Supporting Adoption Permanency

• Before adoption, Parents’ should learn about…

  • Birth parents’ medical histories

  • Children’s health and medical history (e.g., history of malnourishment, low birth weight, documented disabilities)

  • Children’s pre-adoption living conditions (e.g., whether children were in institutionalized care, such as orphanages, have a history of trauma/abuse)

  • Children’s age at adoption

  • Trans-racial and trans-cultural parenting​​

​

• Is this information collected?

  • The child’s health during the adoption process is most likely to be known. Family medical and child vaccination histories are often lacking, but this varies by children’s native countries.​​

​

​

• Adoption Supports/Services

  • Types of adoption supports

  • Information and referral

  • Education and training

  • Family support

  • Mental health and crisis intervention

  • Supports are not just needed during and immediately after the adoption process - challenges can occur throughout children’s development (e.g., during teenage years).

  • Some resources for parents are available online through sites such as MN ADOPT. Others are sometimes available through local adoption service providers and programs/clinics, but often at a cost.

  • Evidence from the MN ADOPT program, which offers services across the adoption continuum, suggests that parents tend to seek phone/email support on the following issues:

  • Child emotional-behavioral issues

  • Caregiver strain

  • School-related challenges

  • Adoption-specific resources/assistance

​

​