Overview of CA Child Welfare Adoption Practice

1. Overview of CA Child Welfare Adoption Practice

2. Welcome!!!

3. Goals of training • Impart the philosophy that all children deserve family connection and permanence. • Discuss that there are several paths to permanency – adoption in just one of the paths. • Exploration of feelings

4. Learning Objectives • Knowledge • Things we want you to know, learn, or acquire • Skills • Things we want you to be able to do/ demonstrate • Values • Things we want you to feel is important and incorporate in practice

5. Parking Lot

6. Federal and State Regulations & other important Codes • Social Security Act • Child Abuse and Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) • Adoptions and Safe Families Act (ASFA) • Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) • Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) • (Safe & Timely) Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) • Adam Walsh Child Safety & Protection ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New(er) Laws • AB 1856 - Providing Safe, Supportive homes for LGBTQ youth • AB458 - The California Foster Care Non-Discrimination Act

7. Federal and State Regulations & other important Codes Title XXII Regulations • http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/ord/PG308.htm • Welfare & Institutions Codes (WIC) • 366.26 • 366.3 • 16115 – 16125 (AAP) • 366.24

8. Center for Social Services Research- California

9. Center for Social Services Research- Add County Name

10. State and County Adoption Statistics (CSSR) • INSTRUCTIONS • Go to http://cssr.berkeley.edu/ucb_childwelfare/ • Click on the Foster Care button • Click on the Adoption button • Select C2.1 – Adoption within 24 months (exit cohort) • Select the most recent time period (or another time period) • Click the next button • Click the finish button

11. AFCARS Staff MUST provide complete, accurate, and timely data in order to avoid federal penalties These items have been problematic in the past: • Actions or Conditions Associated with Child’s Removal. • Death or Incarceration of Parent(s). • Create/Continue a Hearing Date. • Hispanic Designation. • Case Plan Goals. • Financial Aid Documentation/Foster Care Payments. • Foster Caretaker/Substitute Care Provider Data. • Caretaker Family Structure/Foster Family Structure • Caretakers’ Birth Date. • Clinically Diagnosed Disability(ies).

12. Identifying Values Related to Permanency & Adoptions • Questions about Permanency • Children are unsuitable for permanency when… • Adopted children and children under guardianship are… • When considering placing a child outside his/her geographic region, I am most concerned about… • When formulating a permanency plan for a teen-ager, adoption is…

13. Assumptions about Permanency • Adoption and guardianship are different from birth families. • Adjustment to non-birth parent permanency is a lifelong process. • Adopted children and those under guardianship bring genes, birth experience, family ties, and life history to the permanency family. • Adoptive/guardianship parents, biological parents, and children share a sense of loss. • Permanency is a service on the continuum of protective services to children. • All children who are unable to return to their own home should be considered for permanency.

14. Types of Permanency Options Placement Preferential Order • Remain safely in birth home • Placement with Relatives or Extended Non-relative (mentor) • Foster Family Home • Foster Family Agency Home • Group Home (institution care) The lowest level of care must used based on the needs of the child. Once a child is placed out of home, we must look toward placing a child in a placement that can offer a permanency plan should reunification not be successful .

15. Reunification Timelines • Reunification Timelines • California Timelines

16. Benefits to Adoption • Connection • Information • Birth Families Care • Not a Threat • Know the Outcome • Feel more Authentic • Healthier Relationships

17. Caregiver/Child Matching • Caretaker Suitability • Child Match Characteristics • Consideration of Kin

18. Caregiver/Child Matching • Caregiver – Child Matching • Successful Characteristics of Adoptive Parents • Successful Characteristics of Special needs adoptive families

19. Home Study • Philosophy Shift • The SAFE Model • Structured • Analysis • Family • Evaluation ACTIVITY – Python Home Study

20. 7 Core Issues of Adoption • Loss, • Rejection, • Guilt/Shame, • Grief, • Identity, • Intimacy & Relationships, • Control/Gains http://www.adoptionsupport.org/res/7core.php

21. 7 Core Issues of Adoption • Psychosocial Model of Adoption Adjustment • Adoption as a Risk Factor

22. 7 Core Issues of Adoption • Attachment/Reaction to Separation and Loss • Impact of Abuse and Neglect

23. 7 Core Issues of Adoption • Placement Moves: Impact on Children • Attachment • PTSD • Abuse, Stress & Anger

24. 7 Core Issues of Adoption • The Brain’s Wiring • Impact of Loss and Placement VIDEO: Multiple Transitions

25. Disclosure and Confidentiality • Full disclosure to all participants • Definition • Entitled parties • What Information should be disclosed? • Parental Relinquishment

26. Adoptive Placement • Completing Adoptive & Placement Forms AD 512 JV285 AD67 AD67A Adopt 310 Adopt 330 • Adopt 331 • AD 904 • AD 904A • AD 904B • AD 908 • AD 908A

27. Voluntary Relinquishment • Definition • Parental Advisement

28. Voluntary Relinquishment • Social Worker Assessment • Adoption Worker Assessment • Assessment for Potential of Reunification

29. Voluntary Relinquishment • Assessment for Potential of Reunification • Egregious Circumstances

30. Voluntary Relinquishment • Permanency Planning Mediation • Most Commonly Asked Questions • Waiver of Reunification

31. Voluntary Relinquishment • Substantial Probability of Return • Definition • Consistent contact and visitation • Significant progress • Capacity and ability to be a safe parent ACTIVITY

32. Voluntary Relinquishment • Firm Timelines

33. Voluntary Relinquishment • Parental Competency

34. Special Topics • Safe Surrender

35. Transitioning • Transition Tools • Photo Album • Family Video • Pre-Placement Calendar • Good-bye Letter • Candle Ceremony • Child’s List

36. Transitioning • Needs and Fears

37. Transitioning • Multiple Purposes of a Lifebook

38. Transitioning Eco-Map • The Cover Story

39. Transitioning • Adoption and Pre-Placement Plan

40. Interviewing Children • Three Aspects of Parenting • Birth Parent • Legal Parent • Parenting Parent

41. Interviewing Children • Talking to Children about their Birth Parents

42. Interviewing Children • Talking to Children about Permanency

43. Working with Birth Parents • Compelling Reasons not to Terminate Parental Rights

44. Working with Birth Parents • Assessment of the Potential for Reunification

45. Working with Birth Parents • Danielle’s Family

46. Working with Birth Parents • What do families expect of the adoption process?

47. Court Timelines & Adoption ACTIVITY

48. Court Timelines & Adoption • Time to Finalization • 366.26 Reports • 361.5 Adoption Assessment

49. Adoption Assistance Program • Federal subsidies were created by Congress (through Public Law 96-272-the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980) to encourage the adoption of special needs children and remove the financial disincentives for families to adopt. • The Legislature intended to benefit children in foster care by providing the security and stability of a permanent home through adoption. • Children may receive a federally funded subsidy under Title IV-E or a state funded subsidy per state guidelines.

50. Definitions • Adoption Assistance Program (AAP): A program of financial and/or medical assistance to facilitate the adoption of children who otherwise would remain in long-term foster care. • Responsible Public Agency: The department or public adoption agency responsible for determining AAP eligibility, negotiating initial and subsequent AAP benefits and the reassessment process. • County: The income maintenance division in each county welfare department is responsible for federal eligibility determination and the payment of AAP benefits.