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The adoption of Ukrainian children, by US citizens, is examined as the Ukrainian government ceases adoptions of children during the chaos of war. Intercountry adoption dynamics are presented with data from 2021, prior to the conflict in 2022. Then, the situation regarding child rights and the official Ukrainian government position are considered. Implications for guardianship and foster care of unaccompanied refugee minors are presented along with other critical risks to Ukrainian children living in another country. Implications for social work practice are concluded and child rights advocacy is encouraged as a macro intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study examines the child's place in the foster family through the use of conventional names for familial figures (e.g., 'mum/dad') and through the foster parents' intention to adopt the child. Data were collected at two time points during childhood and adolescence, among children placed in kinship and non‐kinship foster care in Norway. Children placed at a younger age and children in non‐kinship foster care were more likely to call their foster parents for 'mum/dad'. Children placed at an older age and children in non‐kinship care were more often presented as 'foster child' by their foster parents. Only 25%–34% of foster parents reported having considered adoption. The most common reason for not considering adoption was that they already deemed to be a family. The use of conventional names for familial figures in foster families might not necessarily reflect the child's integration into a foster family as it seems to be related to the age of the child at placement rather than to the duration of placement. Intention to adopt was relatively low, mostly because foster parents considered adoption as not necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large numbers of children in Australia are in long-term out-of-home care (OOHC). Legal frameworks available for their care are long-term foster care, guardianship, and plenary adoption. Views of individuals with OOHC or adoption experience on these legal frameworks were explored via an online survey. A legal framework called simple adoption, which makes children legal members of adoptive families without legally excising them from birth families, was also considered. The respondents (N = 1019) evaluated aspects of these frameworks as strengths or weaknesses from which scores were calculated. Overall, simple adoption had the highest strength score, followed by plenary adoption, guardianship, and long-term foster care. The highest weakness score was for long-term foster care, followed by guardianship, plenary adoption, and simple adoption. That simple adoption enabled enduring familial relationships between children and their adoptive families while retaining legal identity and legal connection with birth families contributed to its favourable evaluation. IMPLICATIONS The legal severance of children from birth families and the supplanting of legal identity that occurs in plenary adoption makes this form of adoption unacceptable to many. Simple adoption, allowing for children to be full legal members of both their adoptive and birth families and preserving legal identity, makes it attractive to individuals with a variety of experience backgrounds. An exploration of legislative reform to allow for simple adoption in Australia should be undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the prevalence of citing inadequate housing as a removal reason at the state level by utilizing data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting and Analysis System (AFCARS) and investigated the relationship between inadequate housing and reunification outcomes. The results revealed heterogeneity in citing inadequate housing as a reason for removal at the state level. Moreover, when children are from families struggling with both inadequate housing and substance abuse, the likelihood of reunification is significantly lower. Therefore, it is critical to submit consistent and standardized data to AFCARS and provide wrap-around resources for these vulnerable families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looked‐after children (LAC) and unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children (UASC) are likely to have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in their developmental years, leading to poorer outcomes in their health and psychosocial development. A novel, exercise‐based early intervention utilising bilateral movements for UASC and adoptive children (An early intervention framework for the emotional health and wellbeing of unaccompanied minors, 2020) called Fast Feet Forward (FFF) has shown promise in providing relief from trauma symptoms. This study seeks to replicate the effectiveness of FFF and extend it to a new population of traumatised children. Two groups of FFF occurred with 18 children participating. Results revealed a statistically significant decrease in distress and an increase in positive cognitions for UASC, showing effective processing of trauma‐related hotspots. The LAC cohort also demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in distress and disturbance. Support is demonstrated for the efficacy of FFF as a cost‐effective and resiliency‐building early intervention treatment utilising bilateral movements for traumatised populations, especially UASC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous literature suggests that children removed from home due to parental substance use disorder (SUD) and placed with older adult foster parents are more likely to achieve permanency than children placed with younger foster parents; however, little, if any, literature has examined this trend across racial identities. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the intersectional effects of removal due to parental SUD, child's race/ethnicity, and foster parent age on likelihood of, and time to, child permanency. Methods: Twelve years of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data were linked to capture all children in the U.S. foster care system between January 1, 2007 and September 30, 2018. Application of multiple sampling procedures resulted in a final analytic sample of 1,943,280. Results: All children with older adult foster parents were more likely to achieve permanency than those with younger foster parents. However, white children with substance-related removals were 17% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. In contrast, children of color with substance-related removals were only 9% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that older adult foster parents are associated with beneficial effects that may mitigate the deleterious impact of parental SUD on permanency. However, the strength of this protective effect was diminished for children of color. These findings call for attention to the supports available to older adults who foster children of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinship navigator programs (KNPs) are an important strategy to prevent overreliance on the use of foster care, but the evidence for their effectiveness is still emergent. One of the challenges in building the evidence of KNPs is the lack of culturally