Objectives:

23:T409, Objectives:

This study evaluated the effects of the Adoption Preservation, Assessment, and Linkage (APAL) postpermanency program.

Method:

A quasi-experimental, posttest-only design was used to estimate the program’s effects on youth discharged from foster care to adoption or legal guardianship. A random sample was surveyed (female = 44.7%; African American = 94%) and tracked with administrative data. The primary analysis estimated the program’s effect of being assigned to the intervention, whereas a supplementary analysis estimated the effects of actually receiving the services.

Results:

The APAL program was associated with higher levels of caregiver commitment, fewer youth behavior problems, and lower odds of placement discontinuity.

Conclusion:

Offering postpermanency outreach services to families might help reinforce caregiver commitment and promote children’s well-being.

24:T497, Purpose:

This study examines foster care reentry after adoption, in Illinois and New Jersey. The provision of services and supports to adoptive families have garnered recent attention due to concern about the long-term stability of adoptive homes.

Method:

This study used administrative data to examine the pre-adoption characteristics associated with post-adoption foster care reentry. Children were tracked longitudinally, using administrative data, for five to fifteen years (depending on their date of adoption), or the age of majority.

Results:

Results indicated that most (95%) children did not reenter foster care after adoption. Findings from survival models suggested key covariates that may help to identify children most at risk for post-adoption reentry: child race, age at adoption, number of placement moves in foster care, and time spent in foster care prior to adoption.

Conclusion:

Study findings may help identify families most at-risk for post-adoption difficulties in order to develop preventative adoption service.

Search results

Postadoption and Guardianship

A Comparison of Foster Care Reentry After Adoption in Two Large U.S. States