Report to Congress on Adoption and Other Permanency Outcomes for Children in Foster Care: Focus on Older Children

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Report to Congress on Adoption and Other Permanency Outcomes for Children in
Foster Care: Focus on Older Children

4. State, Foundation, and Local Efforts

While the Federal Government's leadership, initiatives, and funding are providing the impetus for progress in achieving permanency for children in foster care, there also are many non-Federal efforts occurring in the States. These include changes in State laws, public agency systemic reforms, foundation-sponsored initiatives, and local programs operating with non-Federal funds. The following sections describe some of these efforts that, combined with federally supported efforts, illustrate the drive for improving child welfare services in the United States.

4.1 Changes in State Laws

The National Conference of State Legislatures (2004) published a report on changes in States' child welfare laws during 2002 and 2003. One State (Ohio) tightened the eligibility criteria for post-adoption subsidies due to budget constraints; the rest of the changes strengthened legislative support for permanency. Examples include:

Colorado law now states that hearings for adoption or relinquishment will be given priority on the docket.
Nevada and Oregon established procedures for placement of children in permanent guardianships.
North Carolina created a Special Needs Adoption Incentive Fund to remove financial barriers to adoption of children by their foster parents.
South Dakota repealed provisions requiring foster parents to care for children for at least 2 years before being eligible to adopt them (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2004).

One example of the impact of changes in State law comes from Texas. The National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices (2000) reports that Texas passed new laws in 1997 that shortened the time in which court-approved adoptions could be contested from 2 years to 6 months, reduced the time between permanency reviews from 6 to 4 months, and established shorter timeframes for terminating parental rights in child abuse and neglect cases. From 1996 to 1999, the number of adoptions from foster care in Texas increased 238 percent, and the time between termination of parental rights and adoption finalization decreased from 29 to 14 months.

Finally, in support of permanency for adolescents, California recently passed a new law that requires child welfare agencies to take actions so no child leaves foster care without a lifelong connection to a committed adult (Mallon, 2005).

4.2 Public Agency Systemic Reforms

The following profiles highlight large-scale reform initiatives driven by public child welfare agencies in several States. These initiatives have demonstrated or show promise of significant systemic improvements in achieving adoption and other permanency outcomes for children in foster care, including older children.

Illinois. In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 1997, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) implemented the Illinois Permanency Initiative supported by the passage of State laws mirroring provisions in the soon-to-be-passed Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 2002). Among the measures included in these laws were elimination of long-term foster care as a permanency goal, reduction in permanency planning timelines to 1 year, and a requirement for DCFS to use concurrent permanency planning strategies. At the same time, DCFS developed and adopted a comprehensive strategic plan, the Child and Family Services Plan, that requires all activities performed by DCFS and its contractors to clearly focus on achieving one or more of three primary goals: safety, permanency, and well-being. Some of the specific strategies employed in Illinois' comprehensive reform include:

An increase in the investment in family reunification services from $600 to $8,000 per family.
The implementation of performance-based contracting to align financial incentives for contractors with permanency for children. This strategy won a 2000 Harvard Innovations in American Government Award.
The implementation of a title IV-E funded subsidized guardianship demonstration.
The transition to specialized workers for adoption and guardianship cases.

The results of this comprehensive reform are impressive. Illinois moved more than 22,500 children to adoption and guardianship during the 3-year period of SFY 1999 through 2001, which is 33 percent more than the 17,000 children moved to permanency during the entire preceding decade. In addition, the lengths of stay for children in foster care were reduced by 40 percent, from a peak of 40 months to 26 months (Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 2002).

