Contents
1.1 Introduction: Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.1.1
3
The structure of the learning guide
3
How to use the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
3
1.1.2 Reflective practice
4
1.1.3 Supervision
4
What is supervision?
5
Supervision in Adoption and Permanent Care
5
– The administrative or management function
5
– The educative function
5
– The supportive or enabling function
6
– The mediation function
6
Expectations of supervision
6
Confidentiality in supervision
8
1.1.4 Confidentiality, privacy and release of information
8
Privacy legislation
8
Confidentiality
9
Privacy and collection and release of information.
9
– Release of information
9
– Collection of information under the Adoption Act and the Children and Young Persons Act
10
Storage of information
10
Transfer of personal information between agencies
10
Correction of information
10
1.2 Adoption and permanent care in context
12
1.2.1 Adoption
12
1.2.2 Permanent care
12
1.2.3 History of child protection in Victoria
13
1.2.4 Adoption and permanent care teams
13
1.2.5 Function and structure of the Department of Human Services
14
Head office of the Department of Human Services
15
Regional offices of the Department of Human Services
15
1.3 Life issues of adoption and permanent care
16
1.3.1 Loss
17
1.3.2 Search for identity
17
1.3.3 Entitlement
18
Adoptive or permanent care parents
18
Birth parent
18
Persons raised in care: the child
18
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.3.4 Issues for the adopted person
19
1.3.5 Issues for adoptive or permanent care parents
20
1.3.6 Issues for the birth parent
21
1.4.7 Mourning the loss
22
Denial
23
Anger
23
Bargaining
23
Depression
23
Acceptance
23
1.4 Checklist of things to do
25
In the first six weeks
25
As soon as can be arranged
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.1
3
Introduction: Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
Learning goals
• To introduce the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide.
• To introduce reflective practice.
• To reinforce the importance of supervision.
• To reinforce issues surrounding privacy, confidentiality and release of information.
Adoption and permanent care in Victoria is provided to regional offices of the Department of Human Services through ten
services; four located in the Department of Human Services and six located in community service organisations (CSO).
The teams work closely together to place children, and interagency and interregional placements are common.
Workers in adoption and permanent care (A&PC) have long recognised the need for a comprehensive induction program
that will assist in ensuring commonality of practice between A&PC teams and increase the confidence of workers in
relation to their own work as well as increasing their understanding of the work of other teams. This learning guide provides
that program.
1.1.1 The structure of the learning guide
A&PC is a small but complex program area with fewer than fifty workers spread through ten agencies. Workers come to
A&PC with varying experience. The Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide is a self-learning program designed to
provide information on the breadth of issues relevant to placing children in adoption and permanent care. It introduces a
structured model of thinking—Reflective Practice—to enhance practice. There are exercises and readings to be completed
and discussed with your supervisor in each section. The guide may be used individually or in small groups and provides
common resources for all teams.
The Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide contains four divisions which are sub-divided into sections related to
specific tasks of workers or specific knowledge areas for adoption and permanent care. Each section is an independent unit:
• Part 1 (Introduction) contains an overview of adoption and permanent care and introduces workers to life issues of adoption
and permanent care. The introduction covers supervision, reflective practice, release of information and privacy and
confidentiality issues.
• Part 2 (Adoption) covers the Adoption Program
• Part 3 (Permanent care) covers the Permanent Care Program.
• Part 4 (Special issues of adoption and permanent care) provides information on issues relevant to adoption and permanent
care such as child development, infertility and disability.
Each team has a supplement to the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide which contains reference material for use
by all workers.
How to use the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
This learning guide covers a range of issues in adoption and permanent care. You should, however, use every opportunity to
explore issues with your supervisor who has had experience in the field and will guide your learning. The learning guide is not
designed to be used within a short induction period as a worker starts with the agency. Rather, it is expected that it will be
used throughout your first year of work in A&PC as areas of work are introduced.
There is considerable flexibility regarding how the guide can be used. Each section contains a discussion of issues and a
series of activities which explore the issues. Exercises are generally designed to be followed by discussion with your
supervisor or in small-group discussion with workers at the same introductory phase of work or within team meetings.
Although some of the exercises may seem detailed, you will gain more by doing them than from simply reading the text.