responsive measures to assess program-specific outcomes. Four new measures were codesigned with advisors to the Ohio Kinship and Adoption Navigator Program, including service providers and caregivers with lived expertise, to assess the most proximal outcomes of the program: satisfaction with services, self-identified family needs, caregiver resourcefulness to meet children's needs, and accessibility of community resources. Psychometric testing with 194 kinship caregivers and adoptive parents shows promising evidence for the measures' reliability and validity. The findings have implications for navigator programs aiming to specify and measure proximal outcomes that are tailored to their program's design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Infants affected by prenatal alcohol and drug use are more likely to be removed from parental custody than those in the general population, although it is unclear whether their custody outcomes differ from infants investigated by child protection systems (CPS) for other reasons. This analysis seeks to compare trajectories of involvement and custody outcomes among infants investigated by CPS with and without documentation of prenatal substance exposure (PSE). Method: We used vital birth records linked to administrative CPS records to examine the timing of system involvement and 3-year custodial outcomes among investigated infants with and without identified PSE. We defined PSE according to documentation on the state's standardized hotline screening form, which CPS completes upon referral for alleged maltreatment. We estimated the likelihood a child was in nonparental custody at age 3 by specifying multivariable generalized linear models, adjusted for covariates available in the birth record. Results: In our sample of 22,855 infants investigated by CPS in 2017 in California, more than 26% had documentation of PSE. These infants experienced an accelerated timeline of system penetration and were 2.2 times as likely to be in nonparental placement at age 3. Discussion: PSE confers an independent risk of custody interruption among infants investigated by CPS. The younger age of these infants, complexity of parental substance use, and potential misalignment of administrative permanency timelines with parental recovery all suggest the need for increased research, policy, and programmatic interventions to serve this vulnerable population. Significance: Children with PSE face environmental risks in the early developmental period. Often in the United States, CPS is relied on to assess and mitigate these risks. Amid calls for a public health response to PSE, it is essential to understand how children with PSE interact with CPS. We describe the incidence and timing of custody interruptions in a large U.S. state, comparing infants with PSE to those investigated by CPS for other reasons. This study extends current understanding by demonstrating the independent risk of custody interruption conferred by PSE status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Animal shelters can be stressful for dogs, but human interaction can improve their experience. While at the shelter, dogs' stress can be reduced by spending time with a person outside of their kennel as can leaving the shelter for an overnight or longer stay in a foster home. In this study, we analyzed data of 1955 dogs from 51 animal shelters that went on an outing of a few hours or fostering stay of 1–2 nights, and 25,946 dogs that resided at these shelters but did not experience these interventions (controls). We found that outings and temporary fostering stays increased dogs' likelihood of adoption by five and over 14 times, respectively. While dogs that experienced these interventions spent longer in the shelter awaiting adoption as compared to non-intervention dogs, this difference in length of stay was present prior to the dogs' outings and fostering stays. We found that shelters' intervention programs were more successful when members of the community were more involved in providing these experiences (in contrast to volunteers and staff) as well as when these organizations had more resources. Animal shelters should consider implementing brief outing and temporary fostering programs to improve the welfare of shelter-living dogs. Human interaction is one of the most consistently effective interventions that can improve the welfare of shelter-living dogs. Time out of the kennel with a person has been shown to reduce physiological measures of stress as can leaving the shelter for a night or more in a foster home. In this study, we assessed the effects of brief outings and temporary fostering stays on dogs' length of stay and outcomes. In total, we analyzed data of 1955 dogs from 51 animal shelters that received these interventions as well as 25,946 dogs residing at these shelters that served as our controls. We found that brief outings and temporary fostering stays increased dogs' likelihood of adoption by 5.0 and 14.3 times, respectively. While their lengths of stay were longer in comparison to control dogs, this difference was present prior to the intervention. Additionally, we found that these programs were more successful when greater percentages of community members (as compared to volunteers and staff) were involved in caregiving as well as when programs were implemented by better-resourced shelters. As such, animal welfare organizations should consider implementing these fostering programs as evidence-based best practices that can positively impact the outcomes of shelter dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated effectiveness of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) with adoptive families who received post adoption services in Tennessee. Researchers obtained a sample of 552 families who received post adoption services in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Most families (77%) had adopted children through public child welfare services. A quasi-experimental design examined wellbeing outcomes for an NMT group (n = 319) versus a services-as-usual (SAU) group (n = 233) in intent-to-treat analyses. Then, the SAU group was contrasted to an NMT subgroup that had high adherence to the NMT model (n = 109) in an analysis of treatment-on-the-treated. Intent-to-treat models indicated no differences on outcomes between the NMT and SAU groups. However, the results of treatment-on-the-treated analyses showed slightly greater reduction on the Behavior Problems Index over time for the NMT with high adherence group as compared to SAU. Adoptive families may face challenges that could be addressed through developmentally sensitive, trauma-informed services, such as NMT. The results of this study suggest that the NMT might benefit adoptive families if greater attention is paid to implementation adherence, or fidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who grow up outside the care of their biological parents—e.g., those in adoptive, foster, or kinship (AFK) care—experience poorer educational outcomes than their peers. However, the protective factors that could mitigate any risks of AFK care have received less attention. One understudied area is the participation of AFK youth in organized activities (e.g., extracurricular or afterschool programs). Drawing on nationally