Jeanne A. Howard

A Comparative Study of Successful and Disrupted Adoptions

In order to identify risk factors associated with adoption disruption, a group of 74 disrupted cases is compared with a group of 74 legalized adoptions, matched for age. Factors that emerge as significant include the childs history of sexual abuse, strong attachment to the birth mother, and specified behavior problems pre- and postplacement. Other variables related to the adopting family, agency practices, and causes of disruption are explored.

A Comparative Study of Child Welfare Adoptions with Other Types of Adopted Children and Birth Children

ABSTRACT Through parent surveys, the level of adjustment in home, school, health, mental health, and community of children from three types of adoptive and from birth families was compared. The sample groups include: child welfare adoptions (1340), domestic infant adoptions (481), international adoptions (89), and birth families (175). On most measures, particularly in relation to school functioning, adopted children were rated by their parents as having more problems than children from birth families. Children adopted from the child welfare system had significantly higher rates of problems than other types of adopted children. Using the Behavior Problem Index (BPI) as a measure of behavior problems, child welfare adopted children were rated as having a mean of 11.9 problems as compared to 6.2 for birth children and 9.1 and 9.4 respectively for domestic infant and internationally adopted children. Logistic regression analysis demonstrates the odds ratio present for an elevated BPI score for children from each family form. Children adopted from the child welfare system are 3.4 times as likely and internationally adopted children are 2.4 times as likely to be in the upper quartile of the BPI as children in birth families.

Issues underlying behavior problems in at-risk adopted children

Abstract Research and practice literature have examined behavior problems in adopted children, and many studies have found that adoptees from about age 6 through adolescence demonstrate more behavior problems than non-adopted children (Berry, 1992; Brodzinsky, Radice, Huffman, & Merkler, 1987; Dickson, Heffron, & Parker, 1990; Grotevant, McRoy, & Jenkins, 1988; Rogeness, Hoppe, Macedo, Fischer, & Harris, 1988). In particular, special needs adoptees who have been removed from birth homes due to maltreatment are vulnerable to ongoing behavioral and emotional difficulties that often do not abate over time (Nelson, 1985; Rosenthal & Groze, 1991; Rosenthal & Groze, 1994). The most common behavior problems among these adopted children are external behavior problems indicative of children diagnosed as having “conduct disorders,” who are acting out anti-socially in response to a number of internal negative feelings such as anger, powerlessness, low self-esteem, fear, and anxiety (Smith & Howard, 1991; 1994).

Where are we now?: A post-ASFA examination of adoption disruption

Abstract Little research on adoption disruption has been conducted in recent years, particularly with large populations and multivariate methods. Utilizing administrative data on 15,947 children, this study examines adoption disruption in a large state child welfare system in the United States in the three years leading up to and the three years following the passage of ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act), a federal law that mandates speedier movement to termination of parental rights and adoptive placement when parents do not make acceptable progress. Through a Cox proportional hazards model, the risk and protective factors associated with disruption are identified. Overall, the risk of disruption was 11 percent less for placements occurring after 1997. Among factors associated with higher risk were older age of the children entering foster care and placements with up to four siblings. Included in factors associated with a lower risk for disruption were racewhite children were at a lower risk than African Americans; relative home; and being placed with four or more siblings.

Preadoptive child sexual abuse as a predictor of moves in care, adoption disruptions, and inconsistent adoptive parent commitment.

OBJECTIVE To date, little empirical attention has been given to the impact of preadoptive child sexual abuse (CSA) on adoption adjustment. The main objective of the present study was to investigate whether preadoptive CSA was associated with more placement moves, adoption disruption, and inconsistent parental commitment compared to adopted children without histories of CSA. METHODS Data were collected from a convenience sample of parents with adopted children (N=117) receiving postadoption services in the state of Illinois in 2002. Thirty-three children (28.2%), nearly split evenly by gender, were reported to have histories of sexual abuse. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (AOR). RESULTS Preadoptive CSA was significantly associated with increased odds of four or more moves in care (AOR=9.68; 95% CI=3.39-27.66), adoption disruptions (AOR=4.36; 95% CI=1.1-16.5), and inconsistent parental commitment (AOR=2.82; 95% CI=1.0-7.9). CONCLUSION These results suggest that children with preadoptive histories of sexual abuse are at greater risk of more complex adoption difficulties than adopted children without such histories. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS This study reinforces a small body of research suggesting that CSA profoundly complicates adoption adjustment. Findings from this study indicate that adoptive families of children with preadoptive histories of CSA need an array of preadoption and postadoption service interventions.

A Comparison of Subsidized Guardianship and Child Welfare Adoptive Families Served by the Illinois Adoption and Guardianship Preservation Program

Abstract This study compares the outcomes of 113 subsidized guardianship families and 733 child welfare adoptive families served by a therapeutic counseling program for adoptive/guardianship families at risk of child placement or dissolution. No significant differences are found in the percentage of children in placement at the end of services or the level or parental commitment to their children. Children in subsidized guardianship families are more likely to be minority children who are older at removal from their birth families and at placement with their current families. Also they are less likely to have a history of abuse than children in adoptive families.