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Michigan. In 1997, Michigan implemented structured decision making (SDM) in public and private purchase-of-service (POS) agencies in 10 pilot counties to expedite permanency for children entering foster care (Wagner, Johnson, & Caskey, 2002). Some of the major innovations included structured assessments for developing the initial service plan within 30 days to evaluate the strengths and treatment needs of family caregivers and children; a reunification assessment for developing the updated service plan every 90 days to evaluate progress toward case plan goals; and management information reports to monitor SDM implementation. Some of the key permanency results included:

Reduced time to permanency. Sixty-seven percent of children served by public agencies in pilot SDM counties had achieved permanency 15 months after entering foster care, significantly higher than the 56 percent of children served by public agencies in comparison counties. Forty-eight percent of children served by POS agencies in pilot counties had achieved permanency 18 months after SDM implementation, significantly higher than the 42 percent of children who achieved permanency during that timeframe in comparison counties.
Higher rates of permanency. Twenty-one percent of children served by public agencies in pilot counties were adopted compared to 18 percent of children served by public agencies in comparison counties; reunification rates for pilot and comparison counties were 26 percent and 22 percent, respectively (both differences were statistically significant). Twenty-two percent of children served by POS agencies in pilot counties were reunified, significantly higher than the 17 percent of children reunified in the comparison group of POS agencies. There also was a significant difference for children ages 5 and older-47 percent of these children achieved permanency in the pilot POS agencies, compared to 38 percent in the comparison group.

These findings suggest that the SDM strategies were considerably more effective than existing case management procedures in expediting permanency for children in both public and private agencies (Wagner et al., 2002). SDM is continuing in Michigan and is being supported by a new management information system to facilitate more consistent implementation.

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New York. New York has implemented statewide reforms and special initiatives in New York City, which has 70 to 80 percent of New York's foster care population, to improve adoption outcomes for all children in foster care as well as other permanency outcomes for adolescents in foster care. Three initiatives are discussed here; coordination among these initiatives is provided by cross-team membership of key advisory board members.

In 2003, the statewide Adoption Now initiative was launched with the goal of reducing the time to adoption finalization from 3.5 years to 1 year. Adoption Now is a collaboration of the courts, New York City Administration for Children's Services, and New York State Office of Children and Family Services. Strategies include reviewing cases to identify barriers, changing procedures to ensure orders for termination of parental rights are submitted in a timely manner, increasing judicial resources focused exclusively on adoptions, expediting appeals processes for termination of parental rights cases, and holding roundtable discussions with foster care agencies to identify remaining barriers and discuss best practices (New York City Administration for Children's Services, 2003).

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services also has implemented a promising system-wide initiative in New York City. With a Federal Adoption Opportunities grant, the Longest Waiting Children project was implemented in 2001 to achieve permanency for 65 children who have been in foster care an average of 10 or more years. Strategies included the use of Multidisciplinary Adoption Action Team Meetings (which include birth families, relatives, foster parents, caseworkers, therapists, and others), the creation of individual adoption plans (individualized plans, modeled on the Individual Education Plans used for students in special education programs, developed with and for each youth), and the engagement of each youth in their own permanency planning. The initiative exceeded its goal and achieved permanency for 78 children as of December 2004 (Badeau, 2005).

In addition to the Longest Waiting Children project, the New York City Administration for Children's Services began implementing the Families for Teens initiative under the new policy entitled Family-Based Concurrent Planning for Youth Goals of Independent Living, established in June 2003. This policy limits the use of independent living as a permanency goal and is designed to shift the culture of the child welfare agency to ensure "that no child ages out of foster care without a lifelong connection that is as legally secure as possible to a caring adult committed to functioning in a parental capacity" (Louisell, 2004, p. 24). Active youth participation is required in crafting and carrying out the permanency plan, and there is a focus on recruiting members of the youth's family or other caring adults from the youth's past to serve as permanent placements. Training and consultation have been provided to staff to support implementation of this policy.