You may choose to work through the guide sequentially or to select sections relevant to your assigned work. For example,
if you are given a permanent care placement to supervise, you would turn to Section 3.11: Permanent care placement
supervision and Section 3.12: Permanent care placement support to introduce yourself to the issues involved in
placement supervision and support in permanent care. Later, when an adoption assessment is assigned, you would work
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
through Section 2.2: Adoption assessment. Each section is designed to be completed independently. Where other
sections of the learning guide or additional reading would enhance your understanding, they are identified within the section.
Case material is presented to illustrate issues in adoption and permanent care. One case is followed for adoption; a second
case is presented for permanent care. The complete case studies are contained in the Supplement to the Adoption and
Permanent Care learning guide. Alternatively, you and your supervisor may decide to use current cases to complete
the exercises.
1.1.2 Reflective practice
Protective Services has introduced ‘reflective practice’, a structured model of adult learning which encourages review and
evaluation of practice, in the Protective Services beginning practice learning guide. Reflective practice does not rely on a
single framework to define work but rather defines a systematic way of thinking about addressing issues in practice. It is a
useful tool for practice in adoption and permanent care and will be referred to throughout this learning guide.
Resource
Child Protection beginning practice learning guide, Section 1: Introduction—Reflective practice.
Kolb is an educationalist who has written extensively about adult learning. Reflective practice is a concept within Kolb’s
experiential learning cycle. To summarise, Kolb states that adults learn from their experiences and that this process of
learning involves four key elements:
• experience
• reflection
• conceptualisation
• active experimentation.
Reflective practice involves reflecting on and analysing information and actions with the goal of understanding of issues and
growth in practice. It involves systematic inquiry into practice and encourages theoretical and practical learning. It aims to
build upon knowledge and skills and to put concepts and theories into practice. It is a cycle of continuous learning.
Reflective practice can be readily translated into your casework tasks in adoption and permanent care as described below.
• Experience—List what you know about the situation. Be careful that you stick to facts or direct statements from the clients
that can be verified and do not slip into interpretation or hypothesising. You will review, add to and adjust as you work with
the people.
• Reflection—List what you think the meaning is of the information or behaviours. You have considerable personal and
professional experience to define your thinking.
• Conceptualisation—Attempt to develop a way of understanding the information or behaviour. At this stage you may develop
some hypotheses to check, compare consistent patterns of behaviour and develop constructs to explore with your supervisor
regarding the meaning of the information.
• Active experimentation—Active experimentation is the exploration of your reflection and conceptualisation to define your
assessment and develop and implement intervention plans. As you proceed with your work with the client, you will refine
your thinking, eliminate constructs that do not fit and, by the end of the process, develop an understanding of the situation
and plan intervention strategies.
Review is built into the process. Adjustment of practice results from the analysis and review.
1.1.3 Supervision
Supervision is an essential element of working with people and of practice in adoption and permanent care. Your supervisor
is your greatest support and should be informed of all your work. All practitioners will meet new situations which provide the
opportunity for continued learning. You have a responsibility to yourself, your clients and your agency to use supervision to
best advantage. Your agency has the obligation to provide supervision and to ensure accountability of the service.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
5
What is supervision?
Supervision is a learning model through which a worker develops competent, accountable practice, pursues continuing
professional development, gains personal support and relates to the employing agency through working with a person who
has experience in the field.
Resources
Child Protection beginning practice learning guide, Section 2.6: Supervision
The Child Protection beginning practice learning guide defines the following purposes of supervision:
• developing and acknowledging good practice
• ensuring positive practice occurs
• promoting mutual learning
• maintaining and improving quality of practice
• assisting professional development
• ensuring roles and responsibilities are clear
• supporting workers in the work
• adhering to guidelines and practice standards
• resourcing practitioners
• ensuring accountability to children and families
• assisting the supervisee to prevent, reduce and handle stress.
Taking the time to read Section 2.6 of the Beginning practice learning guide will assist you to understand the process
and the role of supervision in practice.
Supervision in adoption and permanent care
Most agencies have guidelines and policies regarding supervision of workers and consider supervision to be more than
accountability. The supervision you receive will reflect the policy of your agency.
