Adoption Assessor

Training Ohio Child Welfare Training Program

Family and Child Assessment
Birth Parent Counseling
Post Adoption Adoption Services
Adoption Assistance
Placement Strategies
Pre-Finalization Adoption Services
Cultural Issues in Permanency Planning
Achieving Permanency Through Interagency Collaboration
Openness in Adoption
Gathering and Documenting Background Information

All curricula developed by the Institute for Human Services is competency-based training. The competencies for each workshop are presented, followed by a synopsis of each workshop.

To learn more about the work of the Institute for Human Services and their adoption training curricula for professionals or parents, you may contact the Institute through their website at www.ihs-trainet.com or call Betsy Keefer at 614-251-6000.

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Family and Child Assessment
Time Frame: 12 Hours

Competencies:

213-1: The worker can conduct thorough, joint homestudy assessments of prospective caregiving families. This includes engaging the family in the homestudy process, gathering pertinent family assessment information; drawing accurate conclusions; engaging the family in a self-assessment; educating the family regarding child welfare, and documenting information in a written report.

213-2: The worker can explore motivations to care for children and is able to identify inappropriate motivations such as the replacement of a lost child, desire for playmates for existing children, guilt, or a desire for appreciation/ gratitude from the primary family or the child.

213-3: The worker knows the benefits of group assessment and self-selection methods for caregiving families and can use these strategies appropriately.

213-4: The worker knows the types of family expectations and needs that are counterproductive to successful caregiving, and understands the importance of counseling such families out of the caregiving process.

213-5: The worker understands the family dynamics and characteristics that increase the likelihood of long-term placement success.

213-7: The worker is able to use a variety of interviewing strategies and formats (such as individual, couple, children, family, or extended family group) to involve family members in gathering and considering pertinent assessment data and in assessing their own strengths and potential vulnerabilities in caregiving.

213-8: The worker knows the social, emotional, and physical/ medical characteristics of families that can successfully provide temporary or permanent homes for children; and can recognize these characteristics and qualities in prospective families.

212-1: The worker knows how to gather thorough assessment information about the child which includes the child=s social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning and needs; the child=s medical and genetic history; the primary family=s background and history; and the nature of the child=s attachments to primary parents, siblings, extended family members, and others.

221-6: The worker understands the likely impact of chronic illness and emotional, mental, or behavioral disability on family life for the life span of the child; and can assist the potential caregiving family in realistically assessing their ability to cope with these challenges.

221-7: The worker knows the type of assessment data necessary for planning and providing care for the child and knows how to help parents/ caregivers acquire accurate information about the child=s problems and special care needs.

Summary:

This two day module will provide workers strategies to mutually assess families as adoptive resources for children; and introduce the philosophy of joining the Foster Care/Adoption homestudy process. The workshop will present information to assist trainees in the identification of families who will have a high probability of long-term success in parenting adopted children.

The Family and Child Assessment module will provide workers strategies to assess the social and emotional functioning of children, their developmental needs, and readiness for adoptive placement. Finally, the workshop will present information regarding Selection and Match in Adoption including clarification of the requirements of both the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act.

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Birth Parent Counseling
Time frame: 6 hours

Competencies:
(Competencies needed in working with both voluntary and involuntary birthparents)

211-1 The worker knows how to sensitively elicit and record pertinent information from the birth family, such as medical and genetic history, psychological and emotional characteristics of the parents; religious affiliation, interests and talents,; and can communicate how this information will be used to help maintain their child=s identity.

211-2 The worker is able to provide emotional support to the primary family, and can help them to maintain self--esteem and family integrity throughout the separation and placement process.

211-3 The worker is able to appropriately engage and empower the birth parents in providing input as to the type of adoptive family most suitable for the child, and when appropriate, will establish the type of future relationship between the birthparents and the child and adoptive family. In the case of open adoption, the worker will provide birthparents with profiles of pre-approved families who have expressed an interest in open adoption and help the two develop an appropriate relationship.

210-7 The worker is able to provide information on available resources and options to assist in making a parenting decision whether it is adoption, parenting, foster care, or a kinship placement.

211-5 The worker is able to support and assist the birthparent in saying good-bye to their child, when adoption is the plan, and giving the child permission to attach to and love the adoptive parents. In the case of voluntary open adoption the birthparents choosing the adoptive parents also serves as permission for the adoptive parent to parent the child.

