Connecticut
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Pre-Service Training

Starting in October 2024, the state began using the National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents (NTDC) curriculum, consisting of 10 three-hour sessions. Relatives/kin currently receive a condensed training. 

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

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) contracts with UConn Health and with the Connecticut Alliance for Foster and Adoptive Families (CAFAF) to provide post-permanency services.  

The UConn Health Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) is designed to support families who have adopted children from DCF’s legal custody and those who took guardianship through DCF’s subsidized guardianship program. On a limited basis, the AAP Director may waive eligibility criteria so that additional families may be served.

Services include:

Social work staff offer consultation to pre-adoptive families to answer questions and introduce post-adopt/post transfer of guardianship support services. 

Parents who present to the program receive a response within 24 business hours. The initial assessment is by phone. In some cases, parents may be invited to meet in a program office or a home visit may be scheduled. Recommended next steps are decided in collaboration with parents and may include continued direct support and case management with AAP or referral to outside resources.

Staff are available to answer questions, provide consultation, or assist callers with identification of adoption-competent resources in the community. The program maintains a web site with information and resources, upcoming events and training opportunities, and a lending library for parents and professionals. 

Most staff are licensed clinicians and provide psychoeducation as a routine component of their work with parents. All AAP staff have completed the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program and have successfully completed the examination to earn the TAC badge. 

AAP provides case management support both internally and through contracts with outside child-placing agencies. Services include collaboration with outside providers, DCF, and schools and can occur in any setting. While intended to be brief, there is no time limit for this support. 

AAP manages the post-finalization component of DCF’s PPSP array of support. This component of the program is available to children who were in the custody of DCF and placed into adoptive homes. It provides 132 hours of support and may include such things as lifebook work, parenting support, and collaboration with other community providers. PPSP services most often occur in the home. Services are contracted through licensed child-placing agencies. 

A monthly parent support group is co-facilitated by an AAP social worker and/or a case manager. Virtual teen groups are offered periodically and use tools from the Beneath the Mask workbook curriculum. They are closed groups and include a parent introductory session followed by 10 sessions. The groups may be facilitated by AAP staff or case managers. 

AAP provides six trainings annually for the clinical community and parents on topics relevant to adoptive/guardianship parenting and the needs of children placed outside the homes of biological parents. Continuing education credits are included for licensed participants. Trainings are offered at no cost to participants. 

The AAP also partners with the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) to offer the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) course annually.  

In fiscal year 2023, 532 calls were made to the AAP program for information, referral, or direct support. Of these, 212 cases were opened for direct services. 

CAFAF offers the following support services for DCF adoptive, guardianship, and foster families:  

CAFAF can provide any of the services below to families before finalization, including addressing specific barriers that are delaying or might prevent finalization.

Regional liaisons are available to help families with any questions or problems they may have regarding foster, adoptive, guardianship or kinship caregiver issues. All the liaisons are foster/adoptive parents.

CAFAF’s helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The regional liaisons respond to calls and provide information, help clarify an issue, lend a sympathetic ear, and make referrals to needed services. 

CAFAF offers two statewide in-person support groups—one for adoptive families, another for kinship caregivers—along with other in-person and virtual groups that mostly serve foster parents. All groups are led by experienced parents.

The CAFAF buddy system pairs families with experienced foster or adoptive parents for at least six months. Families can access the buddy program as soon as a child is placed in the home but can request the service later in the placement too. At a family’s request, they can be paired with a buddy who has specific expertise, such as with parenting teens or parenting a child with a specific diagnosis. 

CAFAF offers an annual conference and various training modules, including on crisis intervention. These sessions are open to adoptive and guardianship families, as well as members of the public.

CAFAF will provide adoptive families with an attorney if DCF or the birth parents have requested open adoption. If the family chooses to participate, the attorney will try to negotiate a post-adoption contact agreement and often the birth parents will voluntarily relinquish their parental rights. 

For more information, visit: 

  • UConn’s AAP — https://health.uconn.edu/adoption-assistance/ 
  • CAFAF — https://cafafct.org/ 

Geographic Area Covered

All services are available statewide. The AAP home office is located on the UConn Health campus in Farmington. Four community case manager positions are contracted through licensed child-placing agencies and cover four major regions of the state.  

CAFAF has regional liaisons across the state.  

The PPSP is administered through child-placing agencies across the state. 

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

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

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

  • Only families receiving guardianship assistance

  • Other (listed below) 

    • Foster and kinship families for CAFAF 

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

CAFAF services are available to DCF adoptive, foster, guardianship, and kinship families. 

The AAP program is available to families who have adopted from the foster care system; however, the director may be able to waive eligibility criteria to serve other families.  

Permanency Placement Services Program services are available to families who adopted through DCF. 

Outreach and Engagement

Permanency staff directly share information regarding post-permanency services before finalization, and a monthly information session introducing the program’s services is held virtually and is open to all.   

Each month, DCF shares with CAFAF a list of foster, adoptive, and guardianship families. CAFAF shares information about available services. In addition, CAFAF staff attend pre-service training graduation to share information about support services. They also share information with new workers who are completing pre-service at the DCF training academy.  

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies offering different services

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

The UConn Health operates the Adoption Assistance Program.   

PPSP services are managed by UConn Health, with services offered by 16 child-placing agencies around the state.  

CAFAF offers peer support and advocacy, training, information and referral, support groups, 24-hour telephone support, and legal support for open adoptions. 

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

The state reviews each family’s adoption subsidy agreement every two years. Adoptive parent(s) must submit a sworn statement indicating that the condition that caused the child to be certified as special needs continues to exist and that the parent continues to be responsible for the support of the child. 

Guardianship subsidy agreements are reviewed annually. The guardian(s) must submit a sworn statement to the Department that the child is still living with the guardian and receiving financial support from the guardian.  

Requests for modification must be made in writing and must include documentation of need, cost, and medical necessity. When an increase is due to a change in the needs of the child, that need must be tied to a condition that existed or was dormant prior to finalization. Families request a change to their assistance by consultation with the Adoption Assistance Program, who will conduct a clinical assessment of needs and services.  

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

Discontinuity is currently tracked on CFSR/APSR/ROM re-entry reports. 

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

  • $2 million – $4,999,999 million

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

Information not available.

 

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