Post-Legal Adoption 

Services for Children 

With Special Needs 

and Their Families

Challenges and lessons learned

June 2005

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Administration for Children and Families 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families 

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway

Children’s Bureau/ACYF

1250 Maryland Avenue, SW

Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20024

703.385.7565 or 800.394.3366

Email: info@childwelfare.gov

www.childwelfare.gov
This synthesis was made possible by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth 

and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services. The conclusions discussed here are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not 

represent the official views or policies of the funding agency. Publication does not in any way 

constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Suggested 

citation: Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2005). Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children 

With Special Needs and Their Families: Challenges and Lessons Learned. Washington, DC: 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families

1

www.childwelfare.gov

While most adoptions have positive outcomes 

for the children and their families, many adoptive families need supportive services at some 

time during the life of the adoption. The 

typical crisis and transition periods (such as 

adolescence) that all families face can be especially difficult for adoptive families, because 

they also must address specific adoptionrelated issues. Families who adopt children 

with special needs from the foster care system 

face additional challenges, often including the 

children’s past experiences of abuse or neglect. 

While the vast majority of adoptions of children with special needs succeed, research indicates that 10 to 20 percent disrupt before the 

adoption is finalized, and approximately 3 to 6 

percent dissolve after the adoption has been 

finalized.1

 Children whose adoptions disrupt or 

dissolve re-enter the foster care system, adding 

to their already traumatic experiences of separation and loss. To avoid disruption or dissolution, many families need access throughout 

the life of the adoption to adoption-competent 

services, supports, and resources designed to 

promote the family’s well-being. 

In recognition of this need, and with the goal 

of expanding and enhancing services to adoptive families of children with special needs, 

the Children’s Bureau has on several occasions established post-legal adoption services 

as a priority in its annual adoption discretionary grant announcements. Under that priority 

area in 1998, the Children’s Bureau awarded 

15 3-year grants to increase permanency and 

well-being for children with special needs by 

preventing adoption disruption, dissolution, or 

out-of-home placement. 

With the goal of sharing the knowledge 

gained, this paper synthesizes the final reports 

1	 Freundlich,	M.,	&	Wright,	L.	(2003).	Post-permanency 

services. Seattle: Casey Family Programs.

of those 15 projects. Further information 

about each project, including contact information, can be found in Appendix A. For copies 

of the full final reports, contact Child Welfare 

Information Gateway at 800.394.3366 or 

info@childwelfare.gov.

OverviewofServices

andOutcomes

The projects funded in this cluster were collaborative efforts, usually involving the public 

child welfare agency at the State or local level, 

foster and adoptive parent support groups, 

private adoption or family service agencies, 

and, in many cases, the local mental health 

system. Each of the projects targeted postlegal adoptive families and their children 

with special needs. Other target populations 

included:

• Pre-adoptive families

• Single adoptive parents

• Transracial adoptive families

• Kinship families

Families were referred for services by their 

adoption agencies, by other adoptive families, or self-referred in response to program 

outreach.

In the absence of a best-practices model for 

post-adoption services, grantees involved 

adoptive families of children with special 

needs and adoption professionals in designing their programs. This was accomplished 

primarily through focus groups and in-person, 

telephone, and mailed surveys. The programs 

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were then designed to meet the needs and fill 

the service gaps survey participants identified. 

CoreServices

The projects varied significantly in their 

approach to serving adoptive families. Most 

of the programs, however, did provide a basic 

set of core services. 

Parent Support and Educational Groups.

All 15 projects provided or assisted families 

in developing support or educational groups 

for adoptive parents. Parents who regularly 

attended group meetings reported developing a sense of group cohesion that evolved 

into an informal mentoring network. Participating families reported feeling less isolated, 

more knowledgeable about adoption-related 

issues, more empowered, more confident in 

their ability to parent their children successfully, more committed to working through 

problems, and more comfortable talking about 

adoption within their families and with professionals whose services they needed. Grantees 

reported that these families tended to seek 

help sooner—before situations reached the 

point of crisis—than families who did not participate on an ongoing basis. 

Children’s Support and Educational Groups.

