Listening to Parents

1
Listening to Parents Understanding Barriers to
Adoption
A Presentation by Jeff Katz, M.S.W., MPA
2
Background

• Practice, not academic
• The Funnel- many prospective parents call, few
  actually adopt
• Two Questions
• How Many People Start the Process?
• Why do so Many People Drop Out?

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Study methods

• AFCARS analysis
• National survey of adoption managers
• Attrition of applicants
• State policies and practices
• Case record abstraction
• Case studies
• Prospective adoptive parents (Not yet trained, in
  training, waiting to be matched
• Adoption workers and administrators

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Significant state variation in use of general
applicants
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National survey findings The funnel
240,000 Requests
36,000 Home Studies (15) 19,000 Approved and
waiting 8,700 Placed (3.6)
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Recruitment How people first hear about adoption

• Most have personal connection
• Wide variety of electronic and print media
• Motivation both parent-centered and
  child-centered
• Many misconceptions about process
• Most have also considered private, international
  adoption
• Lack of resources constrain recruitment efforts

7
Screening vs. Recruitment? The first call

• Sites vary in emphasis placed
• First call laden with emotions
• Difficulty reaching right staff
• Strong personal connection helpful
• Emotions make communicating accurate information
  difficult

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Application and orientation process

• Like first call, process varies by site
• San Jose Community education approach
• Massachusetts Screen out unlikely candidates,
  complete initial visits
• Miami Additional screening (fingerprinting),
  completion of application
• Common complaint too negative
• Legal-risk and fost-adopt encouraged,
  misunderstood

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Training

• Not easy, but most have positive experience
• Complaints
• Focused too much on difficulties of children
• Information on services/supports too late
• Not enough on adoption process, how to deal with
  birth parents post-adoption
• Feeling they are being judged
• Accommodating different learning styles difficult
• Benefits of training foster and adoptive parent
  together

10
The home study process

• Differences in timing and intensity
• Complex relationship between worker and family
• How states handle families unlikely to have child
  placed with them
• Reasons for not approving home
• Parents unclear about approval process, purpose

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Matching and placement

• Different methods for applicants to learn about
  adoptable children
• Frustration over perceived secrecy of process
• Very subjective process
• Impact of family structure
• Assumptions about ability to care for certain
  children
• Transracial, trans-cultural placements
• Applicants often change their minds about types
  of children they will adopt

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Case record abstraction Factors predicting
success
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Conclusions

• There is a very steep funnel from the initial
  call through adoption. Few who request
  information end up adopting a foster child, yet
  great potential in pool of general applicants
• Recruitment of general applicants varies
  considerably across states, likelihood of success
  similarly varies
• Need for making system more accessible, uncertain
  how many people drop out due to negative initial
  response

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Conclusions

• Need to understand, and respond to emotional
  needs of applicants
• First call is critical
• Balancing screening vs. recruitment at different
  stages in process
• More information needed about process at each
  step
• Too focused on negatives, need more and earlier
  information on supports

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Practice recommendations

• Recruitment
• More personalized
• Easier process
• Anyone can adopt
• Free, about children not money
• Screening
• Separate as much as possible from recruitment,
  initial response
• Early stages should focus on recruitment, later
  stages on screening
• Let information be screening tool, allow people
  to self-select out of the process
• Treat first call as counseling

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Practice recommendations

• Focus on retention
• Improve communication
• Identify barriers, make the process easier (e.g.,
  single point of contact, computerize paperwork)
• Be less negative, more supportive while providing
  the same information
• Listen to Parents
• Focus Groups
• Ombudsman
• Surveys