representative data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (n = 16,197), this study used multilevel modeling to (1) examine the association of AFK care status with organized activity participation and with educational outcomes; and (2) examine whether such participation moderates any association between AFK care status and later educational outcomes (GPA, college expectations, college enrollment and college degree). In addition to a binary measure of participation, multiple dimensions of activity participation (i.e., type, breadth, and intensity) were tested as moderators. Findings show that youth in AFK care reported significantly lower rates of activity participation, as well as poorer education outcomes as compared to other youth. However, there was little evidence of moderation: organized activity participation was associated with improved educational outcomes regardless of care status. The possible benefits of participation for youth in AFK care are similar to those for other youth. Implications for the intersection of child welfare and educational systems are discussed, including the need to ensure developmental opportunities for youth in AFK care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes differentiation of self in adult adoptees and its relationship with family functioning and adoption communication in the adoptive family and with some sociodemographic and adoption variables. Fifty domestic and intercountry adult adoptees completed a self-report including the Differentiation of Self Scale, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale-20Esp, the Adoption Communication Scale-Spanish, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results revealed significant relationships between differentiation of self and family functioning, adoption communication, and adoption variables. Family functioning predicted 27% of differentiation, and mother adoption communication explained 9%. Differentiation of self appears to be an interesting concept in studying adult adoptees' adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory, qualitative research study explores (a) the motivations of Plain Anabaptist (Plain Mennonite and Amish) families to foster mainstream (non-Plain) children, (b) families' experiences in the training and home study process, and (c) characteristics and practices of Plain Anabaptist families who provide foster care. Findings support the recommendation for child welfare systems to explore the possibility of Plain Mennonite and Amish families providing foster care for children. Plain Anabaptist families are receptive to learning and adapting in order to provide foster care, especially for babies, young children, and children with special needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to help child welfare professionals understand connections between the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Tribal sovereignty, and Native American well-being, and prepare to uphold ICWA in the face of the impending U.S. Supreme Court case. ICWA provisions, intentions, implementation, and impact are described, followed by summaries of prior legal challenges, judicial erosion, and the Haaland v. Brackeen case. The article explores implications if ICWA is overturned, including ramifications of non-preferred foster care and adoption placements and self-determination, health, and socioeconomic repercussions. Advocacy strategies for upholding ICWA are presented to help protect Native children, families, and Tribal Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experiences of grief and identity development of American Indian individuals following foster care and adoption compared to their non-American Indian White counterparts. Secondary data analysis was utilized to explore differences in grief and identity development among formerly fostered and adopted American Indian (n = 129) and White (n = 166) individuals. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses suggested a significant relationship between race and grief. More American Indian participants reported experiencing grief because of their time in foster care or adoption than did non-American Indian White participants. The relationship between race and level of impact of adoption on identity development was statistically significant in both a t test and ordinary least squares regression. American Indian participants' identity was more significantly impacted by adoption than their White peers. Findings suggest a need for attention to the unique grief experiences and identity development of adopted and fostered American Indian individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand the perceptions about the dissolution of adoption by psychology and social service professionals who mediated the return of children/adolescents to foster care after adoption. It was a qualitative, exploratory study with eight professionals from different districts and foster care institutions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A semi-structured interview was used and the results highlighted four themes: 1) terminologies, revealing that no nomenclature adequately covers the phenomenon; 2) perception about people who have given up on adoption, indicating that poorly elaborated experiences of infertility and the search for the ideal child contribute to cases of dissolution of adoption; 3) perceptions about children/adolescents who returned to care, highlighting self-blame, abandonment and regression; and 4) perceptions about the role of professionals, involving the need for team training/qualification. Understanding the perspective of professionals is essential for planning future interventions and seeking to prevent adoption dissolutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This evaluation inspected the degree of symptom improvement associated with the Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program for decreasing disruptive behavior symptoms among youth in residential treatment following traumatic experiences within domestic and international adoption and foster care systems. Participants were 82 youth (Mage = 14.03 years) who were predominately born in the United States (n = 55) with 27 identifying with international domiciles. Analyses of pre–post data contrasts indicated statistically significant decreases in disruptive behavior symptoms from admission to discharge associated with small and medium effect sizes. Nearly 1 in 4 participants reported clinically significant changes associated with treatment, with about 1 in 3 reporting improvements, but not within the clinically significant range. Limitations to the generalization of findings and recommendations for future investigations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major permanency planning-based reforms transformed the New South Wales (NSW) out-of-home care (care) system between 2012 and 2022, in the face of strong, sustained opposition from First Peoples. Permanency, attachment and related notions, including the best interests of the child are all constructs central to permanency planning and crucial factors in judicial decision-making about children's permanent care arrangements. Doctoral research conducted by the author, a Wiradjuri legal scholar, explored Aboriginal community member understandings