Victor Groze

A follow-up study of adopted children from Romania

Romania became notorious in recent history for the problems in its child welfare system. A black cloud continues to hang over the country since media reports, such as 20/20s “Shame of a Nation”, and other writings and broadcasts have focused worldwide attention on the child welfare problems in Romania. During this same time period from 1990 to 1993, several thousand children were adopted from Romania by North American families. This study describes the positive and negative aspects of children adopted from Romania. It gives particular attention to the experiences of families who adopted children from institutional settings compared to other placements.

Successful adoptive families : a longitudinal study of special needs adoption

Foreword by James A. Rosenthal Preface The Study in Context The Research Study The Families and Children at a Glance and over Time Siblings Placed Together and Apart Physically and Sexually Abused Adoptees Social Support and the Adoptive Family Integration of Findings with Conceptual Model and Implications The Future of Adoption References Index

A descriptive study of abuse and neglect in out-of-home placement.

Selected characteristics of 290 reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect in foster homes, group homes, residential treatment centers, and institutions are described. At each type of setting physical abuse reports were most common, and neglect reports were least common. Quantitative and qualitative methods demonstrate that a significant percentage of confirmed reports are of a serious nature. Injuries occurred most frequently because of physical abuse while sexual abuse reports were most likely to be confirmed. Prior allegations of abuse or neglect regarding the perpetrator were indicated in 27% of reports. Factors contributing to abuse and neglect and the role of a state institutional review team in developing a systematic approach to this problem are discussed.

Special-needs adoption

In the last 15 years there has been a change in adoption patterns toward the adoption of children with special needs. A major problem with this type of adoption is the disruption rate. The purpose of this study is to provide multivariate analysis on the characteristics of families and the characteristics of children that can be utilized to predict successful adoptions of these children. Data were collected from a private, nonprofit agency in a large southwestern city that specializes in special-needs adoption by analysis of home study reports, supervision reports, and information accompanying a child for families that have adoption finalized or disrupted by this agency (N = 91). Several factors were found to influence adoption outcome, including age of the child, presence of other children in the home, placement number, age of the woman, family income, and type of placement. The reasons for these findings and their implications are briefly discussed.

A 1 and 2 year follow-up study of adoptive families and special needs children

Abstract This study provides an overview of issues that families encounter over time in the adoption of children with special needs. One hundred and thirty three families participated in a two-year survey of special-needs adoption. Results provide support for much of the conclusions provided by cross-sectional studies. The implications of findings for the service system are discussed.

Services for families adopting children via public child welfare agencies: Use, helpfulness, and need

Abstract This papers presents the results of a three-state mailed survey which examines pre- and post-adoptive service needs of 562 families who adopted children, most of whom had special needs. Financial and medical adoptive subsidies emerged as pivotal service needs. Counseling and education services in three areas — adoption issues, child development, planning for the childs future—were evaluated as “very helpful” by more than 60% of families. Respite care was evaluated as “very helpful” by more than 80% of families. More than two-thirds of families who adopted children with major behavioral adjustment difficulties who had not received respite care services reported a need for it or that this service could have been helpful to them. Overall, service needs of families adopting children with behavioral difficulties were higher than those of any other subgroup in the study. Study findings reaffirm the importance of thorough background information. Findings on social support systems suggest that families use informal supports somewhat more often than formal supports and that greater social support is desired by a substantial minority of families.

Effects of foster care placement on biological children in the home.

This project used questionnaires to investigate the effects of foster care on biological children in the foster home setting. In southeast Iowa, 52 foster parents and 51 biological children voluntarily responded. Approximately 77% of the foster parents were concerned about the effects of foster care on their biological children—in particular, that biological children felt left out of the family unit. The majority of the foster parents stated that sharing of parental attention should be discussed with biological children before beginning, and both parents and children felt that pretraining sessions for biological children would help their adjustment to foster care.

Clinical and Nonclinical Adoptive Families of Special-Needs Children

The author applies a resource and stressor family system model developed from crisis theory to adoptive families. Matched samples of clinical and nonclinical families were used to examine resources and stressors in adoptive families. Results indicate modest support for the hypothesis that adoptive families in crisis have more stressors than do adoptive families who are not in crisis. Implications for practice are discussed.

An exploratory investigation into institutional mistreatment

Abstract This article describes a unique system designed to investigate and evaluate the mistreatment of juveniles residing in institutions as well as describe the types of mistreatment and victim characteristics which are associated with mistreatment in institutions. Data were collected for fiscal years 1985–1986 and 1986–1987 ( N = 609). Implications of the results are briefly discussed.

Single Parents and Their Adopted Children: A Psychosocial Analysis

The functioning of single- and two-parent adoptive families is described and compared by means of psychosocial analysis. Data were collected via a survey mailed to families who had finalized their adoption of a special-needs child. Differences in demographic characteristics were observed, as were differences in social and ecological functioning. Although most families were satisfied with their decision to adopt, results indicated a modest trend toward more positive adoption outcome among single parents.