Florida
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Pre-Service Training

The State of Florida has a privatized system of service delivery. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) contracts with 16 Community-Based Care (CBC) agencies that provide a continuum of child welfare services, including all foster care and adoption services, either directly or by subcontract.  

Each CBC is required to deliver a pre-service training to foster and adoptive parents that is approved by DCF. The CBCs can use any pre-service training that meets the requirement in state statute, with the most commonly used curricula being the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP), Parent Resource for Information, Development, and Education (PRIDE), and the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) for Foster and Adoptive Parents.  

There is no additional training required for foster parents transitioning to adoption or guardianship. 

Relative caregivers may complete the two-hour Caring for Children: Module 1 – 5 Training online. While relative caregivers have access to any of the approved trainings for caregivers, the Caring for Children training provides caregivers with a condensed overview of Florida’s child welfare system.  

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

The state contracts with 16 Community Based Care (CBC) agencies across Florida to deliver child welfare services. State law requires each CBC to have at least one post-adoption specialist and to provide adoptive families with information and referral, temporary case management, support groups, and support for subsidy questions or concerns. Support for guardians is not outlined in law and varies by CBC. Some CBCs provide services directly, while others contract out their post-permanency services.

Services for adoptive families generally include the following at every CBC:

CBCs provide a variety of services to support the child’s transition to permanency, including child and parent preparation and other activities leading to the legal finalization of the adoption or guardianship. 

The post-adoption counselor or other staff member explores families’ needs and helps them access available community-based services, including medical, mental health, behavioral, and therapeutic supports.

CBCs or contracted partners offer temporary case management to support families while they work on connecting them to ongoing community-based services and supports.  

Each CBC must provide at least one monthly adoptive parent support group and a newsletter.

Some CBCs provide additional services directly or contract with private agencies to offer more comprehensive programs. Services may include: 

Some CBCs offer an assessment of the child’s or family’s needs and strengths as part of their service array.

Several CBCs provide crisis intervention services, such as having mobile response teams or staff who can support families in crisis.

At least one CBC has staff available to support families 24/7 during a crisis.

At least two CBCs offer therapy or counseling services for the child or family. 

Several CBCs offer in-home services, including crisis intervention, behavioral analysis, or parenting support.

A number of CBCs offer advocacy services, including helping families advocate for their children’s educational needs.

Some communities have access to events that offer respite care to parents and activities for children and youth.

DCF also contracts with Daniel Kids to operate Florida’s Adoption Information Center, which offers the following post-permanency services: 

The Center offers a website with links to information for adoptive families and others touched by adoption. Staff are also available to answer questions and make referrals.  

The Center hosts adoption competency training and shares information about the available training with mental health practitioners statewide. 

The Center helps adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth family members connect with one another through the Florida reunion registry.

Florida also directly provides the following services for adoptive families:  

The state hosts an annual post-adoption training every spring for staff on how to better support families, with sessions on trauma, subsidy, loss, behaviors, and mental health needs. They also offer a virtual adoptive parent training once a year, inviting national speakers to train adoptive parents and those pursuing adoption. Topics including those listed for professionals plus additional sessions on siblings, birth family connections, kinship adoptions, and more.

Some adoptive families are able to receive medical assistance, formerly known as medical subsidy, to cover thae child’s short-term medical or mental health needs that are not covered through Medicaid, Children’s Medical Services, or Children’s Mental Health Services. The type of service and estimated cost must be documented on the signed initial adoption assistance agreement prior to adoption finalization even if the services are not needed until later. 

State employees, school district employees, employees of the State University or Community College, charter school employees, active military service members and veterans, tax collectors, law enforcement, some health care practitioners licensed by the Department of Health who live in Florida can receive a one-time benefit of up to $25,000 per child adopted from Florida foster care. 

Many children receiving adoption or guardianship assistance benefits receive Medicaid services through Sunshine Health. For families who are eligible and choose Sunshine Health as their provider, Sunshine Health offers the following support services: 

Adoption advocates coordinate physical and behavioral healthcare, connecting families to resources such as counseling and support groups.  

Trainings are provided on a variety of topics including trauma-informed care, attachment, and child development.

The Sunshine Health Community Resource Database connects members and caregivers with local supports and community programs that may provide assistance with food, shelter, healthcare, education, and employment. 

For more information, visit: 

Additional information about the services each CBC offers may be available on the CBC’s website. See Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s) below for a link to each CBC’s website. 

Geographic Area Covered

State law requires each CBC to provide basic post-adoption services, either directly or through subcontract. These core services are available statewide. As noted above, however, some CBCs choose to provide additional services so there are some areas of the state with more robust post-adoption services.  

DCF is working to develop a directory of vetted, adoption-competent services throughout the state and encouraging CBCs to expand their referral options and to offer virtual services to expand access in rural areas.  

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

  • Only families receiving guardianship assistance

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

It is not required by law, but DCF encourages CBCs to serve all types of adoptive families and the CBCs are doing so. Services for guardianship families vary by CBC. 

Sunshine Health’s services are available only to families whose children are receiving Medicaid as part of their adoption or guardianship assistance agreement and who have chosen Sunshine Health as their managed care provider.  

Florida’s Adoption Information Center also serves pregnant people, adoptees, prospective parents, birth family members, and professionals.  

Accessibility

The state provides support (such as interpretation services) to the CBCs to ensure they can serve families who speak languages other than English.  

Outreach and Engagement

CBCs are required to contact families by phone or email one year after finalization to increase post-adoption support provided to adoptive families. The CBC files an annual report of whether the contact generated service requests, services offered, and services provided. 

Most CBCs do additional periodic outreach, with each CBC having its own process and timelines for reaching out to families. 

DCF conducts an annual survey of adoptive families, attorneys, guardians ad litem, pre-adoptive families, judges, and youth going through adoption process to gain insight about their experience, including what went well, and what areas need improving. As part of the survey outreach, DCF informs families about Florida’s Adoption Information Center and asks if they know how to reach out for help. 

The state also sends a survey to families who have requested post-adoption services to ask if they know how to reach how for help. 

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)

Post-permanency services are delivered by the CBC directly or by a CBC-subcontracted agency approved by DCF. Each CBC serves a specific geographical region as outlined below. In many cases, additional information on the CBC’s post-permanency program is available at the agency’s website.  

The nonprofits below also provide post-permanency services under contracts with their local CBCs:  

Florida’s Adoption Information Center is operated through a contract with Daniel Kids. 

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

As part of the state’s annual Title IV-E federal monitoring review, the state reviews a sampling of adoption and guardianship assistance cases and checks with families to determine if their circumstances have changed.  

After the initial agreement is approved, adoptive parents and guardians may request to renegotiate their child’s assistance rate due to increased needs related to a condition of the child that was identified as a current or future need prior to the adoptive placement or the circumstances of the family have changed in order to meet the child’s increased needs. 

The CBC where the family resides is responsible for managing adoption and guardianship subsidy. 

 

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

DCF tracks dissolutions of public agency adoptions and produces an annual report for the prior year. Staff review the reports to analyze the data by age, time since adoption, and reasons for dissolutions, and ask the CBCs to provide additional information about each case. 

DCF also track disruptions that did not lead to an adoption finalization in the same report, with data provide for the current year. 

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

Information not available.

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

Funding sources include (but are not limited to):  

  • Title IV-E waiver 
  • Adoption savings 
  • State funds 

 

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