New York
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Training

Pre-service training is required for all prospective foster and adoptive parents. Until the end of 2024, the training mandate for foster parents outside New York City is to complete the 30-hour Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting/Group Preparation and Selection (MAPP). Within New York City, the mandated training is Trauma-Responsive Informed Parenting Program (TRIPP), an eight-session, 24-hour training that presents a comprehensive overview and foundation of the information and skills needed to nurture a child with complex emotional and behavioral needs. MAPP training includes different tracks for kinship foster parents (Caring for Our Own) and adoptive parents (Deciding Together).    

Beginning January 1, 2025, the National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents (NTDC) is replacing MAPP training products for certifying and approving foster and adoptive applicants. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) has developed a New York State (NYS)-specific model using the NTDC curriculum consistent with NYS foster and adoptive training requirements. There are 10 modules for foster/adoptive parents and four modules for kinship foster parents. There is one local department of social services (LDSS)—New York City Administration for Children Services—that has received OCFS approval to provide a combination of the NYS-specific NTDC together with TRIPP.  With the exception of New York City, the NYS-specific model of NTDC will replace MAPP and its associated curriculum. The NTDC is a comprehensive training that includes intensive preparation and development components that reflect the capacities required of foster and adoptive parents. Additionally, there are two training paths in the NYS NTDC model, one for foster and adoptive applicants and one for relative/kin foster applicants. 

 

Services Offered Through the State’s Post-Permanency Support Program

OCFS contracts with agencies across the state to provide post-permanency services for adoptive, guardianship, and kinship families through 21 Permanency Resource Centers (PRC).  Additionally, New York City has a post-adoption service program for families who meet Temporary Assistance to Needy Families eligibility (TANF Post-Adoption Program).   

Post-permanency programs work to strengthen and stabilize families. Since March 2024, PRCs have included kinship families as part of the target population served statewide.   

Services include:

All post-permanency programs complete assessments—which include the completion of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) tool—to determine service needs and resources.  

Post-permanency programs deliver ongoing services to support families, building on the family’s strengths. Supports may include service coordination with education, mental health, judicial, medical, or residential treatment systems. While the family is receiving services, case managers meet with families monthly, in their home, unless the family prefers another location. 

All post-permanency programs are required to provide crisis intervention. Crisis intervention is when experienced, professional social workers engage with the family to provide immediate support to help defuse stressful situations and to develop longer-range problem-solving techniques.

Every post-permanency program offers at least one support group for parents and one for children. Groups must be accessible to families in each county, or each borough of New York City, served by the program. Children’s support groups are offered to all children residing in the home. All activities are in person and the content is determined based on needs and interests of the participants.

All post-permanency programs offer advocacy services and most include educational advocacy to ensure the child is in an appropriate educational setting and educational needs are met. Advocacy services do not include attending meetings at schools.

Each post-permanency program offers activities for children that provide parents with respite. The length of time may vary but must be a minimum of one hour. Respite may include activities such as bowling, movies, outdoor recreation, or library time. 

All post-permanency programs provide information and referral services. Some PCRs are able to meet families’ service needs internally, while others refer to community-based services.

Each post-permanency program offers in–person training and educational sessions for parents and caregivers. Training topics vary by agency. PRCs determine the training content based on needs and interests of the participants. 

Each post-permanency program offers family engagement activities that are accessible in each county, or each borough of New York City.  Events are designed to engage and connect adoptive and guardianship families.

All post-permanency programs must conduct and document a follow-up interaction with the post-adoptive, post-guardianship, or kinship family at both 6 months and 12 months following case closure. This is to ensure the child (or children) has been safely maintained in the home or has returned to their parent(s)/caregiver(s). The documentation gathered must be submitted to OCFS for data collection and analysis. 

Permanency Resource Center agency and contact information is available at https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/adoption/post-adoption/.  

In 2023, PRCs served 755 post-adoption families and 183 post-guardianship families for a total of 938 unique families.  

The TANF Post-Adoption Program agency and contact information is available at https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/adoption/post-adoption/#tanf. 

In 2023, the TANF Post-Adoption Program served 26 families.    

Geographic Area Covered

Services are provided statewide through PRCs. Services are also provided in all five boroughs in New York City through the TANF Post-Adoption Program. 

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

  • All families who adopted from the state’s foster care system

  • All families who adopted from foster care in other states, territories, or tribes. 

  • All families who adopted through intercountry adoption

  • All families who adopted through private adoption

  • All families who have guardianship of a child from foster care. 

  • All families who have guardianship of child not through foster care. 

  • Kinship families who are not adoptive/guardianship parents. 

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

Families served through PRCs must be part of the eligible population outlined above to be served. 

Families served through the TANF Post-Adoption Program must be adoptive families and at least one child who has been adopted meets TANF eligibility requirements. The program serves all types of adoptive families, including those who adopted privately and from other countries.

Accessibility

As part of the funding eligibility requirements, all programs must submit proof of programming that supports the needs of the communities they are serving. This includes staffing patterns that represent and are supportive of the community served, diversity training, and programming. Decisions about offering services in languages other than English or services specific to diverse populations are made at the local level.  

Outreach and Engagement

OCFS publishes post-permanency information on the OCFS website. Outreach and engagement occur at the local level and are based on the needs of the community and population served. 

Post-permanency programs funded through NYS set target goals and provide ongoing quarterly reports measuring the success of meeting those service goals. Reports include the number of contacts made with the families, engagement activities provided, and the permanency status when services are ended. 

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies that offer mostly the same set of services, each operating in a different region

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

The agencies that operate the Permanency Resource Centers can be found at https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/adoption/post-adoption/. Each PRC has a designated service area and must serve at least four counties or New York City boroughs. As a result, some counties are served by more than one PRC. As outlined above, programs determine the need for various services at the local level. 

The TANF Post-Adoption program is supported through The New York Council on Adoption Children and serves all five boroughs in New York City.   

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

In New York State, adoption and guardianship assistance recipients are required to certify on an annual basis that support of the child continues to occur.    

The OCFS Bureau of Permanency Services (BPS) is the final approval authority on initial adoption assistance applications and post-adoption finalization applications for modifications of adoption assistance. However, the LDSS where the family resides is responsible for the initial review and approval or denial of all new applications and post-adoption finalization applications for modifications of adoption assistance. If approved by the LDSS, OCFS will then review and confirm or deny the application.  For those children who were directly surrendered to a voluntary authorized agency and are not in the care and custody of the LDSS, OCFS is the sole reviewer and approver of those adoption assistance applications. The LDSS is the sole reviewer and approver of all guardianship assistance initial and post-guardianship applications.  

An adoptive or guardianship family may request a post-finalization modification of the assistance agreement if there is a worsening of a condition known to the parents at the time of the adoption or guardianship or if there is development of a handicapped condition not identified in the original agreement and current documentation supports the higher rate. The request for modification must be in writing and medical documentation is required to verify the change in the child’s medical condition that warrants adoption assistance payment at a higher rate.  

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

NYS tracks re-entry into foster care within CONNECTIONS, NYS’s child welfare system of record. Consistent with the AFCARS data requirements, CONNECTIONS includes a selection denoting if a child entering care has been previously adopted or had a previous legal guardianship. The system offers choices for type of adoptions that include domestic agency, domestic private, foster care, international, and stepparent adoptions.  

For families who receive services through a post-permanency program, family stability is tracked when services are ended and six months after services have ended. 

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

  • more than $9 million

Funding Sources for the Post-Permanency Program (FY 2023)

Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report)  

 

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