1. Developed by Portland State University Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services Child Welfare Partnership Adoption Selection NetLink Part 2 Values & Practice

2. Learning Objectives Learn to recognize personal biases Understand the importance of relative and sibling connections Become familiar with the process of placement matching Understand attachment as an ongoing process Recognize qualities of successful adoptive families

3. Knowing Ourselves Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in. Alan Alda

4. Vying Interests Siblings Relatives Attachment

5. Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk. -- Susan Scarf Merrell

6. Factors to Consider in Sibling Placements Assumptions Strongest link Degrees of warmth, conflict, rivalry, domination, nurturance Future relationships Creating meaningful relationships Stretching families to include siblings Lasting power of sibling relationships Research regarding negative impact of separation

7. To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joy. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

8. “I was 14 when I moved in with my parents. I was very skeptical as I had been told that I would never be adopted. I went along with the adoption because I thought it would be a way to reunite my two sisters and myself. It wasn’t until I saw my parents fight to have my sister placed with us and the adoption was finalized that I started to believe my parents really wanted me.” –From an Adopted Person

9. Oregon Relative Placement Data (Kids Count Data Center)

10. Oregon Relative Adoption Trends ( 2012 Child Data Book )

11. Brainstorm  What are the advantages of relative placements for children?  In 5 yrs?  In 10 yrs?  In 20 yrs?

12. “It is the theory that decides what can be observed.” --Albert Einstein

13. Advantages Of Relative Placements Maintains sense of belonging to family Greater access to birth parents Lower disruption rates Avoidance of trauma of “unknown ” Fewer incidents of abuse/neglect Placement in familiar ethnic and racial community

14. Advantages Of Relative Placements Greater opportunity for sibling unity Reduces stigma of adoption Teaches that families can be self reliant Promotes child’s ability to receive support and services in own family 30 nagging questions

15. Attachment Assessment vs. Assumption  Who can be moved? What is vs. What can be? Transferring attachment Weighing the risks & benefits

16. The Children Who Wait Video vignettes of behavioral challenges in care

17. SAFE Home Study (Structured Analysis Family Evaluation) 68 psychosocial characteristics Less is more Supervisor oversight How does this fit with other information?

18. Adoptive Family Assessment Two Areas to Consider  Readiness for parenting  Readiness for parenting through adoption

19. Broad Parenting Assessment Categories Flexibility – can the family structure adjust and change with the changing needs of the family and changing life cycles Structure – safety, instruction, limits, order, containment, adaptability Closeness – able to form an emotional bond without smothering Nurture – warmth, affection, protection, providing basic needs

20. Qualities of Successful Adoptive Families Sense of humor Sense of perspective Risk taker Tolerant of changes and unknowns Able to accept and express emotions Good team players

21. Qualities of Successful Adoptive Families Holistic view of the family and the child Able to make and maintain commitments Secure Controlling in a caring way Flexibility Good communicators and good problems solvers

22. ADA and Non Discrimination Equal opportunity to participate and benefit Limitations must be based on fact, not fears or assumptions Must be the existence of a direct threat that cannot be mitigated  Requires specific assessment of risks with objectivity

23. Additional Considerations Is the family prepared for the placement of the particular child who will be added to their family? Does the family understand the effect of adoption on child, adolescent, and adult development? Can the family anticipate and be prepared to address issues that may arise during and after a child’s entry into the family, including the effect of adoption on other children in the family?

24. Factors Which Do Not Contribute to Adoption Failures Families with successful navigation of problems Working parents Parents with medical problems, disabilities or obesity Parents who have been in recovery for long period Financial or marital status of the family

25. Practice Discuss in small group and report out to large group Complete the committee member form Consider concepts discussed in training as guides

26. Additional Information Child Welfare Information Gateway Evan B. Donaldson Institute North American Council on Adoptable Children National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections Spaulding for Children

27. Summary Why We Do This Work Everybody has a Story Flashback: Adoption