of these concepts. With a focus on restoration, this article provides a critical commentary on aspects of the legislative changes implemented in NSW. Outlining literature relating to the reforms, the author notes the substantial lack of evidence from First Nations' perspectives in support of the legislative changes made. Implications for both First Peoples and for social work are discussed. The article seeks to prompt reflection by social workers on how such evidence vacuums can cause harm to First Nations children and young people in statutory care. Social work spheres within child welfare and associated scholarship must centre First Peoples' knowledge and experiences. If not, crucial conceptual and practice-related issues will remain poorly understood and profound child welfare system-related trauma caused to First Nations children and families will be perpetuated. IMPLICATIONS System reform relating to permanent care arrangements of First Nations children and young people must be grounded in First Nations-led evidence, including on permanency and attachment, and it must centre First Peoples' perspectives and lived experience. Understanding and taking into account the perspectives of First Peoples is an important action social workers and other practitioners from non-Indigenous backgrounds must take in supporting First Nations children and families involved in care matters. Hence, there is a need for critical reflection in the social work sphere, about how child protection policies and legislation may benefit, or create harm to, First Nations communities. Advocacy for systems change is an important action social workers can take, when governments propose policies that First Peoples view as detrimental to support the long-term wellbeing of First Nations children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study captures the experiences of American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers who lost a child to adoption and the impact of said loss on their health and wellbeing. Few studies examine the loss experiences of American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers despite their increased probability to lose a child to foster care and adoption. American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers are distinct from birthmothers of other races in their experiences of intergenerational and historical child loss, having disproportionately lost their children to systematic practices of child removal via boarding schools, the adoption era, and child welfare. Interview data from 8 American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Five themes emerged including: (1) the social context of losing a child to adoption for American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers, (2) the ambiguous loss of a child to adoption, (3) grief reactions to the loss, (4) the impact of the loss on birthmother health and wellbeing, and (5) creating resiliency. Findings suggest that American Indian/Alaska Native birthmothers experience ambiguous loss, as well as elevated mental health problems and substance abuse following the loss of a child to adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries—Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Spain—and California, USA, reveal that people would recommend adoption over foster care, if a child in public care cannot grow up with their natural parent(s). There are cross‐country differences between populations, and examining if institutional context such as type of child protection system explains differences, we find that child maltreatment‐oriented systems are more supportive of adoption than other types of systems. Citizens having little confidence in the child protection system were only weakly correlated with preference for adoption. In conclusion, people prefer adoption as placement options for children in care are more than foster homes, and possible this finding reflects a sort of refamalialization of children into the private sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foster caring, for both foster and kinship caregivers, can be a challenging and rewarding endeavor. Both prospective and current foster carers have information needs. This article explores the concerns expressed in an open forum social media site (Reddit) by current and prospective foster caregivers. The study examines posts over a three-month span in 2021 and identifies nine key themes of users. Chi-Square analysis is combined with content analysis to better understand the differing needs of active foster caregivers and those who are considering fostering in the future. Prospective foster caregivers want to know about requirements, guidelines, and basic information before making any commitment to an agency. Current foster care providers frequently seek information about how best to help the child in their care and parenting issues. Suggestions are made relative to potential foster parent training improvements and support that might address some of the themes identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's attachments to their parents may help regulate their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes. Prior research has largely focused on children with relatively consistent and low-risk caregiving histories, resulting in limited knowledge about the associations between attachment quality and HPA axis reactivity among children who have experienced early adversity. This study investigated whether dimensional measures of attachment quality were associated with HPA responses to the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) among 64 children ages 11–33 months adopted internationally from institutional or foster care. Children who showed high levels of attachment avoidance exhibited a blunted cortisol response during the SSP. Conversely, children who sought proximity and contact with their adoptive parents exhibited an increase in cortisol reactivity during the SSP, followed by a return to baseline levels after the completion of the procedure. This association was independent of the previously reported association between parental insensitivity and blunted cortisol responses in this sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crucial aspect of designing transitions from foster care to adoptive homes is whether to facilitate contact between the child and their former caregivers after the transition, a practice known as reverse visitation. There is almost no research available on the use of this practice and its correlates, despite it being widely recommended based on attachment theory. In this exploratory study, surveys were completed by adoptive parents, foster parents, or caseworkers on 205 children moving from a foster home to a separate adoptive home in a convenience sample in the State of Oregon. Children were in some form of contact with their former foster parents in 70% of the adoptions. They had in-person visits with their prior caregivers 49% of the time. Associations between these forms of posttransition contact and other variables highlighted characteristics of the foster and adoptive parents as influential. Implications for child welfare practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ireland, little is known about mothers and infants where child welfare and protection