A Child is Waiting… and Waiting… to Be Adopted in Orange County

There are three serious problems in the Orange County adoption system. Orange County does not have a sufficient number of available adoptive While these achievements are parents. Only 102 families were approved by the significant, the challenges Social Services Agency for adoption in the last six ahead are even greater. Since months of 1999. The paucity of adoptive parents 1996 the annual number of for special-needs children is critical in Orange foster children freed for adoption has increased by 130 County. There is a great need for recruitment but percent. This increase is the the funds are very scarce. most accurate predictor of the need for increased adoption Social workers are overworked; caseloads vary activity. As noted in the from 30 to 80. The rate of burnout and turnover summary, 2,490 children were among social workers is alarmingly high, resulting placed in the category of Long- in a workforce that is inexperienced and under- Term Permanent Placement (i.e., children for whom re-unification trained. Staffing is a very serious issue facing the was either unsuccessful or not child welfare system in Orange County. It is possible). Of this number, 15 difficult to recruit and retain good social workers. percent, or 374 children were adopted. While adoptions in Also, Orange County mirrors the state and the Orange County increased by 44 nation in the lack of decision-making guidelines. percent between fiscal years 1998 and 1999, the number of However, attempts are being made by the Orange adoptions as a percent of County SSA to help social workers make decisions children available for adoption with greater input from supervisors. The Grand increased by only 14 percent. Jury conducted a survey and interviewed many adoptive parents regarding their experiences with these issues during the adoptive process. Table 4 provides insight into the effectiveness and timeliness of the procedures used in the Orange County Adoption Program. 18 TABLE 4 SURVEY OF ORANGE COUNTY ADOPTIVE PARENTS A REPORT ON EXPERIENCES WITH THE ADOPTIVE PROGRAM % Less % Very % Fairly than Process Effective Effective Effective % Poor Orientation 50 28.5 18 3.5 Training 50 32 7 11 Responsiveness of Social 64 14 8 14 Workers Expertise of Social Workers 60 16 9 15 Juvenile Court Hearings 50 29 10 11 Timeliness of the Process 28 18 11 43 The survey asked each adoptive parent what they found most helpful and least helpful when going through the adoption process. They were also asked to make their own comments. There were very few comments regarding orientation and training. The anger and frustration expressed in the survey was a result of long waiting times. The majority of the comments referenced the social workers. There were many complimentary statements for the social workers i.e., “They were very supportive and have made themselves available after the adoptions were finalized.” Many defended their social workers and stated that they were overwhelmed with heavy caseloads. Some complained regarding the number of social workers involved; two families had five social workers. Others complained about the inexperience of social workers and a lack of consistency in opinions and decisions. There was no middle ground in the love/hate relationship with the social workers. The adoption system is failing in many ways. Of primary concern is the improbability of adoption from foster care. Under permanency planning the system’s goal is to either reunify children or, if reunification A major concern efforts fail, to place them in an adoptive home. Placement in is the fact that long-term care is supposed to occur only as a last resort for the odds of adoption fall as children who are “unadoptable.” Under the current system, the the child’s age number of children that will be placed in long-term care is three rises. times the number that will be placed in adoptive homes. Another concern is the fact that the odds of adoption fall as the child’s age rises. This highlights the importance of timely and accurate reunification decisions. As durations increase, the likelihood of permanent placement fails. 19 Finally, many children within the child welfare system spend two to three years waiting to be adopted after the state has determined that they will not be reunified with their family. Because the likelihood of adoption decreases as the child gets older, it is critical to minimize the amount of time to move the child into the ranks of those eligible for adoption. Given the following statistics, it is difficult to justify the hope that a child will return home after being in foster care beyond one year. · Over 40 percent of the children entering foster care will never be reunified with their families. · Of the children who do return home, nearly 50 percent are reunified within six months, while 70 percent go home within a year. · One third of the children in care had been in the system at least three times. · Only 5 percent of children who were in foster care for longer than 24 months were returned home. · Two out of five foster children will spend more than three years in foster care. · The average foster child has been in two different homes. Nearly one-third of foster children have been in three or more homes. One of every ten children in foster care has been placed into five or more homes. The fundamental problem remains an overall lack of accountability mechanisms. County agencies are free to build whatever barriers they wish, however inadvertent these barriers may be. They should be held accountable for their own failure to place children. A glaring example of counties doing their own thing is the failure of many counties to embrace concurrent planning. Recent federal and state law mandates the practice of concurrent planning. Concurrent planning is the heart and sole of PL105-89. Concurrent planning enables social workers to consider re-unification and termination of parental rights simultaneously. It facilitates faster case resolution by setting tighter time frames for the birth families and workers to specify goals and responsibilities at the onset of the child’s out-of- home care. It can help children avoid finding themselves on a one-way linear path that does not lead back home or to adoption. The law is over two years old (November 1997) and has not really been implemented in Orange County. 20 In a Strategic Plan Update issued in March 2000 by the Social Services Agency, the following information was provided: SSA recently implemented a concurrent planning pilot project. Full implementation of concurrent planning is expected in June 2000. Another detriment to the success of timely adoptions is that of not requesting termination of parental rights until an adoptive family is in place. It is clear that there is much work ahead in Orange County to ensure safe, timely permanence for our foster children.

