TIME TAKEN TO ACHIEVE ADOPTION FROM PERMANENT CARE
BARNARDOS FIND-A-FAMILY
• Barnardos Australia operates in New South Wales and the ACT. The great majority of the programs are family support programs.
• Find-a-Family offers an integrated service of adoption and permanent family care.
• Children enter the program after final orders are made in the Children’s Court, with PR to the Minister until age 18.
• Strong permanency planning focus, children under age 5 will almost always have a Care Plan “view to adoption”.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH• This research aimed to understand how to achieve
adoption in as timely a way as possible by examining the causes of such delays.
• Adoptions undertaken by Barnardos Find-a- Family NSW over 10 years, between 1/1/2002 and 31/12/2011.
• Work was undertaken in 2012 by Sydney University students, overseen by a reference group consisting of Barnardos senior management.
• A sample size of 53 children was included.
• Both quantitative and qualitative data was examined.
THE 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1) How long does it take to achieve an adoption?
2) What issues affect the time taken for adoption of children and young people?
3) What practice implications do these findings have for achieving adoption in the most timely manner?
Variables Considered
Age of childCourt delays Contact frequencyBirth Certificate issuesFathers unknownBehaviour Siblings Placement historyCulture GenderCase Manager attitudes
So how long does adoption take?
Comparing children of different ages
1-2 3-4 5-9 10-140
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
551N=5
982N=6
1386N=29
1933N=13
Average number of days from first FAF placement to adoption order by age at
adoption (n=53)
Number of Days
Average
Age at Adoption
Nu
mber
of
Days
What issues, apart from age, affect the time taken to adoption?
NSW Consent Requirements
Each parent of the child
Anyone who has parental responsibility for the child
The child if they are over 12 years of age.
DispensationNSW Adoption Act 2000, Section 67, specifies 4 grounds on which a parent’s consent can be dispensed with:
1) The person cannot be found or identified
2) The person is not capable of considering the question of consent
3) There is serious cause for concern for the welfare of the child
4) An application has been made by authorised carers for the child and the child has established a stable relationship with those carers.
CONSENT STATUS
13%Consent
17%Contest
64%Dispense
Child Consent
6%
Consent Contest Dispense Child Consent
Child Consent Parents Consent
Contest Dispense0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
60N=2
88N=5
338N=9
95N=34
Average time at court
Consent Status
Days
TIME SPENT AT COURT
Contact with Parents
Does the level of contact impact on delays?
Contact with mothers
• 37 children had regular contact with their birth mothers; 12 had no contact.
• Children with contact had their adoption order made, on average, 116 days earlier than those who had no contact.
• Birth mothers who had no contact were more likely to give consent.
• Birth mothers who had contact were more likely to contest the adoption.
No Contact with Birth Father Contact with Birth Father Father Unknown1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1371N=23 (3 deceased)
1382N=24
1734N=6
Time from FAF placement to Adoption
Contact with Birth Father
Days
CONTACT WITH BIRTH FATHER
DOES A CHILD’S LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IMPACT?
care care +1 care+20
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
1268N=28
1597N=19
2334N=3
Time from first FAF placement to adoption order by care level
Care Level
Days
TIME TO ADOPTION BY CARE LEVEL
Are there differences in time frames for sibling groups?
intact separated no siblings Split sibling group1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
15001473N=12
1296N=18
1274N=2
1472N=20
Time to Adoption by sibling status
Sibling Status
Days
TIME TO ADOPTION BY SIBLING STATUS
Placement History
Do previous placements impact on delays?
Impact of previous placements
• 40% of children entered FAF from Barnardos; 60% entered via FaCS.
• 4 children had a planned move from short term to permanent care; only 2 children had a placement disruption within FAF.
• There was no significant difference in adoption time frames for these children.
Does culture or gender play a role?
Cultural Factors No Cultural factors1000
1050
1100
1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1450
1245N=7
1426N=46
Time from FAF placement to Adoption
Cultural Factors
Days
CULTURAL FACTORS
Male Female1000
1050
1100
1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1450
1500
1370 N=28
1440N=25
Time from FAF placement to Adoption by gender
Gender
Days
TIME TO ADOPTION BY GENDER
Case Manager’sattitudes to adoption?
Family
/bel
ongin
g
Perm
anen
cy
Iden
tity
Nor
mal
ity
Attach
men
t
Full pot
entia
l
Legal
per
man
ence
Securit
y
Cost b
enefi
t
Contin
uity
Stabili
ty0
2
4
6
8
10
12
5
4
3
4
1
2
3
11
1 1
6
Response
Fre
qu
en
cy
Responses (n=40)
Security
Stability
Sense of family/belonging
Normality - No more caseworkersPermanency Planning
Same last name/Identity
legal permanence
Chance to reach full potentialAttachment with carers
Continuity
Cost benefit for agency
What is your understanding of the importance of adoption?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
7
1 1
4
8
1 1
Response
Fre
qu
en
cy
Responses (n=24)
Working with birth parents
Confusing/long process
Rewarding
Important for child
Not as much Case Manager time dedicated as placement thought to be extra stable
Carer challenges
Relatively smooth process
Costly – money wise
What was your experience of the adoption process?
Time
it ta
kes
Crisis w
ork
vs a
doptio
n
Birth C
ertifi
cate
Detai
l of p
roce
ss
"Get
ting it
right"
No
Conce
rns
Adoptiv
e fa
mily
Birth fa
mily
Right f
or C
hild0
1
2
3
4
5
6
5
2 2
4
5
3
1
4
1
Response
Fre
qu
en
cy
Responses (n=27)
“Getting it right”; Gathering information, paperworkTime it takes
Detail of process
Impact on birth family
No Concerns
Balance between crisis work and adoptionRemoval of birth family from birth certificateImpact on adoptive family - pressuresMaking sure it is the right time for the child
What is your biggest concern in undertaking adoption work?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
5
6
3
6
2
Response
Fre
qu
en
cy
Responses (n=22)
More communication between parties about adoption and adoption process
Need for transparency especially with birth parents
Another specialised adoption team to do work
More Adoption training
Improvement of DoCS process/understanding of adoption
What could be done to improve the adoption process?
Conclusion
Summary of findings
Delays –the significant factors
• Age of child• Court processes• Searches for birth fathers• Single children verse sibling groups
• Culture, gender and previous Barnardos’ placements did not have considerable impact on the process
• Timely decision-making for permanency.
• Identify and locate birth fathers as soon as a child enters placement, regardless of the care plan.
• Greater emphasis on Case Manager training and professional development.
Recommendations
Questions?