Resource Library

Discusses the importance of investing in post-permanency services. This article highlights how post-permanency services can help to ensure child well-being and permanency.  It outlines research on the challenges faced by adoptive and guardianship families, how services can improve well-being and stability, how post-permanency programs help support recruitment efforts and how adoption and guardianship stability can save government funds. Introduction to the Resource Watch the video below for an overview of the resource or click on the button to access the article directly.    

Summarizes research that identifies key child, parent, and system factors that increase the likelihood of adoption disruption and dissolution, as well as implications for adoption practice, including a section on pre- and post-adoption support services and another on crisis management.

Provides caseworkers with information and resources about the importance of preparing adoptive parents. Is also relevant for preparing guardians.

Provides a comprehensive guide for caseworkers to help adoptive families prepare for the adoption process. It emphasizes the importance of preparing adoptive families to ensure successful adoptions and improve outcomes for both the child and the parents.

Provides information about key emotions and challenge facing children and youth in adoption and offers tips for preparing them for permanency.

Discusses the challenges children living with nonparental care households in the United States face, emphasizing the need for a more accurate understanding of their well-being. The article can be found on pages 59-76

Discusses how agencies can help to prevent adoption and guardianship disruption and dissolution. Shares strategies to proactively address risk and protective factors that relate to adoptive placement stability.

Presents results of a large survey of adoptive parents and secondary data analysis of federal adoption data. Provides descriptive statistics describing who is adopting and who is being adopted. Includes information on meeting children’s needs after adoption and children’s educational experiences, which can help programs seeking to support adoptive families.

Discusses the importance of openness with a child’s birth family members. This article dispels some of the common misconceptions about open adoption and provides information about post-adoption contact agreements. A link to state specific statutes related to post-adoption contact agreements as well as links to resources related to maintaining family relationships post-adoption are also included.

Provides an overview of five protective factors: building parental resilience, seeking social connections, learning about parent and child development, concrete support in good times and in bad and developing social and emotional competence in kids.