It is expected that adoption and permanent care workers will receive formal supervision at least fortnightly. Formal
supervision includes discussion and review of cases and other tasks related to work. It has an educative focus with the
setting and review of learning goals. It includes assignment of work and discussion of agency issues. Supervision should
provide support to the worker to perform tasks effectively. Most agencies now have a system of performance review in
place which may be a part of the supervision process.
Informal supervision includes responses to questions which arise between sessions and should be available when needed.
Team supervision is a means of providing educative supervision on topics of interest to all team members and can be used
to facilitate discussion of matters of concern to all in the agency. It should be available regularly for all workers.
Four functions of supervision:
The administrative or management function
This function is concerned with work performance and ensuring accountability to clients and to relevant bodies. The
function ensures understanding of roles, policy and procedures and compliance with the expectations of the agency.
The educative function
This function is about learning and development as a worker. Training and developmental needs are identified and
professional and learning goals to develop practice are set. Skills are developed and theory is integrated with practice.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
The supportive or enabling function
This function is about you and provides the opportunity to explore the interaction between your work, your values, beliefs
and other factors that influence your work. It provides time to debrief and should provide an accepting atmosphere to
explore your feelings, concerns and successes.
The mediation function
In all our work there is a tension between the ideal and the reality. Organisations are not perfect and resources are often
scarce. Advocacy is often needed for services for families and interagency work does not always run smoothly. Your
supervisor may need to mediate or assist you to mediate where issues arise.
Expectations of supervision
Supervision is a dynamic process which requires input from you and your supervisor. It is a planned process with goals to
achieve. It should include the four functions described above and should include periodic review of both the process and
worker progress.
You have a responsibility to make supervision successful. Each worker needs to define their expectations of supervision,
set learning goals and be prepared to discuss learning needs, cases and work issues with their supervisor. Each worker must
be prepared to participate in supervision and to address issues that may arise in the supervision process in an open way.
Activity
Think of an experience of positive supervision, then think of an experience of poor supervision. What did you learn from
each experience?
What do you expect from supervision?
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
What do you expect from your supervisor?
How do you think you supervisor can best facilitate your learning needs?
Set two learning goals to discuss with your supervisor.
In your next supervision session, discuss your expectations and learning goals with your supervisor.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
Confidentiality in supervision
Trust and respect are important elements to enable workers to share with their supervisor. Trust and respect require
confidentiality
• that is mandated for the client
• that is necessary to your relationship with your supervisor.
There are some issues that should remain within supervision. They include information regarding clients and discussion
of personal work-related issues. Both your supervisor and you should maintain confidentiality.
1.1.4 Confidentiality, privacy and release of information
In the course of your work, you will collect personal information about children, their birth and adoptive or permanent care
families. This information is highly confidential. All persons with whom you are in contact need to be aware that the
information must be treated with respect. You should familiarise yourself with your agency policy on confidentiality and
privacy.
Privacy legislation
Confidentiality of information and privacy are governed by practice ethics, agency policy and by several Acts. There are a
number of principles adhered to across the Acts governing adoption and permanent care, but it is necessary to refer directly
to the relevant Acts when making decisions regarding collection and release of information.
Resources
Sharing information in out-of-home care; 2003/10 Child Protection and care practice Instruction available in the supplement
to the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide.
Your agency policy on privacy.
Your agency policy on confidentiality.
The relevant Acts for adoption and permanent care are:
The Adoption Act 1984
The Children and Young Persons Act 1989
The Freedom of Information Act 1982
The Victorian Privacy Act 2000
The Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988
The Health Records Act 2001
The governing principles of the privacy legislation are:
• All decisions relating to the disclosure of personal information must be taken considering the best interest of the person.
• Only relevant information should be recorded.
• People should be advised of the purpose of collecting information, and the purposes to which it may be put.
• The person’s interests in controlling what information is recorded about them should be respected.
• Collection of information should not intrude unreasonably on the personal affairs of the person to whom it relates.
• Personal information should be stored securely.
• Release of information should be determined on a need-to-know basis, rather that a want-to-know basis.
• The consent of the person should be sought each and every time the release
of information is proposed. (Note: there are exceptions to this consent requirement.)
• A record of the type of information kept about individuals and how to access this personal information should be maintained.