Ten projects also provided support and educational groups for the adopted children. These 

groups gave children an opportunity, sometimes their first, to meet and interact with 

other children who were adopted. Grantees 

reported that the groups provided a safe environment where children and teens could talk 

about their issues with others who understood 

and even shared their concerns. Grantees and 

adoptive parents also reported that therapeutic groups helped adoptees consider and 

deal with the losses in their lives and examine 

their feelings and behavior in light of their 

past experiences.

Information and Referral. During the needs 

assessment phases of these projects, adoptive 

families identified a critical need for information. All 15 projects provided information and 

referral services, either directly (through case 

managers or hot lines) or through resource 

directories (6 projects), lending libraries (4), 

websites (6), and newsletters (7). Adoptive 

families reported these information and referral services helped them locate services and 

other resources when needed.

Training for Service Providers. Ten projects 

provided adoption competency training 

for providers within the professional community (including the health, mental health, 

education, and justice systems). Grantees 

developed and delivered local, regional, 

and even national trainings for hundreds of 

service providers across the country during 

the grant period. The focus of these trainings was on helping providers better understand the impacts of abuse and neglect, 

involvement with the child welfare system, 

and separation and loss on children who are 

adopted and their families. Participating providers gained an understanding of adoption 

issues and reported greater confidence in 

working with adoptive families of children with 

special needs.

AdditionalServices

The following services were provided by 

smaller numbers of grantees, but they were 

also reported as being important to the families who received them. 

Recreational/Social Activities. Ten of the 

grantees offered a wide variety of activities 

such as family picnics, sporting events, rope 
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challenge courses, and museum visits. These 

activities provided parents, adoptees, and 

their siblings opportunities to meet and interact with others like them in informal settings. 

Families reported this casual contact in relaxed 

settings was therapeutic, providing opportunities for parent-child attachment and for the 

formation of informal support networks. 

Advocacy. Grantees reported that many adoptive parents needed support in dealing with 

schools and other community services. Eight 

projects provided advocacy services, accompanying families to meetings and conferences. 

During this process they also taught advocacy skills to the parents, who reported feeling 

better able to advocate for their children on 

their own after these experiences. 

Case Management. Varying levels of case 

management services were provided by 

eight projects in conjunction with crisis intervention, counseling, or information and 

referral services. 

Crisis Intervention/Family Preservation.

Crisis intervention or family preservation services were available through eight projects. 

A variety of approaches were used in delivering these services, including multidisciplinary 

teams and in-home wraparound services. 

Respite or Respite Referral. Eight projects 

provided respite services for adoptive families. One project sponsored activities such as 

movie night or a trip to the zoo for children 

so the parents could have time to themselves. Another organized a summer camp 

for children.

Services for Families Who Have Adopted 

Transracially. At least five projects provided 

services specifically for families who had 

adopted transracially. These shared a common 

goal of strengthening the children’s racial 

and cultural identities and providing assistance with issues related to transracial adoption. The most frequently provided service 

for these families was support groups. Other 

programs included matching adoptive families with “buddy” families of the same race 

as the adopted child; recruiting and training 

same-race mentors for transracially adopted 

children; multicultural book reviews and book 

fairs; workshops on how to choose and use 

books effectively to help children get in touch 

with their culture; and multicultural camps 

for transracially adopted children and their 

families. Participating families reported these 

programs to be very beneficial. Many of the 

relationships formed through these programs 

continued beyond the life of the grant.

Less Frequently Offered Services. Other services offered by some grantees included:

• Mini-grants ($1,000 to $5,000) to adoptive 

parent groups to develop educational or 

respite care services for families (6 projects). 

• Formal needs assessments of individual 

families and children to determine the 

services the families and children needed 

most (7). 

• Individual or family counseling for parents 

and children (6). 

• Mentorship programs for children, or 

“buddy” programs for adoptive parents to 

be mentored by more experienced adoptive families (5). 

Project Outcomes

Evaluating post-adoption services programs 

is challenging for a number of reasons. Challenges identified by these grantees and 

through a review of the literature include:
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• It is difficult to demonstrate that outcomes 

are related to the services provided.

• Clear points in time at which to measure 

outcomes do not exist.

