HD35 - Study of Barriers to Adoption


Executive Summary:
• This study of barriers to the adoption of children in Virginia responds to House Joint Resolution 264.

• This study also responds to the request of Delegate Robert G. Marshall, sponsor of House Joint Resolution 264, to include a third issue for study.

• Currently, about 22% (1,706) of the children in foster care have the goal of adoption. With increased emphasis on adoption and the special needs of children in foster care, adoption subsidy cases are growing about 10% annually. Adoptive families need supportive services because the adopted child's special needs and emotional problems can cause family breakdown resulting in the child re-entering the foster care system.

• Recent changes that strengthen and improve the foster care and adoption programs have created significant workload demands on local social workers. Specifically:

- The Court Improvement Project, which requires faster action and greater accountability with courts, intensifies work and increases staff time in court.

- Federal and state adoption requirements, designed to move children through the system into adoptive homes more rapidly, call for increased efforts to secure adoptive placements for those children in foster care by removing legal impediments to the adoption process.

• A consultant group of twenty-one experts in the field of adoption and pregnancy counseling issues was established. This group met for two days and was charged with the task of identifying barriers and making recommendations for the elimination of the barriers for each of the study objectives.

• This study was charged with addressing three issues relating to the adoption of children in Virginia:

- ISSUE ONE: The need to help children in foster care achieve the goal of adoption more quickly so that they are not further traumatized by not having a permanent attachment to a family, and

- ISSUE TWO: The need to ensure that children with special needs receive the financial assistance they need in order to obtain a stable, permanent home through adoption.

- ISSUE THREE: The need to educate unwed, pregnant women and their families to get them to view adoption as a viable option in their choices of dealing with pregnancy resolution.

• Each of these three issues was assessed from several perspectives: societal, psychological, legal, and public policy.

• As a result of this study, a fourth issue was identified:

- The need to thoroughly assess the present structure of adoption service provision in the State to determine whether there is a more effective and efficient way to provide adoption services to children and families.

• The major barriers and recommendations are included as a part of the narrative of this study.

• The major recommendations for the elimination of barriers for Issue One include:

- Implementing the recommendations of the legislative study on Foster Care and Adoption Staffing Needs (The 1998 Appropriation Act, Item 400G) to increase staffing in local agencies by adding 172 additional local social workers and 20 supervisors in foster care and adoption;

- Educating local departments of social services and Community Policy, and Management Teams (CPMT's) about the criticality of using CSA funds to purchase adoption services for children in foster care; and

• The major recommendations for the elimination of barriers for Issue Two include:

- Allocating additional funds for contracting with private child placing agencies to provide adoption services for children and their families.

- Continuing to support families adopting children with special needs through adequate funding for the adoption assistance program.

• The major recommendations for the elimination of barriers for Issue Three include:

- Developing a module on adoption to be included in Family Life Education curriculum provided in public schools in Virginia;

- Conducting a public awareness campaign to educate the general public and other professionals about adoption; and

- Working with organizations such as CareNet, which is a crisis pregnancy counseling center, to develop educational courses on adoption to be included in their counseling sessions with unwed, pregnant women.

• Implementation of the recommendations for the first three issues will involve additional public education efforts, additional funding and additional staff.

• Findings from this study indicate a need to establish a joint legislative committee to study the feasibility of restructuring adoption services in Virginia.