• People have a right to correct and update information recorded about them.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
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The Department of Human Services Sharing information in out-of-home care practice guidelines is consistent with the
governing principles of the privacy legislation. These guidelines and your agency’s policy and procedures regarding privacy
should be followed when making decisions regarding release of information.
Confidentiality
Discussion with clients and information received about clients are confidential. This information is not to be disclosed
without a clear purpose or, wherever possible, without consent of the person. All agencies have policies regarding
confidentiality and every worker should familiarise themselves with the policy. In practice confidentiality means that clients
should be interviewed in private where they cannot be overheard. Workers should not discuss cases in public places
where they can be overheard by persons not related to the case. Workers should not talk of cases outside the office and
should not disclose information to other professionals unless there is a need to know, such as reporting to a supervisor or
in case-related discussion with other professionals.
Privacy and collection and release of information
Privacy legislation reinforces confidentiality of information and provides guidelines for the collection, correction, storage
and release of information. You must become familiar with your agency’s requirements.
Release of information
The situation regarding release of information in adoption and permanent care is complex. Adoption and permanent care
teams collect information about applicants and children and their birth parents, which may need to be released to other
parties. You must become familiar with the legislation and if you are unsure regarding release of information, check with
your supervisor and agency privacy officer.
Children and Young Persons Act 1989
The Children and Young Persons Act 1989 restricts the release of information regarding a child and birth family. In the
context of child protection, the primary reason for collecting information about a child and family is to ensure the safety
and wellbeing of children. When children are subsequently placed in permanent care, there is a clear expectation that they
receive care which provides for their wellbeing and safety. We are not therefore prevented by privacy legislation from
disclosing such information so long as it is disclosed for the primary purpose for which it was collected; that is, to provide
for the child’s safely and wellbeing. The child protection and care practice instruction ‘Sharing information in out of home
care’ available in supplement to the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide highlights the principle that information
collected for the care of a child can be disclosed to those people who provide care for the child.
Adoption Act 1984
The Adoption Act 1984 restricts the release of identifying information to parties to an adoption. When the child is under 18
years old, only non-identifying information can be disclosed without the consent of all parties. Part VI of the Adoption Act—
Adoption Information Provisions—allows for adult adopted persons and adult children of adopted persons to receive
identifying information regarding the birth family without the consent of the relevant parties.
In all other circumstances a party to an adoption, including the birth parents, may receive non-identifying information only
unless the relevant other party has given written permission to provide identifying information. In effect this means that
neither the birth or adoptive parents nor an adopted person under 18 can receive identifying information about another
party to the adoption without consent. The Act provides for the adopted person to apply to the Adoption and Family
Records Service of the Department of Human Services or an adoption information service of a CSO to receive identifying
information at age 18. At that time, the adopted person may receive a copy of the adoption record including the court
record and original birth certificate.
The provisions of the Adoption Act 1984 are different to those of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989. When a child is
placed in permanent care a decision must be made as to whether the location of the placement is revealed to the birth
parent. If this information is to remain confidential, a case will have to be made to the court that the birth parent should
not be informed. The child may obtain his or her records at the age of 18 by applying under the Freedom of Information Act
to the Department of Human Services.
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Collection of information under the Adoption Act and the Children and Young Persons Act
In adoption and permanent care, detailed information is obtained from applicants as part of the assessment process. It is
important to remember that the collection of information about any person or couple must relate to the purposes for which
it is obtained. Section 35 of the Adoption Regulations 1998 and Section 8 of the Children and Young Persons Custody and
Guardianship Regulations 2001 define the areas which must be considered during the assessment of persons seeking
approval to adopt a child or provide permanent care. For both assessments you are required to consider the applicants’
personality, age, medical, physical and mental health, maturity, financial circumstances, and stability of relationship to
determine if they can care for a child. The areas covered in the assessment report relate to each of the areas specified in
the Regulations. Applicants should be made aware of the requirements of the Regulations and of the relevance of each
area of data collection to the care of the child.
Storage of information
The Privacy Act 2000 sets out responsibilities for ensuring that information collected and stored about clients is kept
confidential and is only available to those people who are designated to share the information. Information must be stored
in a secure setting. Your agency has policies and procedures which meet the requirements of the Act.