• There is no consensus within the field about 

which outcomes and measures to focus on. 

• Direct service staff may not have the skills 

or an interest in conducting rigorous 

evaluations. 

• Locating skilled evaluators with knowledge 

of adoption can be difficult. 

• The total number of families served by 

post-adoption services programs is typically 

small.

• Outcomes achieved may be relatively 

modest and difficult to measure. 

• Tangible outcomes, such as prevention of 

adoption disruption or dissolution, are very 

difficult to track. It is challenging to prove 

conclusively that families would have had 

a negative experience without a program’s 

intervention. 

• The diversity of programs makes cross-site 

evaluations difficult. 

In an effort to address these barriers, grantees 

used a combination of process and outcome 

evaluation methodologies. Process evaluations 

looked at such issues as numbers of families 

and children served, demographics and adoption history of those families and children, 

types of services provided, and whether adoptive parents improved their parenting skills. 

Outcome evaluations looked at the results 

of the services provided as measured by 

parent and child satisfaction surveys, disruption data, whether the well-being of adopted 

children improved, and whether communities 

were more aware and supportive of adoption. 

Outcome data were collected through satisfaction surveys, focus groups, and pre- and 

post-tests. Client information systems were 

used to collect demographic data.

Outcomes reported by grantees included:

• Improved parenting skills. A number of 

participating families reported being able 

to care for their children in their homes 

despite challenging behaviors because of 

the post-adoption services they received. 

Those same families reported an overall 

improvement in their ability to cope with 

adoption-related issues and an increased 

use of community resources. They also 

expressed an increased awareness and 

understanding of how childhood trauma 

can affect children’s behavior, an increased 

commitment to working through problem 

behaviors, and greater confidence in their 

ability to do so. 

• Improved child functioning. Some of the 

projects reported improvements in the 

children’s well-being and behavior. Several 

grantees reported support groups helped 

children explore their own issues concerning adoption, understand themselves and 

their families, develop social skills, and 

connect with other adopted children. At 

least two projects reported these groups 

had the additional benefit of improving 

children’s relationships with their parents. 

Counseling, support groups, and community resources were cited as helping families work through children’s behavioral and 

emotional problems. Improvements in 

children’s behavior were measured through 

child assessments, surveys of family functioning, observations by staff, or parents’ 

reports.
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• Increase in adoptions. One statewide 

project reported a 72 percent increase in 

the number of adoptions in the State during 

the course of the grant. While the passage 

of ASFA during this period certainly had 

an impact, it had also been the program’s 

hypothesis that an increase in the availability and accessibility of post-adoption 

services might result in an increase in the 

number of finalized adoptions, as families 

were confident they would have support. 

• Prevention of adoption disruptions. Three 

of the five projects that reported disruption data reported that no disruptions had 

occurred among the families served by the 

end of the project. One project reported 

that only one of the families served had 

experienced a disruption. Another grantee, 

however, reported that, while eight disruptions had been prevented, nine had 

occurred. It is difficult to know how to interpret these data, because different families 

received different sets of services, there 

were no control groups, grantees offered 

limited information about sample sizes, 

and the projects varied so that comparison of populations across projects was not 

possible.

Many of the outcomes reported by grantees 

were anecdotal or descriptive in nature. That 

is not, however, to negate the importance 

of the data and information provided in the 

project evaluations, which do demonstrate 

positive outcomes. 

CommonChallenges/

PromisingStrategies

Grantees experienced a number of common 

challenges associated with attracting and 

engaging adoptive families, presenting trainings to community service providers, recruiting 

and retaining qualified staff and volunteers, 

and sustaining the programs beyond the grant 

period. Details of these challenges and the 

strategies programs used or recommended to 

overcome them follow.

Engaging Adoptive Families

Grantees faced ongoing challenges engaging adoptive families of children with special 

needs in services. Families tended not to participate regularly in support groups and activities, but to move in and out as their needs 

changed. Grantees reported families were 

more likely to make contact once they were 

in a state of crisis, seeming to believe that 

seeking help before that point would be a sign 

of failure. Several projects also served large 

geographic areas where extensive travel time 

(1 to 2 hours each way) was required for many 

families who wished to participate in groups. 