concerns arise during the perinatal period. This study explores, for the first time, perinatal child protection. A retrospective audit was carried out of a large maternity hospital's medical social work, neonatal and psychiatric files for a five‐year period from 2016 to 2020. The study identified 99 children, born to 86 mothers, who were either subject to a child protection conference; placed for adoption; discharged to someone other than the mother; or discharged home under supervision. The study found that two‐thirds of the children were discharged to their mother's care. When compared to national data, the health indicators for this cohort of mothers and children painted a grim picture. The maternal profiles identified high prevalence of mental health and addiction difficulties and domestic violence. The study found evidence of supports provided to the mothers to enable them to care for their infants while they remained in the hospital and during an initial discharge from hospital. However, a significant number of the mothers were not caring for their children when viewed across a longer time frame. Dedicated multi‐disciplinary clinics and improved data systems were identified as of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the family quality of life (FQoL) in foster and adoptive families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Adoption or foster care and IDD can have a specific impact on families, creating particular support needs. This study assesses self-reported parent FQoL and its relations with placement and disability factors in a convenience snowball sample of 62 foster and adoptive families of children, adolescents, and young adults with IDD in Spain. The FQoL ranged between moderate and entirely satisfactory (M = 92.2; SD = 16.9). Families of people with Down Syndrome (DS) and in special placements showed higher FQoL scores than those without other diagnoses or in ordinary placements. In contrast, increased mental health needs can explain a decrease in FQoL (ß = -0.337, t = -2.729, p = 0.008). These families also show specific support needs essential for FQoL, including accurate information and training processes, and particular attention and support when a disability is identified after placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate within-group differences among Danish non-kin adoptees with regard to probability of mental health problems and post-adoption out-of-home care (OHC) placement, with a particular focus on whether adoption age and country of origin mattered. Methods: I used Danish registry data on non-kin adoptees born between 1989 and 1994 (N =2922) at the age of 17 and applied bivariate analyses and seemingly unrelated regression to describe associations between non-kin adoptees' adoption characteristics and two outcomes: (a) psychiatric contact and (b) post-adoption OHC. Results: Psychiatric contact and post-adoption OHC co-occurred among non-kin adoptees, and these two life events should be considered jointly. Adoption age mattered equally for the risk of psychiatric contact and OHC, but country of origin mattered more for psychiatric contact than for OHC. Adoption at one year of age and older was associated with an elevated risk of psychiatric contact and OHC. Romanian adoptees had a higher likelihood of psychiatric contact when compared to all the other adoptees, regardless of country of origin. In contrast, adoptees from India had a lower probability of psychiatric contact and of entering OHC compared to all the other adoptees. Conclusions: The heterogeneity in non-kin adoptees' psychiatric contact and OHC in terms of adoption age and country of origin is important to consider in future research, as well as for social workers and clinicians in their role of promoting health and preventing mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined factors related to children's exit from kinship care to reunification, adoption, and foster care. Data describing 498 parents of children placed in kinship care were extracted from a national survey. Results showed that the likelihood of reunification was increased with other maltreatment type, parent receipt of mental health services, number of alcoholic drinks consumed, having other health insurance, and family income; such likelihood was reduced by parent nonmedical use of medication, receipt of health-care services, and education. Number of alcoholic drinks consumed, number of IPV episodes reported, receipt of domestic-violence services, caseworker turnover, and family income increased the likelihood of exit to adoption; receipt of legal services, having other health insurance, parent of other minority race/ethnicity, and being employed diminished such likelihood. Likelihood of exit to foster care was reduced by other maltreatment, nonmedical use of medication, mental health, receipt of employment services, receipt of health-care services, having other health insurance, parent–caseworker shared race/ethnicity, Hispanic parent, other non-Black minority parent, and education. Such likelihood was increased with physical maltreatment, receipt of financial assistance, difficulty in accessing services, perceived caseworker engagement, and caseworker turnover. Implications and future research for facilitating unification, case plans, and working alliance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive loss, which includes miscarriage and nongestational loss, such as adoption loss, is rarely recognized as part of the family-building journey. Such loss tends to be even more invisible among LGBTQ individuals. The current study examines the experiences of 80 LGBTQ individuals who experienced adoption-related losses (i.e., failed adoption matches, child removals, disrupted child placements), with attention to how these losses impacted them and what enabled them to move forward. Participants who pursued private domestic adoption experienced failed matches (i.e., birth parents deciding to parent or choosing another family) both before (n = 21) and/or after (n = 24) a child was born. Participants who pursued public domestic adoption experienced child removals involving reunification with birth parents (n = 14) and other birth relatives (n = 18), as well as disrupted placements initiated by parents (n = 10) and children (n = 7). Failed matches, child removals, and disrupted placements were typically experienced as "crushing" and invisible losses. They were often followed by a period of grieving, and sometimes prompted adjustments to the type of matches or placements participants would consider (e.g., to mitigate the likelihood of future similar losses). Moving forward from adoption losses was facilitated by support from partners and those who experienced similar losses, knowledge or hope regarding the children once in their care, and finally being placed with the child(ren) whom they ultimately legally adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Current knowledge about the dogs in care and their adoption needs provides shelters with the information to promote and match dogs more successfully with potential adopters. The analyses reported here provide up-to-date insights about the dogs adopted from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Queensland (RSPCA Queensland) and risk factors