USING SYSTEM CHANGE TO INCREASE AND IMPROVE ADOPTIONS : THE SWAN MODEL

Pennsylvania's Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN), initiated seven years ago, makes use of multiple programs, projects, and strategies to increase the number and improve the quality of adoptions of children with special needs in the custody of public agencies. This public/private initiative incorporates features of learning organizations to make systemic changes. The program has been instrumental in the adoption of more than 6,000 children in six years, a statewide increase in the number of special needs adoption agencies, and increased financial and political commitment to the project. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) is challenging all states to increase the number of children who achieve permanency, often through adoption. Pennsylvania has been engaged in a large-scale system change to enhance the adoption of children from the public child welfare system. This initiative, the Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN), has been instrumental in dramatically increasing the number of children being adopted. The initiative has also resulted in increased resources for these children and improvements in the overall quality of adoption work being done statewide. Most importantly, SWAN has achieved longlasting systemic changes, including an increase in the number of private agencies providing special needs adoption services, new standards for best practice in adoptions, and a network that collaboratively identifies solutions to emerging problems. SWAN addresses special needs adoptions through a multifaceted approach grounded on a belief that fundamental changes were needed in the way in which these adoptions were managed statewide. This article presents an overview of the challenges and obstacles that led the state to develop SWAN, followed by a brief description of the model's major components (and their advantages and limitations). The program is discussed in relation to its development as a "learning organization" [Argyris & Schon 1978; Senge 1990], and its major outcomes are summarized. Challenges and Obstacles Like many states, Pennsylvania has seen major growth in the number of children in out-of-home care in recent years. In 1987,14,023 were reported to be in care; by 1990, that number had risen to 16,737, and by 1997, it was 25,179 [Legislative Budget and Finance Committee 1991]. Although out-of-home care rates rose, the adoption of children from the system remained relatively constant. In 1987, 479 adoptions of children from out-of-home care were legalized; in 1990, the number was only slightly higher-553. Concern about these trends led to a number of studies regarding causes and possible interventions. The problems identified were similar to those seen in other venues [Barth 1994; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1997]: staff and other resource shortages in the public child welfare system, and a failure to give adoption a high priority. In Pennsylvania, county boundaries formed an additional obstacle to adoption. Because each county administered its own child welfare program with state supervision, there was great diversity in the delivery of services, particularly adoption. Some counties, for example, had sophisticated adoption programs, and actively recruited and trained families to accept their children; other counties had no specialized adoption staff to deal with adoption cases. Counties with strong recruitment and training programs were reluctant to share their families with other counties, leading to a situation in which children and families in different parts of the state had significantly different access to adoption resources. The nature of the work involved in special needs adoption also posed a challenge to the system. Serving children with special needs through adoption requires a high level of expertise on the part of adoption professionals. The limited number of staff in the public child welfare system providing special needs adoption services (and the high turnover of that staff) made it difficult to develop and maintain the necessary expertise. …