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Washington. In 1998, a statewide coalition of more than 300 people from 90 public and private agencies and tribes developed The Washington Permanency Framework, A Five Year Plan for Ensuring Permanent Families for Children in Foster Care (Families For Kids Partnership, 2003), which set the vision in Washington for, "A permanent family, in a timely manner, for each child in foster care" (p. 3). The coalition identified six areas needing strategic action to achieve systemic change: expediting permanence, kinship families, alternative (nonkin) permanent families, effective practice with the youngest children, permanence for adolescents, and community involvement. Specific strategies employed include:

Concurrent planning, which was written into law and for which training is provided to staff.
Family Group Conferences to facilitate permanency planning.
An increase in financial support for adoption of children with special needs.
Court improvements, including expedited appeals for Termination of Parental Rights hearings, leadership training for judges, and the creation of a judicial "bench book" to use as a reference guide in juvenile proceedings.

The results of these comprehensive efforts are inspiring. Since 1999, more than 1,000 children have been adopted each year, almost triple the number of adoptions in the early 1990s. The lengths of stay in foster care for children who were adopted decreased 20 percent from 46 months in 1996 to 37 months in 2002. The proportion of children remaining in foster care for 2 or more years decreased from 44 percent in FY 1997 to 36 percent in FY 2002 (Families For Kids Partnership, 2003).

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4.3 Foundation Sponsored Initiatives

Public agencies are not alone in their efforts to enhance permanency for children in foster care; a number of private foundations also provide guidance and financial support for improving child welfare services and outcomes for children. The following sections describe a number of foundation-sponsored initiatives that focus primarily on enhancing permanency for children in foster care, including older children.

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The founder of Wendy's International created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992. The Foundation focuses on increasing awareness of the need for adoption of children from foster care, supporting model adoption programs, and influencing public policy to enhance the adoption process. The Foundation particularly highlights adoptions of children with special needs, including older youth.

The Dave Thomas Foundation provides grants to programs in the United States and Canada to promote adoption. In 2004, the Foundation awarded 18 grants for programs to test various strategies, including recruitment, case review, and post-adoption support. Three of the grant-funded programs specifically target permanency for older youth in foster care.

Other Dave Thomas Foundation activities involve promoting national awareness of adoption. "A Home for the Holidays" is an annual television program featuring successful adoption stories, hosted by the Foundation, CBS, the Children's Action Network, and Wendy's. The Foundation partners with Wendy's Restaurants to publicize and promote adoption locally. In addition, the Foundation has provided more than 100,000 copies of A Child Is Waiting... A Beginner's Guide to Adoption to educate the general public about how to adopt (Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, n.d.).

Freddie Mac Foundation. The Freddie Mac Foundation sponsors a number of initiatives to promote adoption of children from foster care. The most well-known may be "Wednesday's Child," which came under Freddie Mac Foundation sponsorship in 1992. Now operating in six cities, Wednesday's Child is an Emmy-nominated television program that appears on local newscasts, profiling children in foster care who are available for adoption. The children featured are usually those who are harder to place, including older children, children with disabilities, and sibling groups. Since it began, more than 600 children profiled on Wednesday's Child have been placed with adoptive families, and more than 20,000 viewer inquiries have been generated (Freddie Mac Foundation, n.d.).

Freddie Mac also sponsors the Angels in Adoption Celebration along with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) to honor individuals whose commitment to adoption has made a significant difference in the lives of children. CCAI works in collaboration with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, a bipartisan group of more than 180 Members of Congress, to promote public policies that support adoption (Freddie Mac Foundation, 2003). In addition, Freddie Mac is a sponsor of National Adoption Day, which raises awareness and promotes the importance of the courts, advocates, and adoptive families in the adoption process. During National Adoption Month, courts across the country convene to finalize adoptions. In 2004, more than 3,400 adoptions were finalized on National Adoption Day (National Adoption Day, 2004).

Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Charitable Trusts support policy solutions and information sharing in a number of areas of public interest, including foster care reform (Pew Charitable Trusts, n.d.). In 2003, the Trusts launched a three-part initiative, Home At Last, to enhance permanency outcomes for children in foster care and prevent placement of children in foster care:

The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care was created and funded to examine the U.S. child welfare system and make practical, evidence-based policy recommendations. This Commission released its final report in May 2004. The report, Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care, recommends broad national reforms for Federal child welfare financing and strengthened court oversight of State child welfare systems.
Fostering Results, a public education and outreach campaign, was funded to engage influential national and local leaders in reform efforts. Meetings, media coverage, and reports such as A View from the Bench: Summary of Key Findings from a National Survey of Dependency Court Judges are being used to raise awareness and educate the public and policymakers about the need for foster care reform.
The third component of the initiative provides funds to a number of national organizations to further promote the initiative's recommendations. Public forums and other strategies are being used to educate policymakers and other leaders, the media, and the public about the benefits of implementing the recommendations.

Stuart Foundation. The Stuart Foundation supports a number of human service initiatives, including efforts to strengthen child welfare systems, primarily in California and Washington. This program area includes an emphasis on promoting permanency policies and practices that support prevention of foster care placements, early permanency for children in foster care, and maintenance of permanent placements. The Stuart Foundation awards numerous grants each year for projects that aim to accomplish these objectives (Stuart Foundation, n.d.).

The Stuart Foundation, in conjunction with the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, also funds the California Permanency for Youth Project, whose vision is that all youth leaving foster care will have a lifelong connection to a caring adult. The project raises awareness among child welfare staff, legislators, and courts; influences public policy and administrative practices; and provides technical assistance to four counties in California to implement new practices. The project also recently published Model Programs for Youth Permanency to share promising practices and lessons learned in achieving permanency for older youth in foster care (Louisell, 2004).

In addition, the California Permanency for Youth Project sponsors an annual Permanency for Youth Convening that brings together practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to strategize approaches for achieving permanency for older youth in foster care. In 2004, the Convening focused on building knowledge regarding permanency for older youth, especially through public-private partnerships and public child welfare agency leadership, and developing strategies to ensure youth permanence is a core outcome to which child welfare agencies are committed (California Permanency for Youth Project, 2004).

W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation implemented the Families for Kids (FFK) initiative in 1993 with the goal of ensuring permanent family connections for children who cannot return to their birth parents (Walter R. McDonald & Associates, 2000). The initiative focused on eliminating the backlog of children waiting for adoption and on removing systemic barriers to permanency within child welfare systems. To set the stage for awarding program grants, the Foundation set forth six practice standards: family support, coordinated assessments, consistent casework, timely permanence, stable placements, and backlog reductions.

In 1995 and 1996, 11 three-year grants were awarded to community agencies in seven States as part of this initiative; eight sites subsequently received transition grants. These sites worked toward a common vision and participated in a multisite evaluation. A final report documents many positive outcomes from the cluster of grantees, including the following permanency outcomes:

The number of children in the grantee sites for whom adoption or guardianship was finalized each year almost tripled from 3,800 children in 1992 to more than 11,000 children in 1999.
The increase in numbers of children achieving permanency was not solely due to higher numbers of children in foster care - the rate of permanency achievement increased 17 percent in the first three years of implementation, from 60 to 69 per 1,000 children in foster care. This increase was true for all age groups except for children under age 1, for whom there was a slight decline from the second to third year (Walter R. McDonald & Associates, 2000).

Some of the practices believed to contribute to these accomplishments include building a constituency of stakeholders that supports systemic improvements to enhance permanency, focusing on supporting foster family adoptions (most of the increase in adoptions was from foster families rather than recruitment of new adoptive families), using targeted recruitment practices, practicing family group decision-making, offering guardianship as a permanency option, and employing concurrent planning strategies. There is evidence that these strategies have resulted in long-lasting systems change:

There have been legislative changes in all sites.
Several States have expanded FFK programs to additional communities.
Several sites have rewritten policy and practice manuals to reflect new values and vision.
A number of sites increased funding for child welfare staff through the budget process (Walter R. McDonald & Associates, 2000).

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4.4 Local Programs

The following profiles of local agency programs illustrate the innovative individual efforts of public and private agencies to improve permanency for older children in foster care. Each profile presents the program's strategies, outcomes, and lessons learned.