217-4 The worker knows the appropriate legal actions to terminate parental rights, knows which section of the adoption law should be utilized for voluntary relinquishment, confirmed consent, and involuntary termination and which grounds should be used for involuntary termination of parental rights.

223-2 The worker is able to provide accurate information and resources for all adoption options including open and closed adoption when adoption is the birthparent=s plan.

Summary:

This one-day module includes information regarding counseling issues and methods in the pre-placement, placement, and post- placement phases of adoption planning with birth parents and their families. The workshop also includes information regarding good-byes and closure to help birthparents experiencing involuntary termination of parental rights cope with their losses. In the case of voluntary adoption, information will be given on how to foster responsible birthparenting in decision-making, birth planning, choosing adoption options, and following through on adoption planning. The workshop will help define the phases of grieving, the importance of grief work, and how to best support birthparents and their families cope with their losses. The workshop will acquaint trainees with methods to gather and record social and medical histories of birthparents and will present strategies for non-adversarial options in terminating parental rights.

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Post Adoption Adoption Services
Time frame: 6 hours

Competencies:

224-1: The worker understands that adoption is a lifelong process and knows how to normalize the need for post adoption services for adoptive families; the worker knows post adoption issues, the developmental stages of children and family life in which these issues are likely to surface, and triggers which could create crisis within the adoptive family in the post-legal phase.

224-2: The worker knows how to provide effective education and crisis intervention through counseling, referrals for support groups, respite care, and mentoring for adoptive families following the finalization.

225-1: The worker understands the factors that motivate a child, sibling, or birth parent to search for one another and the potential psychological risks of engaging in such a search; and knows strategies to prepare participants for the various potential outcomes of a search.

225-2: The worker knows the role of the agency in facilitating information-sharing and understands the legal and ethical constraints involved; and the worker knows the state laws and regulations regarding disclosure of identifying and non-identifying information.

Summary:

This module provides an overview of the adoption issues faced by adopted persons and their parents, the need for post adoption services, the components of such services, and strategies for implementation of post adoption services. The workshop also presents information on the feelings of triad members engaged in the search process, and potential outcomes of reunion.

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Adoption Assistance
Time frame: 3 hours

Competencies:

222-1: The worker understands federal and state laws and regulations regarding adoption subsidy; knows the financial benefits available to the child; understands his role in informing adoptive parents of available subsidies; and can advocate for the adoptive parents in securing assistance or appealing eligibility determination. Summary: This module includes a discussion of the value of subsidies to families, children, and the child welfare system. The workshop includes information regarding rules and procedures for accessing adoption subsidies as well as strategies to maximize resources for adoptive families.

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Placement Strategies
Time frame: 3 hours

Competencies:

214-1: The worker understands the importance of providing thorough and accurate information about the child=s history, special needs, daily routine, and fears with the adoptive parents, and knows strategies to locate such information.

214-4: The worker knows how to develop and implement a transitional placement plan incorporating pre-placement visits, continuity of caregiving, parenting strategies, reducing unnecessary changes, good-bye messages from previous caregivers, and, when appropriate, post-adoption contacts with previous caregivers.

214-5: The worker knows the typical emotional conflicts, fears, and expectations of adoptive parents and children in the placement process; and the worker is able to provide supportive counseling to all family members during the transition.

Summary:

This module will present trainees with placement strategies to maximize success and minimize trauma to the child, foster family, and adoptive family. Trainees will learn pre-placement visitation rationale and methodology as well as information that should be shared with families making an adoptive commitment to a child.

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Pre-Finalization Adoption Services
Time frame: 6 hours

Competencies:

215-1: The worker is able to develop collaborative relationships with caregiving families and can promote joint planning and delivery of services for children in care.

215-2: The worker can help caregiving families explore, identify, and access needed post- placement resources and support systems, including day care, respite care, mental health services, recreational services, and participation in networks of veteran families.

215-3: The worker understands the typical emotional responses and ambivalence often experienced by the child and all family members during the adjustment phase; and knows how to help the family manage stress and conflict during this period.

215-4: The worker can help families identify formal agency-based and naturally occurring community supports and resources, and can help families access and use them.

215-5: The worker knows how to recognize and situations that can trigger emotional distress or crisis for the child and the family, including: a child=s unique vulnerabilities; visits with the primary family or other significant attachment figures; developmental stages such as adolescence; changes in family structure and lifestyle; or adoption finalization.