The Adoption Act 1984 requires that adoption records be stored in perpetuity. The permanent care program maintains
records utilising the same principle. The records may not be destroyed. You will need to become familiar with the
record system of your agency, how information is recorded and stored, and how to access stored hard copy and
electronic records.
Transfer of personal information between agencies
There are ten adoption and permanent care teams in Victoria. Because of the need to place cross-regionally to ensure
provision of the best home for the child, personal information is shared between agencies directly and through the Central
Resource Exchange (CRE) operated through the head office of the Department of Human Services. Wherever possible,
consent is obtained from the relevant party prior to transfer of information between agencies. Where it is impractical to
obtain the consent and the information is essential for the wellbeing and optimal care of the child, the reason for
transferring the data should be noted in the record. Because of the complexity of the provisions of the various Acts, it is
recommended that wherever possible consent be obtained for release of any information from the relevant party prior to
the information being released. As you become familiar with the procedure manuals you will note procedures for obtaining
consent to release information are a part of the assessment process in both adoption and permanent care.
When using mail, transfer of personal information is generally by registered mail. When original documents such as
consent for adoption are sent to the solicitor for legalisation, they must be forwarded by registered mail or by courier.
The guidelines for electronic transfer of data are less clear. Each agency should ensure that every precaution is taken to
ensure that the information will not be read by outside agents. Generally, reports transferred by email are sent as
attachments with a security statement as part of the original message. The FAX cover sheet generally contains a privacy
message and a request that the document be returned or destroyed if delivered incorrectly.
Correction of information
Users of the service are entitled to request that information in their records be corrected. The general practice is to
append the correction to the relevant part of the record in order that the requested change is readily apparent. The record
itself is not altered.
In assessment of parents there is the possibility of disagreement with decisions of the Applicant Assessment Committee
(AAC) and the review of that decision. The applicant is entitled to disagree with the decision and to present their view. The
worker’s assessment will remain unchanged and the applicant’s written comments will be attached to the file. The AAC
makes a decision regarding the suitability of applicants on the basis of all information available.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 11
Activity
Arrange to meet with the administration staff of your agency to be briefed on your agency’s record system. How is
information recorded? How is information stored? How are records accessed? Ask about:
– hard copy
– electronic information
– use of FAX
– use of email
– security measures
– confidentiality policy.
Obtain a copy of your agency’s privacy and confidentiality policy. Discuss with your supervisor.
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1.2 Adoption and permanent care in context
Learning goal
• To provide a context for adoption and permanent care within the child welfare system.
Adoption and permanent care came into being to meet the needs of children within the broader child welfare system. The
development of these services is intricately tied with protection and care of children and reflects changing social attitudes
through the 20th century. Permanent care and adoption provide permanent placements for children who are unable to be
cared for within their birth families and who otherwise would not be raised in a secure family environment.
1.2.1 Adoption
The first adoption Act was proclaimed in 1928. Adoption was seen to provide a solution to the stigma of illegitimacy for
both the child and the birth mother who relinquished the child. It provided an alternative to institutional care of children at
a time when large numbers of children were in care. It also provided a solution for parents who were unable to have
children of their own. The underlying assumption of adoption was that children would become part of the adoptive family,
just as if they were born into the family, and no legal or social distinction would be made between the adoptive and
biological children of a family.
There have been three adoption Acts in Victoria: 1928, 1968 and 1984. The Acts reflect the history of increasing regulation
in the care of children and evolution of social attitudes. Although secrecy was not incorporated into the Adoption Act 1928,
it was encouraged in practice. The 1968 Act prohibited giving information whereas the 1984 Act opened adoptions to
information exchange and contact between birth relatives, the adopted person and the adoptive family.
1.2.2 Permanent care
Permanent Care Orders were introduced through the Children and Young Persons Act 1989. The concept grew out of the
reform movements of the 1970s and 1980s which opened adoption to contact between the birth parent, child and
adoptive parents and challenged decision making processes and ‘welfare drift’ within the child welfare system. The
concept of permanent care rather than adoption was developed to address issues of connection with the child’s family of
origin, to maintain family relationships, and to provide permanent families for children who were unable to be cared for
within their birth family. Permanent care is firmly placed in child welfare services.
