Resources

• Adoption Assistance by State
  This information on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website is provided by the Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance and the American Public Human Services Association. View the answers to 13 questions regarding State policies on adoption assistance and post-adoption services for an individual state, or across all states.

• The Use of Intensive Family Preservation Services with Post-Adoptive Families
  This study from the National Family Preservation Network looks at the use of Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS), or services modeled after IFPS, with adoptive families. An in-depth look at two states, Missouri and Illinois, indicates that both IFPS and similar but less intensive in-home services are very effective with post-adoptive families and that families are highly satisfied with the services provided.

• Post Permanency Services
  Published in 2003 by Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support, this monograph will be helpful to: professionals who draft policy issues, design and implement comprehensive programs, or deliver services; advocates working to expand availability and access to post-permanency services; and families, both as validation of their post-permanency experiences and to support their advocacy efforts to improve the lives of the children and youth in their care.

• Maine Post-Adoption Resource Guide
  This resource guide provides information on post adoption services in Maine, including child development, health and medical, mental health, educational, legal, subsidies, respite, diversity, and recreation. It provides a model that other states might use to present this information to adoptive families.

• Three White Papers
  The Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice has published three Strengthening Families and Communities white papers that highlight key aspects of post-adoption service needs: An Approach to Post-Adoption Services, Promising Practices in Adoption-Competent Mental Health Services, and Creative Strategies for Financing Post-Adoption Services. Together these papers provide a road map for states interested in establishing program and budget priorities to fund comprehensive post-adoption services and strategies with a blend of state and federal dollars that are currently available to support these urgently needed services.

• Post-Adoption Services: Issues for Legislators
  This report from the National Conference of State Legislatures examines trends in adoption of children from foster care, challenges faced by adoptive families, types of post-adoption services, data on the effectiveness of such services and trends in the funding and delivery of services and supports after adoption. (November 2002)

• Assessing the Field of Post Adoption Services: Family Needs, Program Models, and Evaluation Issues
  This project explored the service needs of families following the adoption of a child from the public child welfare system and assessed the "state of the art" in the current array of post adoption services. It developed a federal research agenda on these issues, particularly as they arise from the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Five reports are available: Summary; Evaluation Issues; Analysis of Secondary Data; Case Study; and Literature Review.

• Strengthening and Preserving Adoptive Families: A Study of TANF Funded Post-Adoption Services in New York State
  The study reports on the 1,053 families (both TANF and non-TANF eligible) who received services from 13 NYS agencies and includes results from a parent satisfaction survey. One important finding was that the most frequently requested and used and most highly rated services were parent support groups and parent training. Survey findings indicated that among the families that had a child at risk of out of home placement when they called for services, 73% reported that the child was able to remain in the home as a result of the help and support they received from the agencies. The cost of providing the services is a fraction of the cost of out of home care, especially group or institutional care.