Does your state track post-adoption instability?

DELAWARE

RESPONDENTS: Frank Perfinski, Adoption Program Manager

The Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families Mary Lou Edgar, Executive Director

A Better Chance for Our Children

I. General Information (background on state service system)

 County-based vs. statewide system

The Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families (DSCYF) is a state- administered, state-supervised system.

 Uniformity of services across the state

There are three counties in Delaware. The northern county, New Castle, is the most heavily populated, and therefore more services are available there.

 Children on subsidy as of June 2013

As of June 2013, there were 914 children receiving adoption subsidy. There are 404 IV-E children and 510 Non-IV-E children. Medicaid is offered to 100 percent of the children adopted through the state child welfare system who reside in Delaware.

 Are public child welfare adoption workers expected to provide post-adoption services?

The child welfare adoption workers do not provide post-adoption services. Services are provided through contractual agreements with private agencies.

II. Post-Adoption Services Funded by the State for Adoptive Families

The primary provider of post-adoption services in Delaware is A Better Chance for Our Children (ABC) – see their website for an overview of services offered: http://www.abcfoc.org/. Adoptive Families with Information and Support (AFIS), an adoptive parent organization, receives a small grant for providing support to families, and these two providers work collaboratively to serve adoptive families across the state. A brochure describing AFIS can be accessed at: http://afisdelaware.org/brochure09.pdf

Information and Referral

If a family calls the DSCYF, a worker may provide some information. Most often, however, families are referred to the contracted agencies, which can provide information and referral services. Adoptive as well as guardianship families qualify for services.

Educational Programs or Materials

These services are provided through ABC or the Department of Education. ABC provides statewide trainings and educational materials on adoption-related topics such as: explaining adoption to pre- schoolers, helping children and families understand the impact of early trauma, and helping adopted adolescents with identity formation.

The ABC website, http://www.abcfoc.org/services/post-adoption-programs/, lists a wide range of current offerings for training, including six sessions on Love and Logic Parenting, parent/child bonding workshops, and programs on brain-based parenting, sensory integration issues and reaching out to law enforcement. These educational programs are open to all adoptive parents, regardless of the type of adoption and some are repeated multiple times a year.

Delaware

Support Programs

These services are provided collaboratively by the contracted agencies, AFIS and ABC. There are monthly support groups at two locations in Delaware for parents, as well as support/therapeutic groups for children.

Therapeutic Interventions

These services are provided primarily by DSCYF/ Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services (DPBHS). ABC may provide case management and crisis intervention services to families related to mental health needs. However, if more intensive mental health services are needed, families are referred to DPBHS which provides out-patient mental health services and/or substance abuse assessment and treatment. DPBHS also provides coordination to families who may need more integrated services. Services are voluntary and parents are highly involved in making treatment decisions. Services offered include: crisis response, behavioral health aids, therapeutic respite, day treatment, individual residential treatment, psychiatric hospitalization and early-childhood mental health consultation.

Advocacy

Advocacy services such as educational advocacy and support with linking to higher levels of care are provided by the contracted agencies, AFIS or ABC. DPBHS also provides advocacy and coordination to families who need higher-level therapeutic care.

Respite

The state does not generally pay for overnight respite care for adopted children. However, if a family is experiencing a high-level of therapeutic need, DPBHS may provide therapeutic respite services.

A program model to provide day respite, called The Rec and Respite Program, was started by ABC seven years ago as a direct result of families expressing frustration at the lack of respite services for their adopted children. This program provides full-day respite care on two Saturdays per month for children between the ages of 5 and 15. The program runs between October and June. The agency rents a camp from the United Cerebral Palsy Center and has two sites, one “upstate” and one “downstate.” The group is for 12 youth in each location from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For families who express an interest in the Rec & Respite program, the agency asks for a one-year commitment. As a result, the youth have the opportunity to get to know each other quite well and the agency feels this is one of the key components of this program. Mary Lou Edgar, Executive Director of ABC, describes it this way: “They become like family to one another.” The site is very secure and the youth are provided many opportunities/activities during their respite days including: arts & crafts, life skills training, baking, swimming, yoga and gardening. They celebrate a holiday each month. It is a staff-intensive program (at least one adult to three youth) and there is at least one adult adoptee hired for each site. They provide respite for many youth who have not been successful in other childcare settings, and are proud to report that they have only had to call a parent on two occasions in seven years. This program is funded through a contract with the state child welfare agency and grant funds sought received by ABC.

Mary Lou Edgar, Executive Director of A Better Chance for Our Children, Inc. describes the Rec N Respite program in these words:

“What was exciting for us was that the children were so impacted by a program that was developed to help their parents! … These are children who struggle in every type of social environment. They have been suspended from school, expelled from daycares, and asked not to return to camps. Amazingly, they connected to one another and had a very good experience at Rec-N-Respite. We determined that the structure we provided (coming at the same time, same place, same facilitators, same schedule) together with the fact that the kids were able to connect to one another without any type of judgment was helping them be successful. Each week the facilitators provide a life skill lesson (cooking, baking, cleaning, etc. ... These kids are having experiences they never had before and they enjoy it immensely. “

Delaware

Donaldson Adoption Institute 65

Residential Treatment

 Does the state pay for residential treatment for children adopted from foster care? What is the process for obtaining this?

The Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services (DPBHS), a “sister” division within DSCYF, does the screening, intake assessments and utilization review for high-end mental health needs, such as individual residential treatment or congregate residential treatment. If deemed medically necessary, Medicaid or private insurance is used to pay for the residential treatment.

 If yes, what is required to obtain this?

DPBHS does the screening and intake for children when there may be a need for behavioral and mental health services, such as day treatment and residential treatment. The treatment must be deemed medically necessary or the child would be at risk of harm to him/herself or others in order to qualify for these services. Families are referred to the DPBHS intake unit.

 Does the child have to re-enter state custody?

No. Families can contact the DPBHS intake unit for services.

III. Qualifications for Post-Adoption Services

A. What are the eligibility criteria for receiving services?

Currently, DFS contracts out this service. Post-adoption services are provided to any adoptive or guardianship family residing in Delaware. Families who adopt privately can also qualify for services.

B. Under what circumstances, if any, are these services provided to children who were not adopted