Content by Keyword: Child Welfare

As we have described, adopted children and their families represent a diverse population that has followed complex pathways to adoption. Part 1, “The Population,” presents information regarding the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of adopted children and families, as well as measures of child and family wellbeing.

This group includes children adopted from countries other than the United States. Typically, the adoption is facilitated by a private adoption agency. International adoptions had increased from about 15,000 to over 22,000 children in 2004. Since 2004, international adoptions have been steadily decreasing, to below 18,000 in 2008. 17 According to

This group includes children who were adopted from within the United States but who were not part of the foster care system at any time prior to the adoption. Some of these children may have deceased birth parents, or their birth parents voluntarily relinquished their rights and chose to make an adoption plan for them. These adoptions may be facil

Children adopted from foster care are those who, prior to their adoption, were involved with the child protective services system and removed from their families due to their families’ inability or unwillingness to provide appropriate care. Children adopted from foster care may be a vulnerable group for several reasons. Most children who enter f

Throughout this Chartbook, we present indicators pertaining to the characteristics, experiences, and well-being of adopted children and their families. We highlight a few key findings pertaining to adopted children as a group below:

The adoption landscape is constantly shifting, as a result of changes in U.S. and international laws, as well as changes in societal attitudes and other circumstances. These changes mean that readers should be particularly cautious in inferring how the snapshot presented in this Chartbook may apply to future adopted children and their families.

When comparing adopted children with all U.S. children, readers should be aware of some key differences between the two populations.

THREE PRIMARY WAYS TO ADOPT IN THE UNITED STATES Foster care adoption : Children adopted from foster care are those who, prior to their adoption, were involved with the child protective services system and removed from their families due to their families’ inability or unwillingness to provide appropriate care. Public child welfare agenci

This Chartbook presents findings from the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP). The NSAP is the first-ever survey to provide representative information about the characteristics, adoption experiences, and wellbeing of adopted children and their families in the United States. All information was reported by the children’s adoptive par

Any large scale research effort is made possible through the efforts of many hands, and the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) and the compilation of this Chartbook is no exception. Important to this effort is the interagency collaboration that occurred throughout the development of the questionnaire, the implementation of the survey, and,

David Berns Director El Paso County Department of Human Services Colorado Springs, CO Donna M. Butts Executive Director Generations United Washington, DC Liz Carpenter Relative Caregiver Austin TX Sarah T. Casken Executive Director Hawaii State Foster Parents Association Kailiua, HI Sandra Stukes Chipungu Professor

Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Relative Foster Care Workgroup Meeting, Summary of Proceedings. February 24-25, 1994. Submitted by Westover Consultants, Inc., Washington, DC. Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Relative Foster Care Workgroup Meeting, Summary of Proceedings. September 22-23, 1994. AFCARS, U.S. Depa

Table B.1: States’ Definition of Kin 1 (N=44)

SEC. 303. KINSHIP CARE.

While the extended family has often taken in children whose parents are unable to care for them, the emerging use of relatives as providers of foster care in the public child welfare system is a new and important phenomenon, and one which has grown quickly. Nationally, relatives are now caring for approximately one third of children in foster care

Issue: What are the gaps in our understanding of kinship care that should be addressed in the coming years? Discussion: While we were able to identify considerable relevant research, which is described in the research review that accompanies this policy discussion, there remain many gaps in our knowledge about kinship care and its use within

Issue: Do foster care payments or a child’s status in foster care with a relative interact in problematic ways with eligibility criteria for other Federal programs?

Issue: How does kinship foster care fit into permanency planning efforts and under what circumstances should children remain in long-term foster care placements with relatives?

Issue: What information and services do kinship foster families need, and how are these different from the needs of non-kin foster families?