Engagement methods grantees used (many 

of which were found to improve participation) 

included: 

• Conducting extensive outreach. Most 

projects found it necessary to continue outreach activities throughout the project in 

order to have sufficient participation, particularly with support groups. Outreach activities included mailings to adoptive parents; 

public service announcements; information 

booths at community events; and presen-
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tations to adoption staff, parent groups, 

home study groups, professional conferences, local churches, community centers, 

and fraternities and sororities. 

• Reducing the travel burden. To address 

the hardship of extensive travel for families, at least two programs began meeting 

with families in their own neighborhoods. 

One project also recruited local facilitators for neighborhood groups from among 

the adoptive parents who lived in the 

community. 

• Offering “perks.” Families seemed to 

respond positively to the provision of food 

at the group meetings, especially when 

they were held in the evenings after a long 

day at work. Some projects also provided 

childcare, usually by scheduling children’s 

and teens’ group meetings at the same 

time as the parent group meetings.

• Offering education. Several projects 

offered training sessions and presentations 

on specific areas of childhood development 

to ensure that parents left each session 

feeling they had gained at least one “tool” 

that would help them in their day-to-day 

parenting. They found that adoptive families were more willing to seek knowledge 

than they were to seek help. One project 

changed from monthly weekday evening 

meetings of about 2 hours to quarterly daylong Saturday meetings with an educational 

component for parents and for children.

• Offering recreation and social activities. 

Grantees reported that recreational and 

social activities provided non-threatening 

entry points into post-adoption support 

programs. Families who participated in 

these services were more likely to seek help 

earlier when challenges arose, before the 

family was in a state of crisis.

• Supporting families who cannot participate in groups. Several programs found 

newsletters and websites were effective 

in building a community among adoptive 

families who did not participate in group 

activities. These tools served as non-threatening ways to address concerns, provide 

families with education and information in 

their homes, show them that other families shared their challenges, and help them 

locate help when needed. One project provided a chat room with regularly scheduled 

weekly support chats or visits from adoption experts.

Training Providers

While grantees recognized that offering adoption training to community service providers was one of the most effective ways to 

support adoptive families of children with 

special needs, doing so was not without its 

challenges. Providers frequently had difficulty 

getting time off from work for the training. 

Staff who had adoption expertise often did 

not have the time to become trainers. Many 

providers simply were not interested in or did 

not recognize the need for adoption-specific 

training. 

Efforts to address these issues included:

• Being flexible. Some grantees tried offering training on Saturdays, so providers 

would not have to miss work. Unfortunately, 

this did not meet with a great deal of 

success. In most cases providers were even 

more reluctant to give up a Saturday than 

they had been to miss a workday to attend. 

It was also more difficult to recruit trainers 

for Saturday sessions. Others tried shorten-
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ing the sessions and offering them to professional groups on-site. 

• Offering credit. Some grantees recommended that future projects investigate 

getting the classes certified for CEUs as an 

incentive for providers to participate. 

• Offering compensation. Another recommendation was to budget funds to make it 

possible to offer stipends for professionals 

who work fee-for-service and cannot afford 

to miss days of work to attend adoptionspecific training.

Recruiting and Retaining

Qualified Staff

The projects were unable to offer competitive 

salaries, particularly for Master’s-level social 

workers. As a result, recruitment was difficult 

and many of the programs experienced extensive staff turnover. 

Strategies used to improve staff recruitment 

and retention included:

• Offering incentives. Grantees offered 

employees flexible work schedules and 

educational opportunities. 

• Hiring staff with experience. Hiring staff 

with adoption experience and a genuine 

commitment to the field was another strategy that met with limited success. 

Retaining staff remained a challenge throughout the life of the grant in a number of cases, 

resulting in recommendations that future postadoption programs budget for more competitive salaries. 

Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers

A number of grantees used volunteers, primarily to serve as mentors for adopted children and youth. While recruitment seemed 

generally successful, many potential volunteers dropped out between the initial expression of interest and the orientation meeting, 

or between orientation and the first training 

session. Barriers grantees noted included the 

level of commitment required and delays in 

processing background checks and scheduling 

training. 