215-6: The worker knows how to prepare families to recognize early signs of stress, and to intervene early in the sequence to prevent escalation into full-blown crisis.

216-1: The worker can identify the typical stages of placement disruption, and knows strategies to stabilize and support the placement.

216-2: The worker is able to develop post-placement plans, and to help families utilize support systems, including foster or adoptive parent groups, family networks, and mental health counseling to preserve the placement.

216-3: The worker understands the complex and inter-related factors (associated with child, family, agency, and community) that contribute to placement disruption and dissolution.

216-4: The worker can provide crisis counseling to families and can engage services such as respite care and mental health services.

216-5: The worker understands the social/ emotional impact of placement disruption on the child and on the caregiving family, and can provide supportive services to the child and the family in an empathetic, non-judgmental manner.

216-6: The worker is able to maintain the caregiving family as a source of social/ emotional support for the child after disruption, and when appropriate, can strengthen the family as a potential placement resource for other children.

216-7: The worker understands the typical emotional reactions he/ she and others in the agency may experience following a disruption, and can manage his/ her feelings appropriately.

Summary:

This workshop prepares staff to assess the adjustment and attachment of the child and family prior to finalization, to recognize stages of adoption disruption, and to implement strategies to avoid disruption. The workshop focuses on specific techniques that strengthen adoptive placements and promote attachment and permanence.

TIER II ADOPTION ASSESSOR TRAINING

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Cultural Issues in Permanency Planning
Time frame: 12 hrs.

Competencies:

210-2 The worker understands the importance of permanency for children; cultural continuity; preservation of the child=s identity; minimizing placement disruption; developing, strengthening and supporting families for all children in need of homes; the importance of kinship relationships; and the Aadoptability@ of all children.

212-6 The worker knows how to help the child maintain a stable, continuous sense of personal and cultural identity throughout the placement process.

213-6 The worker understands how families with diverse and non-traditional structures or lifestyles can effectively meet the needs of children in out-of-home placement.

218-4 The worker understands how agency policies and practices may present obstacles to the recruitment of minority families, and knows strategies to identify, engage, and assess prospective families within their cultural context.

220-1 The worker understands how cultural differences may complicate issues of separation, attachment, and long-term adjustment in transracial/transcultural placements.

220-2 The worker understands the importance of and knows strategies for preserving and maintaining a child=s cultural heritage in order to promote the healthy development of identity and personality.

220-3 The worker can identify and consider the advantages and disadvantages of placement of a child with a family to whom he/she is significantly attached, but who is of a different cultural background than the child.

220-4 The worker is able to assist the adoptive family to participate in a self-assessment regarding the special issues encountered in transracial/transcultural placement including: the family=s ability to understand, respect, and maintain the child=s culture; the impact of transcultural placement on the family, extended family, friends, neighbors, and community members; and the family=s ability to make necessary adjustments in social affiliations and other parenting activities to support and maintain the child=s cultural identification.

220-5 The worker is aware of the provisions of the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act and can make placement decisions that are both beneficial to the child=s adjustment and in compliance with the law. Summary: This workshop will address the importance of cultural continuity in permanency planning, identification and preservation of the child=s cultural identity as well as strategies to identify, engage, and assess prospective adoptive families within their cultural context. Finally, the workshop will develop the worker=s skill in assisting adoptive families to make an accurate assessment of their ability to parent transculturally.

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Achieving Permanency Through Interagency Collaboration
Time frame: 6 hours

Competencies:

210-4 The worker knows strategies to enhance team building among the caregivers and other professionals involved in case-planning.

210-8 The worker understands the necessity of collaboration to ensure permanency for all children.

210-9 The worker knows the components of successful interagency collaboration.

219-10 The worker knows the reasons why collaborative efforts sometimes fail; and the worker knows how to eliminate or reduce barriers to interagency collaboration.

210-11 The worker can identify the specific barriers to effective collaboration in his or her county such as Aturf@ issues, power and control issues, cultural differences between workers, or trust issues. The worker can also identify administrative barriers to interagency placement collaboration such as fear of subsidies or post adoption dissolutions. The adoption worker understands how these barriers were created and are maintained.

210-12 The worker understands the roles and perspectives of both public and private agency workers; the worker can identify how those roles and perspectives are alike and how they are different.

210-13 The worker understands the roles and responsibilities of the custodial or child-serving agency and those of the family-serving agency.

