Increased attention is being paid to open adoption arrangements between birth parents and adopted children and families. This study examines openness and contact among 469 adoptions at 14 years postadoption from the fourth wave of the California Long-Range Adoption Study (CLAS) and 378 adoptions matched across all waves. The proportion of families…

School administrators in California are getting greater flexibility in how they spend more than $300 million intended for instructional materials, along with encouragement to use some free digital textbooks for high school courses, as a result of cost-cutting measures brought on by the state's budget crisis. Extensive changes to the state's…

Discusses the results of a survey of 1,268 adoptive parents in California. Found that postplacement contact with biological parents was common in this sample and that adoptive parents, with some exceptions, seemed cautiously comfortable with such contact. (Author/MDM)

Children and families built by adoption or relative caregiving have specialized needs. This paper proposes a rubric for the central elements of permanency-focused mental health services in child welfare practice. Kinship Center provides an innovative mental health service delivery system, weaving foster and adoptive placement programs, adoption…

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 includes provisions to deny reunification services under specified conditions and gives states latitude to develop any number of additional "aggravated circumstances" in which parents need not be offered services. California legislators have developed a relatively large number of…

Claims that although agencies specializing in adoption of minority children have been successful in achieving same-race adoptive placements for African American children, funding and support for some of these initiatives have been withheld. Describes successful placement practices used by a private agency in California and a public agency in…

This report contains the findings and recommendations of a task force established to develop a comprehensive statement regarding the confidentiality of adoption records and to define the scope of information (background and/or identifying) to be shared with birth parents prior to placement of a child for adoption, adoptive parents at the time of…

The Child Welfare League of America is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

Presents trends in adoption between 1964 and 1982 for four types of adoption in California: public agency, private agency, independent, and intercountry (foreign) adoption. For each type, the characteristics of adopted children, of their biological parents, and of their adoptive parents are compared. (Author/BB)

The number of children in foster care has nearly doubled in recent years. Despite reform efforts, the U.S. child welfare system is not increasing the number of children who get adopted. The federal government spends over $12 billion annually on child welfare programs, but the growing government bureaucracy has allowed the problems to worsen. The…

Describes services and operation of the Family Protection Act Unit in San Mateo County, California. After three years, the number of children receiving financial aid in foster care decreased by 33 percent and the number of children placed in institutions decreased by 40 percent, while guardianships and adoptions increased by 16 and 25 percent,…

The TIES [Training, Intervention, Education, and Services] for Adoption program in Los Angeles, attempts to reduce obstacles to adoption of children in out-of-home care who experienced prenatal substance exposure. Interviews with parents conducted at intervals following home placement reveal experiences and concerns, parenting aspects and adoption…

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

Describes the Fresno Amicus Program, a program of volunteer, court-appointed advocates who assist in cases of abuse and neglect involving minority families. Also describes an outcome study of the program. In the amicus group, significantly fewer children were placed in long-term foster care than in the comparison group. Significantly more children…