Projects developed several strategies for 

dealing with this:

• Casting a wide net. Some of the recruitment methods grantees mentioned 

included mailings, local radio talk shows, 

and volunteer fairs.

• Targeting the right groups. Several programs began targeting their recruitment 

efforts to young professionals, college students, and others who may have more time 

and availability for the commitments.

• Offering more timely training. Some 

grantees provided training in small groups 

or even individualized sessions so recruits 

would not have to wait as long.

• Recruiting for specific children. Several 

projects recruited using a list of specific 

children who needed mentors. 

Grantees reported that potential volunteers 

seemed generally more likely to step forward 

for a specific child rather than for a program. 

When responding to the needs of a particular child, prospective volunteers also seemed 

more willing to wait a reasonable length of 

time for the screening and training requirements to be met. 
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Sustaining Programs

Locating ongoing local or State funding for 

these preventive programs was difficult. Only 

four projects were able to continue providing 

direct services once the grants ended.

• In one case, the State child welfare agency 

recognized the program’s excellent work 

and provided funding to continue the 

project. 

• One project committed to continuing services on a limited basis, using funding from 

State reimbursement for finalized adoptions 

and private fundraising events. 

• A third project had not received or identified additional funding, but committed to 

continuing limited services through a volunteer effort. 

• A private family services agency that had 

been a collaborator and a direct service 

provider in one of the projects decided to 

continue to provide all post-adoption services that were provided during the project.

The remaining 11 projects were unable to continue their post-adoption services on a formal 

basis. Grantees were quick to point out, 

however, that continuation of a project’s activities is not the only way to measure its impact 

on the community. For example, the providers who participated in adoption-competence 

training ideally retain an increased sensitivity 

to and comfort level in dealing with the adoption issues that families and their children 

bring to them. Many of the parent support 

groups started through these projects continued to meet after funding ended. Resource 

guides, lending libraries, websites, and newsletters developed with these funds continue to 

be available to adoptive families, prospective 

adoptive families, and providers.

Lessons Learned

In addition to strategies that address the specific challenges described above, some strategies were seen by many of the programs to be 

crucial to their overall success. Their recommendations are summarized below.

Adoptive families need knowledge

about service availability.

Grantees noted adoptive families of children 

with special needs had an easier time dealing 

with challenges when pre- and post-adoption 

training had alerted them to the likelihood 

of difficulties and when they had an existing relationship with a provider of post-adoption support and treatment services. From the 

first contact with a family, providers should 

work with parents to help them recognize an 

impending crisis, understand the importance 

of seeking help as soon as possible, identify resources, and develop the skills to utilize 

those resources. 

Take time to plan.

Before launching a post-adoption services 

program, it is important to dedicate staff, 

resources, and time to community needs 

assessment, systems planning, and program 

development. Identifying what families need, 

what services are available, and whether sufficient numbers of adoption-competent providers exist within the community will help 

programs identify gaps and create a seamless 

continuum of appropriate services for adoptive families. 
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Flexibility is critical.

The service delivery system proposed in 

grant applications may not address the needs 

and interests identified by adoptive families 

and professionals once the project is underway. Projects sometimes need to adjust their 

methods to meet the needs of the target 

population. For example, parents served by 

these projects made it clear that they wanted 

to be able to select the services most useful 

to them, rather than receiving a set “menu” of 

services determined by the grantees. Having 

choices helped parents feel empowered. 

Similarly, support groups that were allowed to 

develop their own unique tone and structure 

were more successful in retaining participants.

Collaboration is essential.

Often the supports and services that adoptive families of children with special needs 

are likely to need are already available in 

their communities. The issue is simply their 

lack of visibility or accessibility. Collaboration 

among the public and private service delivery systems that touch the lives of adoptive 

families—by sharing knowledge, referrals, and 

resources as necessary to “wrap” appropriate 

services around individual families—is essential in order to build a solid network of supports and referrals. Collaboration, however, 

is not without its challenges. One grantee 

approached this issue by having each participating agency determine its own programmatic involvement and make its own decisions within its area of expertise and interest, 

in consultation with the other collaborating 

agencies when needed. This approach worked 

effectively when all parties were clear on the 

goals and objectives of the collaboration and 

on their respective roles and responsibilities 

in achieving those goals and objectives. It is 

important that these be developed, discussed, 

written down, and signed by all prior to implementation of the project.