that influenced their risk of readmission. For the dogs adopted, age and body weight at adoption, days in foster before adoption, and colour and breed are all independently associated with the risk of readmission to RSPCA Queensland. Not all dog adoptions are successful. This two-year retrospective study used survival (i.e., time-to-event) analyses to investigate readmissions for dogs adopted from RSPCA Queensland shelters between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. A better understanding of temporal patterns and risk factors associated with readmission may help RSPCA Queensland shelters better target and tailor resources to improve retention by adopters. The failure function (the cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted by day of the adoption period) increased rapidly during the first 14 days of the adoption period. Approximately two-thirds of all returns occurred in this period. This readmission rate may have been influenced by the RSPCA Queensland adoption-fee refund policy. The cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted plateaued at just under 15%. Dog size, age, coat colour, breed, and spending time in foster before adoption were factors associated with the risk of readmission. Failure functions for a low and a high-risk adoption example demonstrated the large degree of difference in hazard of readmission between covariate patterns, with estimated percentages of adoptions being returned by 90 days for those examples being 2% and 17%, respectively. Spending time in foster care before adoption appears to be protective against readmission, presumably because it supports a successful transition to the new home environment. Behaviour support and training provided for dogs during foster care may contribute to improve their outcomes. These findings highlight the profile of the higher-risk dogs potentially providing shelters with an opportunity to examine where and how resources could be allocated to maximize outcomes for the overall cohort. Population attributable 90-day failure estimates were calculated for each of bodyweight and age at adoption, coat colour, spending time in foster care before adoption, and breed. This calculation shows the expected reduction in the cumulative percentage of dogs readmitted by day 90 if the hazards of readmission for higher risk categories were reduced to those of a lower risk category. Expected reductions for individual factors ranged from 1.8% to 3.6% with one additional estimate of 6.8%. Risk of readmission could be reduced through increased development of foster capacity and capability, targeted interventions, improved adopter-dog matching processes, and more effective targeting of support for higher risk dogs, such as older or larger dogs. Population impact analyses provide a macro view that could assist shelters in strategically assessing the return on investment for various strategies aiming to improve adoption outcomes and potentially reduce readmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the transition involves numerous stakeholders including the child, service providers, caregivers, educational professionals, and legal professionals. Preparing for this transition involves numerous stakeholders including the child, service providers, caregivers, educational professionals, and legal professionals.

The children's mental health landscape is rapidly changing, and youth with mental health conditions (MHCs) are overrepresented in the child welfare system. Mental health is the largest unmet health need in child welfare, so MHCs may affect the likelihood of system reentry. Concerns regarding mental health contribute to calls for expanded supports, yet systems contact can also generate risk of continued child welfare involvement via surveillance. Still, we know little about how expanded supports at the state-level shape child welfare outcomes. Using the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), we examine the association between MHCs and system reentry within 36 months among youth who reunified with their families in 2016 (N = 41,860). We further examine whether this association varies across states and White, Black, and Latinx racial and ethnic groups via two- and three-way interactions. Results from multilevel models show that, net of individual and state-level factors, MHCs are associated with higher odds of reentry. This relationship is stronger for youth in states that expanded Medicaid by 2016 and with higher Medicaid/CHIP child participation rates. The results also show evidence of the moderating role of state-level factors, specifically student-to-school counselor ratio, diverging across racial and ethnic groups. Our results suggest a need for systems of care to better support youth mental health and counteract potential surveillance. • Youth with MHCs are overrepresented in the child welfare system. • MHCs are associated with higher odds of reentry. • State characteristics are associated with youth reentering the system. • Systems of care can amplify the positive association between MHCs and reentry. • MHC, state, and race differently shape pathways underlying reentry outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of children involved in the child welfare system is viewed as a favorable outcome when family reconstitution is impossible, partially due to the relationship security afforded by long-term placement permanence. Recognition of the importance of secure caregiver-child relationships has informed the development of caregiving-oriented attachment-focused services, such as those provided by the Therapeutic Family Care Program (TFCP). The present study examines the trajectories of adopted children (n = 71) between 3.33 and 13.70 years of age at first assessment (M = 7.65, SD = 2.53) involved with TFCP. Children were assessed by their caregivers on a semiannual basis using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and the ACC+, with children receiving up to 9 assessments (n = 201, M = 2.57, SD = 1.83). We conducted growth curve analyses for children's total clinical scores, self-esteem, adaptive functioning, and attachment-specific clinical domains. Results suggest that children start with clinically significant psychopathology, with older children and females having more psychosocial and attachment-related difficulties initially. Males' psychosocial functioning was stable over time, whereas females improved significantly in all domains. We discuss implications for mental health services within child welfare and future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This evaluation inspected the degree of symptom improvement associated with the Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program for decreasing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among youth in residential treatment following complex trauma scenarios associated with domestic and international adoption/foster care. Participants were 61 youth (Mage = 13.23 years) who were predominately born in the United States (n = 41) with 20 identifying with international domiciles. Results indicated statistically significant decreases in symptoms from admission to discharge associated with medium‐effect sizes across PTSD symptoms. Nearly one in three participants reported clinically significant changes