P REPARING C HILDREN FOR
A DOPTION
W HY ?

Adoption and permanency in the child welfare system
has been a growing area of importance in recent
years. Studies have shown that children and youth
who find permanence before “aging out” of the
system fair much better than their emancipating
peers. So how do we get these children ready for
such a huge, life-changing journey? And how do we
mold the minds of those resistant children and youth
to consent to what we know will end in a better result
than aging out of the foster care system? The
following is information on methods and approaches
that can be used to help prepare children for adoption
so that they can be successful in their forever families.
HTTP :// WWW. CHILDWELFARE . G
OV / PUBS / F _ TRANSITION . PDF

This document, found on the Child Welfare
Information Gateway, gives information for foster
parents who plan to adopt the foster children in their
home. It gives tips and some structure around how to
talk to the children about the upcoming change, and
approaches to answering the questions the children
will have depending upon their developmental level.
Ecomaps, lifebooks and lifemaps are given as ways to
assist a child in understanding their life experiences so
they can successfully move forward. Scholarly
sources are noted, showing the information to be
reputable. Also briefly discussed are losses and
attachment, and how to help children to work
through these issues.
HTTP :// WWW. NRCADOPTION . ORG / PDFS
/ ACC /PH%20%20C HILD %20A SSESSMENT %20&%20P R
EPARATION %203-10. PDF

This is the website of the National Child Welfare
Resource Center for Adoption. It outlines their
Adoption Competency Curriculum, this particular
section being on child assessment and preparation. It
is a curriculum that trains adoption professionals on
how to assess children for adoption, how to best meet
the needs of children in foster and adoptive homes,
how to make the most appropriate decisions with
regards to planning and placement, assisting children
in understanding what is happening and empowering
them to participate in the process. I particularly like
the idea in this curriculum of reframing “problem”
behaviors as “survival” behaviors.
HTTP :/ / WWW. IS S SSI . ORG / 2 0 0 9 / ASSET S / FI L E S / T H E M AT IC - FA C T S SHEET / E N G / 2 6 .P REPA R AT ION % 2 0 O F % 2 0 THE % 2 0 C HIL
D % 2 0 ENG . PD F

This is from the website of a Swiss agency called
the International Reference Centre for the Rights
of Children Deprived of their Family. It outlines
the need to help the child put into words their
past experiences, and have an understanding of
what is happening in his or her life now. It is a
rather brief document, but has some good ideas
about lifebook work that can be done with the
child, and things that a worker can do with the
child to prepare for a move to a new family.
HTTP :// WWW. IFAPA . ORG / RE
SOURCES /IFAPA_L IFEBOOK _
PAGES . ASP

The Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parent Association
website focuses on building a child’s lifebook.
The page discusses the importance of lifebook
work and what it can do for a child. It also has
links to 70 free lifebook pages. Included are
lifebook pages written in Spanish.
HTTP :// WWW. DHS . STATE . OR . US / C
AF / SAFETY _ MODEL / PROCEDURE _ MA
NUAL / CH 05/ CH 5- SECTION 04. PDF

The Oregon Department of Human Services
manages this website which outlines preparing
children for adoption. It discusses the
importance of the social worker impacting the
view the child has of his or her past, and his or
her ability to become a member of a new family.
The curriculum outlines when is the best time to
start the preparation, who will be working on
preparation with the child, and each team
members role in helping the child to be ready for
adoption. Suggestions for the lifebook are also
included.
HTTP :// WWW. EMKPRESS . COM /
PDFFILES /O'M ALLEY. DOC . PDF

This article by Beth O’Malley is meant to inspire
adoption social workers to reinvigorate their
lifebook work with children. It visits the issues of
what a lifebook is and isn’t, what should be
contained in a lifebook, its benefits, and also
gives tips and other resources.
HTTP :// WWW. ARVINPUBLICA
TIONS . COM / FOSTER 6. HTML

The website above gives information on
preparing a child in a foster home to move to
another home for adoption. It discusses the
process of telling the child that the foster parents
will not be adopting. This is geared more toward
the foster parent and how to deal with their own
feelings in this process as well as the child’s.
HTTP :// WWW. PACWCBT. PITT. EDU /C URR
ICULUM /201%20P REPARING %20C HILDR
EN %20 FOR %20A DOPTION /C ONTENT /O
UTLINE . PDF

The University of Pittsburgh’s curriculum for
preparing children for adoption is a very
thorough tool for the adoption professional. It
covers many issues that must be acknowledged,
such as the effect of adoption on different stages
of development, grief and loss, transitioning to a
new home, and tools and techniques for working
with a child to prepare him or her for the
adoption.
HTTP :// WWW. DARLAHENRY.
ORG /
Clarification
Integration
Actualization

Who am I?
What happened to me?
Where am I going?
How will I get there?
When will I know I belong?
Engage
Listen
Be truthful
Validate
Create safety
Resolve & Heal pain of the past
This is the website of Darla Henry, who has
developed the 3-5-7 Model. The 3-5-7 Model
has become widely known as a very effective
method of preparing children for adoption by
helping them to make sense of what has
happened to them, what is happening now, and
what will happen in the future, in addition to
helping them to find a sense of self. It addresses
grief and loss as well as adoption issues. The
website outlines what the approach is all
about, and gives resource for more
information for training on the model.
HTTP :// WWW. ABCOFOHIO . N
ET /

This is the website of the well known attachment
therapist Greg Keck and his colleagues at the
Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio. There
is very good information included regarding
attachment disorder and treatment. There are
also many resources for adoptive parents and
professionals.