210-14 The worker knows how to eliminate or reduce barriers to interagency collaboration.

Summary:

This workshop is designed to enhance the knowledge of and skills of workers in collaboration facilitating permanent placement of children through AdoptOHIO and similar efforts. The workshop provides information about system transformation as well as the ingredients and stages of successful collaboration. Finally, assessors will be given strategies to enhance their skills in navigating these stages to ensure permanence for children.

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Openness in Adoption
Time frame: 12 hours

Competencies:

211-3 The worker is able to appropriately engage the birth parent in providing input as to the type of caregiving family most suitable for the child, and when appropriate, in determining the type of future contact with the child and the caregiving parents.

211-4 The worker is able to appropriately engage the birth parent as a resource in supporting the child when a transition in placement becomes necessary.

211-5 The worker is able to support and assist the primary family in saying good-bye to the child, when adoption is the plan, and giving the child permission to attach to and love the adoptive parent.

223-1 The worker knows the benefits and limitations of openness in adoption; understands the circumstances in which openness is appropriate, and knows what supportive and therapeutic casework services may be needed to preserve these placements.

223-2 The worker knows the various types of open and closed adoption, understands the advantages and disadvantages of each type, and understands the impact of each type on the child, the birth parents, and the adoptive parents.

223-3 The worker can assess the potential impact of various types of adoption on the emotional, social, and psychological functioning of the child and adoptive parent, and can determine the most appropriate adoption strategy for the child and the adoptive parents.

223-5 The worker understands the possible emotional conflicts for the child and adoptive family following an open adoption, can assist them to resolve these issues in a developmentally appropriate manner, and can develop a plan for ongoing supportive counseling when necessary.

215-4 The worker can help the family identify both formal agency and naturally occurring community supports and resources, and can help the family access and use these resources.

215-5 The worker knows how to assess and identify situations or events that can trigger emotional upset or crisis for the child and the family, including the child=s unique vulnerabilities, visits with the primary family or other significant attachment figures, developmental stages such as adolescence, changes in family structure and lifestyle; or adoption finalization.

225-1 The worker understands the factors that motivate a child, sibling, or birth parents to search for one another, the potential psychological risks of engaging in such a search, and knows strategies to prepare participants for the various potential outcomes of a search. The worker knows a variety of strategies to gather information that helps to locate birth families or adopted children, when appropriate. The worker knows the benefits and liabilities that may occur after opening an adoption that was previously closed and knows strategies to facilitate such a transition.

Summary:

This two-day workshop will examine the continuum of openness and the various styles of adoption occurring along that continuum. The historical perspective of openness will be presented as well as reasons supporting openness within current adoption practice. Trainees will learn about the advantages and liabilities of openness and will learn strategies to maximize the advantages while minimizing the liabilities. Participants will also learn techniques to open adoptions that finalized as closed adoptions. Finally, techniques to manage conflict within open adoption relationships will be presented.

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Gathering and Documenting Background Information
Time frame: 6 hours

Competencies:

211-1 The worker knows how to sensitively elicit and record pertinent information from the birth family, such as medical and genetic history; psychological and emotional characteristics of the parents; religious affiliation; interests and talents; and can communicate how this information will be used to help maintain their child=s identity.

212-1 The worker knows how to gather thorough assessment information about the child which includes the child=s social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning and needs; the child=s medical and genetic history; the primary family=s background and history; and the nature of the child=s attachments to primary parents, siblings, extended family members, and others.

221-7 The worker knows the type of assessment data necessary for planning and providing care for the child and knows how to help parents/caregivers acquire accurate information about the child=s problems and special care needs.

225-2 The worker knows the role of the agency in facilitating information-sharing and understands the legal and ethical constraints involved; and the worker knows the state laws and regulations regarding disclosure of identifying and non-identifying information. The worker knows how to elicit background information from hostile or ambivalent birthfamily members. The worker knows how to communicate the information effectively with both the adoptive family and with the child.

Summary:

This workshop will examine the importance of honesty in disclosure of information to adoptive families as well as the ethical and legal consequences of wrongful adoption (misrepresentation, intentional concealment, or negligent disclosure). Participants will learn what information adoptive families need and creative ways to access that information. Participants will also learn how and when to share information effectively with adoptive parents. Finally, techniques to help adoptive parents communicate information in a helpful way to their children will be shared.

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