Adapted from Foster Parent Adoption: What Professionals Should Know (1991) by Debra Smith, posted by the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse at http://naic.acf.hhs.gov.

To increase the number of foster parents who adopt children, agencies should consider the following placement programs and policies:

Financial matters
Do adoption subsidies sustain families, or will they be worse off financially if they adopt rather than continue as long-term foster parents? A family that relies on foster care payments and Medicaid coverage to meet a child's needs is not likely to give that up simply to finalize an adoption.

Post-adoption services
Are post-adoption services available? Perhaps a family worries that all the support the foster care worker provides will disappear if they choose to adopt. Reassurance--in the form of a contract for services--can put these fears to rest. Are other foster parent adopters, adoptive parent support groups, or therapists with expertise in adoption available? Provide their addresses and telephone numbers--concrete support is indispensable.

Home Study
Is the adoption home study significantly different from foster care licensing? Is the home study time-consuming or intimidating? Agencies whose home study formats are the same for both foster care and adoption achieve a larger percentage of foster parent adoptions. The home study process must recognize and acknowledge the foster family's experience with the child. It should help them prepare for the future, acknowledging the child's place in it.

Initial Contact Person
Who asks the foster family if they want to adopt? To get more foster parents to adopt, the person who asks the family should be the worker who knows the family best and with whom the family feels the highest level of trust. For example, the long-term foster care worker, rather than a newly assigned adoption worker, should talk to the family.

Collaboration and Coordination
Do the foster care and adoption staff collaborate? They must be on the same wavelength and work together to achieve permanence for children. Each should know the foster care and adoption issues that are similar and different. Some agencies have a single worker take responsibility for a case from entry into care until permanent placement--the child's status may change from foster care to adoption, but the worker stays the same. This provides enormous stability for both the child and the family.

Staff Involvement and Continued Contact
Do staff members stay actively involved in their cases and encourage substantial contact between foster families and birth families? Foster families that decide to adopt generally know more about a child's background from the beginning than foster families who choose not to. Families that adopt also have more contact with the agency and greater caseworker involvement. These families feel comfortable talking with their worker about difficult issues and trust that the worker has fully disclosed pertinent information about the child's history.

Matching
Is significant effort put into matching foster children with the right parents at the initial placement? Foster parents adopt when they have a strong attachment to the child. They are more likely to develop an attachment to a child who is similar to them and whose needs they can meet. Parents' preferences about the type of child that best suits them are important if a foster care placement may result in adoption.

Pre-Placement Visits
Do staff invest the time and energy to facilitate pre-placement visits between children and potential foster families? Older children are more likely to be adopted by their foster parents if visits have occurred. The extra preparation increases the development of a positive attachment, and can have long-lasting positive effects for all concerned.

Foster Family Empowerment
When determining whether a change from foster parenting to adoption is desirable, are foster families empowered to examine their strengths and needs as well as those of the child, agency, and community? Are they given training or structured assistance to help them decide? Do workers discuss the grieving process, issues of separation and attachment, and the idea of creating a special ceremony for the child to mark the change from foster care to adoption? Do foster families understand that they will have to incorporate the child's birth family experiences--and possibly former foster care experiences--into their life? Are they prepared to honor the child's heritage and positive memories, and, if appropriate, even maintain some contact with previous significant people?

Child Preparation
Are the children adequately prepared for adoption? Do the caseworkers make lifebooks with them? Do the children truly understand the difference between foster care and adoption?

Credits: Child Welfare Information Gateway (http://www.childwelfare.gov)