stable and Lasting Adoption: Perceptions of Foster Care Alumni Mariscal, E. S., Akin, B. A., Lieberman, A. A., & Washington, D. (2015). Exploring the path from foster care to stable and lasting adoption: Perceptions of foster care alumni. Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 111-120.
Issue
The authors note that despite federal law and various initiatives to promote adoption from foster care, most states continue to struggle to achieve timely and stable adoptions. In addition to timeliness, outcomes for children adopted from foster care include a high rate of adoption disruption and adoption dissolution. Given these indicators, investigation is warranted to understand the critical factors for achieving timely, stable, and lasting adoptions. This study explored the perceptions that foster care alumni had about facilitators and barriers to successful adoption. Facilitators and barriers were examined at child, family, and system levels, considering: 1) the needs of children pre- and post-adoption; 2) services and key supports for adoptive families; and 3) how the foster care system can help or hinder the adoption process.
Findings
The study used qualitative data collected for a larger study funded by the Children’s Bureau.1 A purposive sample of 16 participants was recruited and convened in two semi-structured focus groups. The majority of the study participants were females (84%) and White (80%), followed by Latino (12%), and African American (8%). On average, their age was 21 years (SD = 2.5). The youth had spent an average of 5 years (SD = 3.6) in foster care, ranging from 1 to 13 years (Median = 3.9 years). Several participants volunteered that they had experienced adoption disruption (n = 3) or adoption dissolution (n = 2); one participant experienced a successful adoption. The data were analyzed using theoretical thematic analysis. Emergent themes were organized within a theoretical framework consisting of child, family, and system facilitators and barriers to successful adoption. The focus groups yielded a substantial amount of information, presented below under the four distinct thematic areas.
Theoretical Framework and Emergent Themes CHILD FACTORS PERCEIVED TO INFLUENCE ADOPTION OUTCOMES
ADOPTIVE PARENTS NEED STRONG PREPARATION, EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, AND LIFELONG COMMITMENT
Some youth don’t want to be adopted. One quarter of the participants described adoption as being forced on them, not posed as a choice.
Adoptive parents don’t necessarily get everything they need in training. Participants stated that adoptive parents need strong preparation to understand and address the trauma and behavioral health needs of their children. They also advised that parents need to understand that youth behaviors are associated with trauma experiences and issues concerning trust, attachment, and loss and grief.
Labels and stigma in the community. Participants reported facing several challenges in the community, including negative stereotypes and stigma associated with being in foster care.
Strong support systems can make a difference for youth. A variety of sources of support was identified, including friends, family, teachers, caseworkers, mentors, and other youth in foster care. Social media was seen as instrumental in obtaining support from these sources. Participants felt support from mentors clearly contributed to a youth’s success.
Most youth in foster care have major trust issues. Participants often talked about grief and loss, trauma, and trust [issues] which, they said, increased with more placement moves.
Strong relationships: get to know the kid, not the file. For participants, getting to know one another (e.g., spending extended parent–child time together) is crucial in order to build a strong relationship before the adoption. Youth also recommended improving the matching between child and family by prioritizing the child’s interest and expectations and by providing youth, especially older youth, in-depth information or “an interest profile” about the adoptive family.
Organizational challenges in the child welfare system impacting youth. High worker turnover, obstacles in cross-system communication, and other difficulties with caseworkers represent key system factors that lowered youth satisfaction. Additionally, several youth mentioned that in the post-adoption phase, “Families are on their own,” suggesting a lack of aftercare services.
Characteristics of effective professionals working with youth. Participants characterized effective and helpful caseworkers as honest, caring, encouraging, communicative, accessible, trustworthy, and respectful of the youth’s time and boundaries. Effective therapists were described as relatable, engaging, competent, and resilience-oriented.
PERMANENCY: Timely reunification, permanent placement, or adoption.
SYSTEM BARRIERS CAN UNDERMINE SUCCESSFUL ADOPTION
SERVICES AND SUPPORTS CAN INFLUENCE THE SUCCESS OF ADOPTION
Findings
Being basically unadoptable and challenges staying adopted. Youth described characteristics identified as risk factors for adoption disruption such as being older, sibling groups, mental health diagnoses, and sexual orientation.
Being treated differently. Participants recommended that adoptive parents be prepared to facilitate the child(ren)’s relationships with siblings and extended family.
Child welfare policies impacting adoption outcomes. The majority of participants called for a youth-centered system, where “the child should come above all else.” In their views, parent recruitment, matching, and permanency planning should prioritize the interests of the child.
Open, clear, and honest communication is key. Effective communication, identified as a key facilitator of successful adoption, is the basis of a strong relationship. Participants recommended that adoptive parents develop effective communication skills to build and nurture trust and strong relationships
Challenges with the mental health system. Youth identified several challenges in their experience with the mental health system, including a lack of professional competence, mandated therapy, and management of psychotropic medications. Improving the systems’ understanding and response to trauma and adoption. Overall, participants noted that all systems in contact with youth in foster care need an improved understanding and response to trauma and adoption. Youth requested that information and resources on trauma be available for all adults surrounding them.
Implications
The authors conclude that the study highlights a collective plea by the youth in the focus groups for foster care and adoption systems to make systematic efforts to better match children and families, giving youth voices a central role in this process. Furthermore, the authors note a dearth of research that captures children and youth perceptions of foster care and adoption and state it is difficult to argue that our systems are client-centered when we fail to include them. The youths’ messages throughout this study’s findings are clear. They suggest: more comprehensive preparation for parents and youth; more knowledge, skills, and effective treatments to respond to children’s trauma and behavioral health needs; more intensive post-adoption services for families; youth mentorship; continuity in state-sponsored benefits; and a wellintegrated and coordinated child welfare system. Collectively, these recommendations lay the foundation for a trauma-informed environment that will foster timely, stable, and lasting adoptions.
1
Testa, M. F., DePanfilis, D., Huebner, R., Dionne, R., Deakins, B., & Baldwin, M. (2014). Bridging the gap between research and practice: The work of the steering team for the child welfare research and evaluation translational framework workgroup. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 8, 333–353.
PERMANENCY: Timely reunification, permanent placement, or adoption.