Children's Bureau Express

Postadoption Services Among Private Agencies

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) conducted an Internet survey of its private agency members in April 2006 to determine how many offered postadoption services and what types of services they offered. Of the 95 agencies that responded across 39 States, 94 percent reported providing some types of postadoption services. The most common services included:

Support groups
Crisis intervention
Child and family advocacy
Adoption searches
Case management
Family therapy
Mental health treatment
Respite care
Targeted case management

In addition, some agencies offered more specialized support services created to meet the needs of specific families. For instance, some agencies provided social skills training, intensive in-home services, recreation therapy, chemical abuse treatment, marriage education, or birthland tours.

Most agencies reported that funding postadoption services was problematic. Some agencies were able to use contract money from their State or county; others depended on other funding sources, small foundation grants, or Federal funding such as adoption incentive payments or Adoption Opportunities grants. Some agencies charged families for postadoption support, using a sliding scale to determine the fee.

To read the full report, Survey Examines Postadoption Services Among Private Agencies, by K. Mack, visit the CWLA website:

www.cwla.org/programs/adoption/adoptionsurvey.pdf

The author also has written an article about the survey that will appear in the November issue of CWLA's Children's Voice:

www.cwla.org/voice/default.htm

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