associated with treatment, whereas two in five reported improvements but not in the clinically significant range. Female participants reported greater decreases in negative cognitions; however, no other differences in treatment response based on participant characteristics were detected. Limitations of the generalization of findings and recommendations for future researchers are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rwanda established a programme to end institutional care and transition children to family‐based care. As part of their process in a rural area of the country, caregivers who reunited with or adopted a child from institutional care received training in a trauma‐informed intervention (Trust‐Based Relational Intervention® [TBRI®]). To evaluate the potential usefulness of this training, a mixed‐methods, retrospective design was used to examine caregiver‐perceived changes among their reunited/adopted children from pre‐TBRI training to the present day. Results revealed significant decreases in perceived challenging behaviours and trauma symptoms over time. Results from the phenomenological analysis demonstrated that caregivers perceived the training to be effective at equipping them with appropriate parenting strategies and reducing their children's struggles in the home. Findings suggest that training in a trauma‐informed intervention, such as TBRI, may be useful to equip caregivers with strategies to meet the emotional needs of children who are reunited or adopted into families. Success of deinstitutionalization requires programming to support quality family‐based care that meets both the emotional and physical needs of children, and efforts must be made to ensure these resources are included when reuniting or adopting children into families. Key Practitioner Message: Trust‐Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) was used to train caregivers in Rwanda's programme to shift from institutional to family‐based care.Caregivers reported a decrease in reunited/adopted children's trauma symptoms and in intensity of problems from pre‐ to post‐TBRI training.Caregivers perceived TBRI training to be useful, giving them the parenting strategies necessary to care for their reunited/adopted children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China" by Erin Rafferty is a book that examines China's foster care practices through the stories of three foster children and their foster mothers. The book explores topics such as kinship, disabilities, adoption, power dynamics, inequality, and global politics. It highlights the temporary nature of foster care in China and the desire for kinship-like ties among participants. The book provides valuable insights into the need for improved foster care policies and practices, particularly for vulnerable children with disabilities in China. [Extracted from the article]

Indigenous fostered/adopted individuals report high levels of grief because of their foster care/adoption. Little has been done, however, to explore how grief is experienced and the factors that contribute to said grief for fostered/adopted Indigenous individuals. This study examined the experiences of loss and grief of Indigenous individuals fostered/adopted during childhood. Participants were 102 Indigenous fostered/adopted individuals who described the experiences of loss and grief related to adoption. This study utilized secondary data from the Fostered and Adopted Individuals Project. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted on open-ended survey data. Two themes emerged: (1) ambiguous loss as a result of foster care and adoption and (2) the effects of the ambiguous loss that stem from foster care and adoption. Indigenous fostered/adopted persons experienced ambiguous loss in foster care and adoption. Their loss remained unresolved due to a loss of access to information about their family and tribe of origin. Although family of origin, tribal community, and culture were not physically present due to separation by foster care/adoption, they remained psychologically present. As a result of ambiguous loss, participants experienced disenfranchised grief, wondering and longing to belong, and mental health and substance abuse. This study is the first of its kind to explore the loss and grief experiences of fostered/adopted Indigenous individuals using ambiguous loss theory. Ambiguous loss theory offers a framework for contextualizing the loss and grief that begins at separation and is present in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, the Korean government has developed child welfare laws to respond to an increasing number of child maltreatment cases and create a centralized child welfare delivery system. However, the system remains fragmented and under‐developed due to a lack of understanding of child maltreatment and limited government support. Further, few studies have comprehensively reviewed the system. This study examines the Korean child welfare system, identifies challenges for child welfare policies and services, and discusses the implications for future policy; the results can be used to improve the safety, permanency, and well‐being of children and families in Korea. The analysis shows that the government has prioritized family preservation over removal from families, even in substantiated cases of abuse. However, ensuring the safety of children in Korea will require not only working to preserve families but also developing and implementing better options for in‐home services and out‐of‐home placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the State of South Carolina agreed to waive their requirements of religious non‐discrimination by state‐funded, licensed child placement agencies. The state had discovered that its largest provider, Miracle Hill, approved the applications of only those who shared its Evangelical Protestant faith. After Miracle Hill refused on religious grounds to assess a Unitarian couple's fitness, the couple filed suit against various federal and state defendants, alleging that the waivers constituted an establishment of religion. This paper explores South Carolina's argument that Miracle Hill's asserted free exercise rights render irrelevant constraints that the Establishment Clause might place on this religious accommodation. I conclude that the state's reliance on Fulton is misplaced. Here, the state should be deemed constitutionally responsible for the religion‐based exclusion of prospective foster parents. More controversially, I contend that the state should also be held constitutionally responsible for the religious indoctrination of children placed with families approved by Miracle Hill. Such responsibility has long been and should remain a central concern of the Establishment Clause and overcomes any countervailing free exercise interests of Miracle Hill or other faith‐based providers. This focus on responsibility offers significant depth and nuance to conventional but vague Establishment Clause concepts about state support of religion. Key points for the family court community: Explore a critical question left open by the Supreme Court's decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia: how should the broadening Free Exercise Clause affect interpretation of the Establishment Clause?Consider the