New York - Empowered Transitions. Family Focus Adoption Services in Little Neck, NY, operates Empowered Transitions, a model of recruitment, matching, and placement that empowers both the child and the prospective adoptive family to determine the timeframe for making final decisions about adoption. The project is funded through a contract with the public child welfare agency (Louisell, 2004).

Strategies. Empowered Transitions recruits and trains prospective adoptive families who are then matched with a child age 4 or older awaiting adoption from foster care. The family and the child each have their own advocate, and visitation takes place at a pace and for a duration determined by the child and the family. No commitment is made until both agree./p>

Outcomes. Since the project began in 1988, 750 children have been placed in adoptive homes; 136 of these children have been age 10 or older, and the adoption disruption rate has been only 3 percent.

Lessons Learned. The report states that resistance from public agency staff to the lengthy visitation periods has been addressed as staff have seen the success of the model (Louisell, 2004).

North Carolina - Court Improvement Project. The North Carolina Court Improvement Project (CIP) was implemented with funding from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts in two judicial districts between 1997 and 2000. CIP focused on legal reform to expedite permanency for all children in foster care (Kirk, 2001).

Strategies. CIP instituted numerous rules to reduce the number of contested cases and reduce the number of days lost due to continuances or failure to schedule, conduct, or complete hearings. These rules included day-one conferences for parties to the case to fully disclose evidence and allegations, immediate appointment of counsel for each parent, appointment of a guardian ad litem at the time of the petition, and shorter timeframes for hearings and conferences at all phases (detention, adjudication, disposition, and permanency reviews). In addition to these specific rules, general rules for guidance were issued to send a message to court clerks, lawyers, social workers, and judges. Some of these general rules included statements to the effect that:

Juvenile cases are to receive top priority and are to be docketed ahead of most other cases.
Lawyers for children and parents shall appear at hearings, regardless of conflicts.
One judge shall preside over all hearings for each case.
Continuances shall not be granted except in extreme circumstances.

Outcomes. The program successfully accelerated the time to permanency for children in foster care. The median number of days to case closure decreased 39 percent from 404 days prior to CIP to 245 days during CIP. For cases moving to termination of parental rights or relinquishment, the median number of days decreased 50 percent from 680 to 340 days.

Lessons Learned. The evaluation found that the key to success was strict adherence to the new rules, all of which worked in conjunction with one another. The day-one conference was highlighted as a particularly important component of the CIP model (Kirk, 2001).

Washington - Family Assessment and Stabilization Team. Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, the State of Washington Region 5, and Pierce County Mental Health teamed up to implement the Family Assessment and Stabilization Team (FAST) project. Funding is provided through the State mental health and child welfare agencies. The goal of FAST is to secure permanent placements for youth ages 9 to 17 who are in crisis, defined as youth who are at imminent risk of hospitalization or who are homeless with no family connections. This initiative is broader than child welfare; not all youth served are in foster care. (Louisell, 2004).

Strategies. Staff provides an array of mental health and social services to assess and stabilize youth. They then search for and engage the youth's family to solicit permanent family placements for the youth and provide post-placement supportive services. Most interventions are completed within 3 months.

Outcomes. Of the 288 youth who completed services in 2003, 88 percent were living with their family or extended family at the time of their exit from the program.

Lessons Learned. The report states that the resistance of the child welfare agency staff, court appointed special attorneys, and court staff to relative placements has been addressed through collaboration among staff (Louisell, 2004).

"... staff were surprised at the high percentage of extended family members who said, 'Absolutely! I'll be there!' And equally surprised (and saddened) to hear, 'I've been searching for my grandson for 10 years. I tried to take him in when his mother went to prison, but the state said he had to go to foster care. I've been here the whole time, wanting him.'" (Louisell, 2004, p. 31).

These many State, foundation, and individual program efforts are evidence of increasing interest and success in addressing the challenges to achieving permanency.

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