Conclusion

The post-legal adoption services programs 

for adoptive families of children with special 

needs funded in this grant cluster faced similar 

challenges in engaging families, recruiting and 

retaining staff and volunteers, training community service providers, and finding resources 

to sustain services. In addressing these challenges, grantees felt certain strategies were 

critical. Taking the time to assess the needs 

and interests of the specific target population 

served, and adjusting the services provided to 

address those needs, was found to be essential. Grantees also learned that adoptive families tend not to seek services until they are in 

crisis—establishing a relationship with a postadoption services provider early in the life of 

the adoption may help families know where 

and how to seek help when it is needed. 

Finally, grantees noted that collaboration with 

other community service providers is essential to help adoptive families find and access 

the services they may need. Organizations 

wishing to build or refine post-adoption services in their own communities may find these 

lessons learned helpful in their own efforts to 

assist adoptive families and their children with 

special needs.
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Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/h_postlegal/index.cfm. Appendix A: Project Information State Grantee Information Collaboration Partners Target Populations Primary Goal Arizona Adoption Network, A Community of Resources (ANCOR) Arizona Children’s Association P.O. Box 7277 Tucson, AZ 85725 Marcie Velen (520) 622-7611 ext. 1331 • Representatives of public and private agencies in catchment area served on ANCOR steering committee • People in key positions within key organizations agreed to collaborate, consult, and disseminate information • Post-legal adoptive families whose children have special needs • Service providers for adoption training To increase the availability of comprehensive, stability enhancing post-adoption services for adoptive families with special needs children by building on existing resources California Post Legal Adoption Services Targeting Single Mothers of Children with Special Needs Institute for Black Parenting 1299 East Artesia Boulevard Carson, CA 90746 Cynthia Willard (310) 900-0939 ext. 212 • Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services • Room for One More and Black Linkage for Adoptive children (BLAC), adoptive parent organizations that target African American adoptive families • Adoptive families, primarily single mothers, and their adopted children ages 6 and older • Service providers for adoption training To increase and sustain the adoption of African American children California Post-Legal Adoption Support Program, 

Family and Friends Adoptive Network (FFAN)San Diego Youth and Community Services3255 Wing StreetSan Diego, CA 92110Ilene Tibbits(619) 221-8610 ext. 240

• MOSAIC: providers and people within 

the African American community

• Heartbeat Family Partners: parents and 

professionals who advocate for families of children with special needs

• Special Kids in Families Forever (SKIFF): 

community members working to recruit African American adoptive parents

• University of San Diego Patient Advocacy: 

attorneys and child advocates who provide support, information, and school advocacy for parents of children with special needs

• San Diego Unified School District 

Ombudsman: provides information to parents on the educational rights of children

• Multiple additional agencies and 

community-based organizations

Adoptive parents of children with special needs, ages 0 to 12, including older children, children of color, and children with physical, mental health, and/or emotional issues

To create a formal system of post-legal adoption services designed to support and strengthen the family
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State Grantee Information Collaboration Partners Target Populations Primary Goal

California Adoptive Family Therapeutic and 

Educational Resources (AFTER)The Kinship Center115 East Gish Road, Suite 246San Jose, CAGraham Wright(408) 573-8222

• Four county departments of social 

services

• Future Families, Inc. and Kinship Center: 

special needs adoption agencies

• Child Advocates: a court-appointed 

advocacy group

• FAIR: a parent-led adoptive family 

support group

• Adoptive families 

and their children with special needs

• Service providers for 

adoption training

• To strengthen 

and preserve adoptive families of children with special needs and/or developmental disabilities

• To assist foster 

families with children with special needs to make the transition to adoption

California Partnership for Strengthening Identity

Pact, An Adoption Alliance3220 Blume Drive, Suite 289Richmond, CA 94806Beth Hall & Gail Steinberg(510) 243-9460

• Adoptive Families of America• Perspectives Press• Multicultural Literature Program, San 