· The Children and Family Services, Director and Deputy Directors for their dedication, knowledge and professional assistance given to over 5,000 children each year. A special commendation for their patience and empathy shown to the Grand Jury. The 1999–2000 Orange County Grand Jury wrote five reports involving the Social Services Agency Children and Family Services Department and received outstanding contributions and cooperation. 25 · The Social Services Agency Adoption Unit and the many dedicated social workers who perform so well in a difficult and emotional milieu. · The Kinship Center which has been an important and effective partner of the Orange County Social Services Agency Children and Family Services. Kinship Center provides child placement, education, post-adoptive services, and counseling from adoption experts. Kinship Center has earned the reputation as one of the premier adoption agencies in the nation. · Sharon Kaplan Roszia, Orange County Program Manager of Kinship Center. Sharon is nationally renown and respected in the adoption program. · Olive Crest, a private group facility collaborating with the Social Services Agency. Olive Crest cares for over 450 special needs children from the ages from birth to 18+ years. Olive Crest cares for 350 children in foster homes. At the present time, Olive Crest has 1,200 children in their system and 800 families. Olive Crest also is a dedicated adoption agency. In 1999, twenty children were adopted through Olive Crest. Presently, there are over 100 adoptions pending through Olive Crest. · The social workers on the front line, police officers who deal in difficult and dangerous situations, judges who have to make very difficult determinations, both birth and adoptive parents, and foster parents and the children of adoptive families for welcoming new brothers and sisters into their homes. · The following private adoption agencies and caretaker home-study providers for their collaborative efforts with the Orange County Social Services Agency: Holy Family Services, Institute for Black Parenting, Vista Del Mar, Family Connections, Latino Family Institute, Catholic Charities, Independent Adoption Center, International Foster Family and Adoption Agency, and International Christian Adoptions. · A special commendation to Jim Palmer, President of the Orange County Rescue Mission and the House of Hope. Jim has worked diligently to increase opportunities for the homeless of Orange County to receive medical, mental health, substance abuse, employment training, life skills training, transportation and other vital services that assist individuals and families to improve the quality of their lives, live more independently and become self-sufficient. Jim leads by example as he and his wife have adopted three children through the County’s adoption agency. 26 APPENDIX A NEW U.S. POSTAL STAMP HONORS, ENCOURAGES ADOPTION Each year more than 100,000 children are adopted in the United States. To highlight this, the Postal Service has made the 33-cent adoption stamp its social issues commemorative stamp for 2000. Postmaster General William Henderson said in a statement, “This stamp will serve as a simple thank-you to everyone involved in making homes for children who are less fortunate, and it will help raise awareness about how adoption can make a positive difference in the lives of so many.” The stamp, featuring smiling boy and girl stick-figure kids holding adult “hands” was released May 10. Fundamental shapes, simple forms and bright colors depict the fragile and hopeful aspects of childhood. The text framing the art reads: “Adopting a CHILD, Sharing a LIFE, Building a HOME, Creating a WORLD.” 27 APPENDIX B Adoption Procedures and Terminology A Brief Overview Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) A system for collecting data on children in foster care and children who have been adopted under the auspices of the State child welfare agency. State child welfare agencies are responsible for reporting case management information to the federal system. Data are gathered for semi-annual report periods. The first report period covers October 1st to March 31st. The second report period is April 1st to September 30th.