RESOURCE COLLECTION

Adoption Projects That Are Breaking Barriers in Diligent Recruitment and Youth and Family Well-Being

There are 109,000 children and youth waiting to be adopted in the United States. Black and African American and American Indian/Alaska Native children are overrepresented in the child welfare system, including among children waiting to be adopted.

It is vital to deliberately recruit foster and adoptive families that reflect the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of children awaiting adoption and who have the skills to provide a stable, loving home for children who have a variety of needs. 

To provide an opportunity for children to remain in their community, support their identity development, create a sense of belonging, and build resilience, adoption professionals should engage and support caregivers from diverse backgrounds.

Recruiting, supporting, and engaging families who reflect the racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds of children and youth waiting to be adopted is an important step toward addressing disproportionality and disparity within the child welfare system.

To be more equitable and culturally responsive, professionals working in adoption recruitment can consider how to remove licensing barriers, meet families where they are, and seek avenues to help families meet assessment criteria

Take a look at what's new from grants funded by the Children's Bureau that are working to build capacity for diligent recruitment and are addressing barriers to accessing services, including mental health and workforce support services. 

Projects in the Spotlight:

• National Center for Diligent Recruitment: The center works to improve permanency outcomes for children and youth in foster care by helping child welfare systems and professionals develop and implement strategic, data-driven diligent recruitment plans. The center provides technical assistance, diligent recruitment planning and implementation resources, and staff training. In addition, the center helps states, tribes, and territories recruit, develop, support, and retain foster, adoptive, and kinship families who reflect the race and ethnicity of children in foster care and can meet those children’s needs.
  
  
• National Center for Enhanced Post-Adoption Support: The center provides technical assistance and other resources to support states, tribal nations, and territories in developing, implementing, and sustaining comprehensive, culturally responsive, and accessible postpermanency services.
  
  
• National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services: The center provides technical assistance and evidence-informed training to strengthen coordination and capacity among child welfare and mental health systems. It also works to help children, youth, and families locate and access mental health professionals who are trained to provide culturally and linguistically relevant and child welfare-competent mental health services. These services can address separation, grief, trauma, and other challenges.
  
  
• Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY): The QIC-EY is charged with advancing child welfare programs and practice to authentically engage and empower children and youth in child welfare throughout the United States, especially in relation to permanency decisions.
  
  
• National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI): NTI provides two state-of-the-art, web-based trainings that help build the capacity of child welfare and mental health professionals to support children and youth in foster, adoptive, and guardianship families.
  
  
• Minority Professional Leadership Development (MPLD): The MPLD program is designed for emerging leaders working in child welfare who are from cultural, ethnic, and racial groups who have historically had a disproportionate number of children in care. It includes hands-on experience, exposure to national experts, and mentorship opportunities.

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