Francisco University

• Local PBS station• Women’s Media Alliance

Adopted children of color and their families nationwide

To help adoptive families and parent groups to strengthen the identity of transracially adopted children

Connecticut The Post-Legal Adoption Services Program

Department of Children and Families505 Hudson StreetHartford, CT 06106Dereth McGann(860) 550-6350

• Department of Children and Families• Connecticut Association of Foster and 

Adoptive Parents

• Casey Family Services

• Pre- and post-legal 

adoptive parents and their children with special needs

• Service providers for 

adoption training

To increase permanency for Connecticut’s children by providing intensive support services to families who have adopted children with special needs or families in the process of adopting children with special needs

Connecticut Post-legal Adoption Services Together 

(PAST)The Village for Families and Children, Inc.Adoption Services43 Woodland StreetSuite 140Hartford, CT 06105Janet L. Jackson(860) 297-0581

A number of statewide collaborations were established, especially with the Statewide Collaboration for Adoption and Foster Care Awareness, a group of agencies and organizations focusing on the issues of adoption and foster care.

• Pre- and post-legal 

adoptive families and their children

• Service providers for 

adoption training

• To support adoptive 

families and encourage a lifelong relationship with the agency of adoption

• To raise awareness, 

develop skills, and increase expertise among professionals who serve adoptive families
Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families www.childwelfare.gov

12 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare 

Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/h_postlegal/index.cfm. State Grantee Information Collaboration Partners Target Populations Primary Goal Massachusetts Pathways to Adoption Catholic Charities 439 So. Union Street Heritage Place Lawrence, MA 01843 Susan Parker Norton (978) 685-5930 ext. 229 • Adoptive Families Together (AFT): parent- led organization of support groups • Adoption Crossroads: Catholic Charities- subcontracted statewide post-adoption program • Grandparents as Parents (GAP): a Catholic Charities-sponsored program for kinship caregivers • Early Intervention • Head Start • Private contractors who led parent groups • Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s Kidsnet Program • Adoption Crossroads: a post-adoption program • Pre- and post-legal adoptive families and their children • Service providers for adoption training To provide prevention services to help reduce family stress and therefore reduce disruptions of adoptive placements, ultimately resulting in increased permanency for children Michigan Adoption Opportunities Grant Ennis Center for Children, Inc. 2051 Rosa Park Boulevard Detroit, MI 48216 Gary Wend (313) 963-7400 • Public child-serving agencies • Foster/Adoptive Parent Association • Relative adoptive parents • Foster/adoptive parents and their children To provide foster and relative adoptive parents with skills needed to access community services, help them gain self- confidence through support groups, and provide direct services with the goal of maintaining family stability 

New York Forever Families/Familias Para Siempre 

ProgramNew York Council on Adoptable Children (COAC)589 8th Avenue, 15th FloorNew York, NY 10018Barbara Rincon(212) 714-2788

• NYC Administration for Children’s 

Services adoption department and subsidy unit

• Existing adoptive parent support groups • Other child-serving agencies

Families who have adopted children with special needs from the NYC foster care system

To prevent adoption dissolution by providing a nonthreatening and caring environment where adoptive families of children with special needs can access support services, develop relationships within the group setting, and enhance their parenting skills
Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families

13 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare 

Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/h_postlegal/index.cfm.

www.childwelfare.gov

State Grantee Information Collaboration Partners Target Populations Primary Goal

New York Post Legal Adoption Network (PLAN)

New Alternatives for Children, Inc.37 West 26th StreetNew York, N.Y. 10010Arlene Goldsmith(212) 696-1550

• Post Adoption Support subcommittee of 

the Adoption Action Network

• Adoption Clearance Committee• NYC Council on Adoptable Children• Foster and Adoptive Parent Organization• Citizens’ Coalition for Children• New Alternatives for Children, Inc. (other 

programs within the organization)

• Adoptive families of 

children with special needs

• Foster parents 

seeking to adopt a child with special needs

To support adoption permanency with a continuum of services that not only help avoid disruption, but also improve the lives of families that have made the commitment to adopt children with challenging medical conditions

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Adoption Connection (PAC)