potential difference between government grantees' religious discrimination and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has now been actively implemented in the United States for 24 years and remains largely unchanged from its initial conception. Initial critiques of ASFA included questions around the ethics of its requirements and the efficiency of its proposed goals. Subsequent to the original adoption of ASFA into legislation, the National Association of Black Social Workers published a statement calling for its repeal due to the dire consequences experienced by Black communities. Although Black scholars and organizers continue to fight for the end of family separation, the call to repeal ASFA has garnered little attention from policymakers and child welfare researchers. This brief commentary reacquaints scholars with discussions around ASFA, highlighting the implications for Black communities and reiterating the importance of centering Black voices given recent calls for anti-racist practice, pedagogy, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A considerable body of research has analyzed the development of children internationally adopted from Romania. However, domestic adoption remains largely uninvestigated. Our study examined the behavioral adjustment of 52 Romanian adolescents domestically adopted. Adoptive mothers and their children completed Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) – School Age forms. While overall our sample did not differ from the normative population, the rate of subjects obtaining clinical scores was higher. Behavioral problems did not appear to be linked to the considered pre-adoption risk factors. The overall positive adjustment of this rare sample of domestic adoptees encourages a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in the success of this child welfare policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study fills a literature gap by examining barriers to tribal enrollment for American Indian fostered and adopted individuals. Background: Systematic child removal has intergenerationally impacted American Indian families. Startling numbers of American Indian children have been removed from their families and tribal communities and placed into foster care or for adoption. Budding research on American Indian fostered and adopted family members illuminates the relationship between reunification and tribal enrollment. However, little is known about what facilitates or impedes the tribal enrollment of previously estranged American Indian fostered and adopted family members. Method: Guided by place identity theory, this study analyzed survey data from the Experiences of Adopted and Fostered Individuals Project. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data from a subsample of American Indian fostered and adopted individuals (n = 60) that responded to an open‐ended question about the reasons for their lack of tribal enrollment. Results: The tribal enrollment process is a formalization of the social confirmation of the fostered and adopted American Indian individual's identity; it is a process of mutual verification between the individual and the tribe. Results yielded three major themes describing barriers to enrollment: (1) personal, (2) collective (family and tribe), and (3) institutional. Conclusion: Despite high levels of interest in tribal enrollment, many fostered and adopted individuals experience personal, collective, and institutional barriers to tribal enrollment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research focused on relationships and contact with birth family for children and young people who were separated from them as infants has rarely acknowledged the emotional and dynamic nature of such interactions. Curiosity has been dominant in adoption research. However, in our longitudinal study of young people who entered care at a young age, a range of other feelings and combination of feelings emerged in the youths' narratives, including contentment and mixed feelings such as anger, affection, loss, guilt, or worry. Type of placement, that is, whether the young people had been adopted, lived with kinship foster carers or non-relative foster parents, did not determine their emotional reactions to their birth family. The young people's perspectives and emotions often changed over time. In this article, we describe the young people's emotional responses to birth family, and highlight implications for theory, research, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the attachment development of 92 internationally adopted Chinese girls, focusing on the influence of type of pre-adoption care (institutional versus foster care) and sensitive adoptive parenting. Although the children were more often insecurely attached than non-adopted children 2 and 6 months after adoption (Times 1 and 2, N = 92), they had similar levels of secure base script knowledge (SBS knowledge) as a non-adopted comparison group at age 10 (Time 3, N = 87). Furthermore, concurrently observed sensitive parenting was positively associated with SBS knowledge. Finally, a significant interaction between type of pre-adoption care and early-childhood sensitive parenting indicated that the post-institutionalized children showed a stronger increase in security than the post-foster children when parents were more sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption can be an important protective factor for foster children; however, if adoptive parents are not adequately prepared to deal with trauma-based difficulties, such children remain at risk for negative outcomes. The present study used mixed methods to access the lived experiences of parents adopting children from foster care. Results indicated that adopted children's behavioral difficulties strongly contributed to parental stress. However, number of resources did not moderate the relation between child behavior problems and parenting stress, and parents reported that some "resources" promoted stress. Results have important implications for interventions with such parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Placement stability and permanency are key goals for children in foster and adoptive care. This study is a systematic review of the scholarly literature to better understand caregiver-related factors (e.g., characteristics, proficiencies) that contribute to permanency and placement stability, in order to provide a stronger foundation for developing and improving caregiver recruitment and training procedures. Our review of 29 qualifying scholarly articles revealed 16 caregiver-related factors associated with permanency and/or placement stability. This knowledge can assist in selecting resource families and guiding training development to increase caregiver proficiency in caring for foster and adoptive children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) was passed as a reparative response to the forced removal of Native American children nationwide from their families and placement into the adoption and foster care systems. It mentions Tenth Amendment's anti-commandeering doctrine protects states' rights by prohibiting the federal government from "commandeering" state officials. It also mentions exception for certain statutes passed under the Commerce Clause.