From Foster Care to Adoption and Guardianship: A Twenty-First Century Challenge

Rolock, Nancy; Pérez, Alfred G.; White, Kevin R.; Fong, Rowena

doi:10.1007/s10560-017-0499-z

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…As a result of federal policy, the national child welfare caseload has dramatically shifted. For example, a recent analysis of federal Title IV-E Program Quarterly report data demonstrates that the number of children in foster care fell from 290,000 to 159,000 in the years 2000-2013, and the number of children in federally subsidized adoptive and guardian homes increased from 228,000 to 432,000 during the same time (Rolock, Pérez, White, & Fong, 2017). In 2015, the case goal of just over a quarter of children placed in foster care was adoption or guardianship, and 31% of children exited foster care through adoption or guardianship (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).…”

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying Relational Permanence among Young Adults who Exited Foster Care through Legal Permanence as Adolescents

Pérez

2017

Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Service

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The achievement of legal permanence is not only a primary goal of U.S. child welfare policy but is also presumed to translate into relational permanence. This study examines whether state-sanctioned permanence translates into relational permanence among foster care alumni. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 31 young adults who exited care as adolescents through adoption, guardianship, or relative placement to gain insights into how they make meaning of their relationships with caretakers over time. Constructivist grounded theory was used to develop a conceptual classification scheme of relational permanence that resulted in four types of young adult–caretaker relationships: enduring, ambivalent, spurned, and severed. Findings underscore the unintended consequences of solely focusing on legal permanence as an outcome, and implications for promoting relational permanence before and after foster care are discussed.

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Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying Relational Permanence among Young Adults who Exited Foster Care through Legal Permanence as Adolescents

Pérez

2017

Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Service

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“…In other cases, youth run away from home for extended periods or are kicked out by the family. Most of these types of informal family instability are not captured in empirical studies of postpermanency discontinuity, a term that Rolock and her colleagues use to encompass all types of adoption instability in which the child leaves their home after adoption but prior to the legal age of majority (Rolock, 2015;Rolock & White, 2016;White, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Commentary: Understanding Research, Policy, and Practice Issues in Adoption Instability

Brodzinsky

Smith

2018

Research on Social Work Practice

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Our commentary highlights the authors' conceptual and empirical contributions for understanding the incidence and dynamics of varying types of adoption breakdowns and their impact on adopted youth and their families. Important distinctions are made between legal, residential, and psychological/relational permanence for children. To date, most research has focused on factors supporting or undermining legal and residential permanence but has largely ignored children's sense of psychological or relational permanence. Recommendations for future research and implications of findings for policy and practice are discussed.

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“…Obtaining evidence regarding post-permanency well-being is problematic due to the logistics of tracking and accessing families. In countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States – where permanency through adoption or guardianship has been actively promoted through legislation by encouraging targets and/or incentives – the new challenge for the child welfare system is how to collect reliable data about the well-being of children already living in this permanent type of care and how best to support them (as posed by Rolock et al, 2017). NSW has recently become the first state in Australia to prioritize adoption over long-term foster care, and the numbers are expected to increase.…”

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confidence: 99%

An exploratory study on open adoptions from foster care in NSW, Australia: Adoptees’ psychosocial functioning, adoptive relationships, post-adoption contact and supports

Bolger

Dunstan

Kaltner

2018

International Social Work

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This is an exploratory study focused on open adoptions from foster care conducted through the public child protection agency in New South Wales, Australia. The results from an online survey completed by 23 respondents indicated that most of the adoptees were reportedly in the normative range of adjustment, had positive relationships with their adoptive parents and had ongoing contact with their birth families. Most of the adoptive parents had received pre-adoption supports to encourage post-adoption contact. These preliminary results are encouraging, but larger and preferably longitudinal studies are needed to guide decision-making regarding adoptions from foster care. The new challenge for the child welfare system is how to collect reliable data about the well-being of children already living in this permanent type of care and how best to support them.

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From Foster Care to Adoption and Guardianship: A Twenty-First Century Challenge

Cited by 20 publications

References 23 publications

Classifying Relational Permanence among Young Adults who Exited Foster Care through Legal Permanence as Adolescents

Classifying Relational Permanence among Young Adults who Exited Foster Care through Legal Permanence as Adolescents

Commentary: Understanding Research, Policy, and Practice Issues in Adoption Instability

An exploratory study on open adoptions from foster care in NSW, Australia: Adoptees’ psychosocial functioning, adoptive relationships, post-adoption contact and supports

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