The Oregon Impact Story
At-a-Glance
Developed a centralized intake and triage process to identify adoptive and guardianship families’ levels of need and guide connections to appropriate services
Implemented a pre-finalization training, Light Up the Journey, which provides families with vital information on available services and supports.
Implemented a tiered response approach based on families’ levels of need that connects them to the appropriate level of support.
Strengthened Oregon’s ability to evaluate and continuously improve post-permanency services.
The Impact
Technical assistance helped the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) and its statewide partners move from a collection of valuable but largely independent post-permanency services to a more connected, family-centered continuum of support. While ORPARC already served as a resource and entry point for adoptive and guardianship families, the partnership expanded its role across the permanency continuum by strengthening intake and triage based on families’ levels of need and establishing ORPARC as the provider for the newly implemented pre-permanency training, Light Up the Journey. This training connects families to support before permanency is finalized.
The work strengthened collaboration across Oregon’s post-permanency system and created greater continuity for families as they move between services. Lived experience informed the work throughout, helping ensure that the evolving system reflected the needs and experiences of adoptive and guardianship families. Practical tools and implementation support developed through the partnership included:
As a Result of Technical Assistance
Established a centralized pathway that keeps adoptive and guardianship families connected to support
ORPARC serves as the central hub, with consistent intake and navigation processes, warm hand-offs across partners, and follow-up that maintains families’ connection to support as their needs change.
Integrated pre- and post-permanency supports into a single continuum of care
Families are now introduced to ORPARC before permanency through Light Up the Journey training, strengthening preparation and earlier engagement.
Implemented a tiered response approach based on families’ levels of need
Standardized intake and assessment processes help identify the level of support families need and guide referrals to appropriate services, while shared communication processes promote continuity across providers.
Strengthened adoption- and guardianship-competent clinical support for families
Crisis intervention assessments and practices were enhanced to better recognize permanency-related needs, while improvements to Oregon’s therapist directory will help families identify clinicians with adoption-competency training.
Strengthened Oregon’s ability to evaluate and continuously improve post-permanency services
Enhanced data collection and outcome tracking now provides information to monitor family needs, measure service outcomes, and support continuous quality improvement and future decision-making.
Prepared Oregon to make informed decisions about future statewide expansion
Technical assistance provided the planning, cost estimates, and implementation strategies needed to support leadership discussions, funding advocacy, and long-term growth of post-permanency services.
Sustained family voice beyond technical assistance
Individuals with lived experience helped shape the work done through the technical assistance and ODHS secured ongoing support for its Lived Experience Group so those perspectives continue informing system improvement.
Why This Work Mattered
Oregon had valuable post-permanency services and established pathways for adoptive and guardianship families to access support. However, there was not a consistent statewide process for identifying families’ levels of need, connecting them to the appropriate level of support, or ensuring continuity across services.
The process was tweaked so that families could be connected to supports earlier. The use of data was strengthened so that a better understanding of family needs could be captured along with outcomes. Ultimately this will help to inform ongoing program improvement.
The technical assistance partnership focused on helping Oregon build on and strengthen its existing post-permanency services to create a more connected, sustainable system of support with the capacity for statewide expansion. Oregon’s goals for technical assistance were to:
- 1Strengthen coordination and connections across post-permanency services to create a more seamless experience for adoptive and guardianship families.
- 2
Strengthen preparation and support for families before permanency and create earlier connections to post-permanency resources.
- 3
Enhance adoption- and guardianship-competent crisis intervention and clinical supports for families with higher levels of need.
- 4Identify opportunities and strategies to expand post-permanency services statewide.
- 5Strengthen the infrastructure needed to support continuous quality improvement and long-term sustainability.
Looking Ahead
Oregon will continue statewide expansion to a more connected, family-informed continuum of post-permanency support by:
- Expanding crisis intervention services as funding becomes available
- Using data to guide program improvement and inform funding decisions for future expansion of post-permanency services
- Making the pre-permanency training, Light Up the Journey, a required pre-permanency training
- Maintaining the adoption-competent therapist directory
- Continuing the Lived Experience Group to ensure families continue to inform the system as it grows.