Family Service630 Janet AvenueLancaster, PA 17601Jean M. Landis(717) 397-5241

• York County Children and Youth Services• Lancaster County Children and Youth 

Services

• Family Service (private agency)• COBYS Family Service• Bethany Christian Services• Tressler Lutheran Services• Lancaster County Mental Health/Mental 

Retardation

• Lancaster County Child and Adolescent 

Service System Program

• Adoptive parents

Families who have adopted children with special needs from the State’s foster care system

To provide post-legal support services to families who have adopted children with special needs

Pennsylvania Beyond Adoption: Creating a Community 

of SupportAdoption Center of Delaware Valley100 Walnut Street, Suite 701Philadelphia, PA 19102MariAnne Clarke(215) 735-9410

The Delaware Valley Adoption Council, a local organization comprised of more than 40 adoption agencies

Adoptive families of children with special needs

To strengthen and preserve families who have adopted children with special needs in the Delaware Valley
Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families www.childwelfare.gov

14 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare 

Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/h_postlegal/index.cfm. State Grantee Information Collaboration Partners Target Populations Primary Goal Vermont Post-Legal Adoption Services to Strengthen and Preserve Adoptive Families Dept. of Social and Rehabilitation Services 103 S. Main Street Waterbury, VT 05671 Diane Dexter (802) 241-2142 • Department of SRS (public child welfare agency) • Casey Family Services • Children’s Aid Society • Futures/Northeast Kingdom Mental Health • Adoption Advocates, Inc. • Easter Seals Teaching Family Center • Foster/Adoptive Family Association • Adoptive Parent Support Network • Family Life Services • Lund Family Center • Parent to Parent • All adoptive families, regardless of income or method of adoption • Children in State custody who are legally available for adoption and their foster parents • Families who have adopted transracially • Service providers for adoption training To respond to needs for preventive, therapeutic, and educational services in order to improve the quality of life for adoptive families, thereby preventing the unnecessary separation of adopted children from their parents Washington Strengthening Special Needs and Interracial Foster-Adoptive Families: A Service Delivery Program Design for the Lifelong Journey of Adoption Catholic Family and Child Service 5301 Tieton Drive, Suite C Yakima, WA 98908 Debi Axford (509) 965-7100 • Division of Children and Family Services • Casey Family Programs • Eastern Washington University • Catholic Charities • Pre- and post-legal adoptive families and kinship families in the catchment area • Adoptive families parenting a child with an ethnic heritage not shared by the adoptive family • Service providers for adoption training To ensure that adoptive families and kinship families have the foundation they need to thrive throughout the lifelong journey of adoption
Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families

15 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare 

Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/h_postlegal/index.cfm.

www.childwelfare.gov

Appendix B: Services Provided—by Grantee Advocacy Assessment Case Management Counseling/Therapy

Crisis Intervention/Family PreservationInformation and ReferralMentoring Programs Mini-grantsOutreachRecreational/Social ActivitiesRespite or Respite ReferralSupport and Educational Groups (Child)Support and Educational Groups (Parent)Training for Service Providers

Adoption Network, A Community of Resources 

(ANCOR)—Arizona • • • • • • •

Post-Legal Adoption Services: Targeting Single 

Mothers—California • • • • • • • • • • • •

Family & Friends Adoptive Network (FFAN)—California • • • • • • • • • •

Adoptive Family Therapeutic & Educational Services 

(AFTER)—California • • • • • • • •

Partnership for Strengthening Identity—California • • • • • •

The Post-Legal Adoption Services Program—Connecticut • • • • • • • • • • • •

Post-Legal Adoption Services Together (PAST)—Connecticut • • • • • • • • •

Pathways to Adoption—Massachusetts • • • • • •

Adoption Opportunities Grant—Michigan • • • • • • • • •

Forever Families Program—New York • • • • • • • •

Post-Legal Adoption Network (PLAN)—New York • • • • • • • • • • •

Pennsylvania Adoption Connection (PAC)—Pennsylvania • • • • • • • • • • •

Beyond Adoption: Creating A Community of 

Support—Pennsylvania • • • • •

Post Legal Adoption Services—Vermont • • • • • • • • •

Strengthening Special Needs and Interracial 

Families—Washington • • • • •