Permanent care provides families for children when the State has intervened on behalf of the child and has determined
that the child cannot live safely with the birth parents on a long-term basis. As it has developed, permanent care serves
children who have experienced significant abuse and neglect and disrupted placements.
Both adoption and permanent care rely on volunteer families to provide care for children. Initially it was believed that the
permanent care family would become independent of welfare services, offering children a ‘normal’ experience of growing
up in a family, thus eliminating dependence on welfare services. The assumption that the families would become
independent of services, however, has proved to be limited. Families who care for children who have experienced
significant harm in the care of their birth parents are generally in need of long-term assistance.
Adoption and permanent care are best understood within the context of child protection services.
Resources
Child Protection professional development learning guide beginning practice
Section 1.2: Child protection—an introduction
Child protection—a historical perspective
Section 1.4: The organisational context
Protecting children—a partnership approach
The Department of Human Services—functions and structures
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 13
1.2.3 History of child protection in Victoria
The Child Protection beginning practice learning guide contains a brief history of child protection in Victoria and identifies
current trends. This learning guide is available in your agency and workers are encouraged to read the identified sections to
gain a better understanding of the context within which we work.
In summary, colonial Australia did not have local welfare traditions nor were services provided by the church or private
organisations. Early emphasis in child welfare was on provision of care for destitute children with the State taking on
responsibility for their care. Pressure for care and protection of children increased. The Children’s Court of Victoria and the
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (later the Children’s Protection Society) were established in 1896. The focus at
this time was on neglect and abandonment of children. The Children’s Protection Society has maintained an active role in
child welfare to the present but, in the 1980s, relinquished its role in investigation of reports of child abuse.
Initially, the focus of child protection was care of destitute children. Churches established children’s homes to rescue children
in moral danger and children suffering from abuse and neglect. Children’s homes and maternity hospitals were active in
placement of children within families where the children were fostered, adopted or boarded out. The Department played a
major role in the support of children and in supervision of placements. By the 1920s there were a significant number of
children in care in children’s homes who would not return to their family. There was pressure to find alternatives for these
children which ultimately led to the Adoption Act 1928.
In the 1960s and 1970s ‘the battered baby syndrome’ was recognised as a socio-medical issue and was added to the focus
on neglect and abandonment. The 1970s also saw a move away from institutional placement to foster care as the preferred
style of care for children. Concurrently there was a move to provide preventive support to families to keep children out of care.
Many institutions were closed during that period and foster care programs and family support programs were developed. The
1980s saw the inclusion of sexual abuse and domestic violence in the concerns relating to child protection.
The Children and Young Persons Act 1989 brought major changes to child protection. Initially the Act was interpreted to focus
on investigation and proof of child abuse and neglect, an interpretation that limited intervention and failed to adequately meet
the needs of many families referred to protective services. The Act introduced Permanent Care Orders as an option for
children who were unable to return to their birth parents due to the extent of problems within the birth family.
In 1985 the Department of Human Services took over the investigative functions for child protection from the Children’s
Protection Society initially with a ‘dual track’ system with the police. Later, the Department assumed sole responsibility for
investigation of child abuse. Mandatory reporting for specific professionals was introduced in 1993. Recently the Department
has initiated a number of Department sponsored programs which have a more child-centred and family-focused approach and
a more flexible response to problems of child abuse and neglect. The Department has developed the Victorian Risk
Framework (VRF) to guide practice in child protection.
Several trends in child welfare are currently evident and of relevance to adoption and permanent care of children. They reflect
the need to rethink services to better meet the needs of children in need of care and protection. The trends are:
• Re-notification of children is increasing with nearly one quarter of children notified four times or more.
• The number of children in out of home care has increased to over 7000.
• Foster care and permanent care agencies are experiencing significant recruitment problems.
The Department has instituted a number of strategies in response to these trends.
1.2.4 Adoption and permanent care teams
Adoption services have been provided by the Department of Human Services and community service organisations since
the 1928 Adoption Act was proclaimed. The private and public sectors have played an active role in delivery of services
throughout the history of adoption with both Government and voluntary services providing statewide services. In the 1980s
with the regionalisation of Departmental services and the impending passage of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989,
adoption and permanent care services were regionalised. The regionalisation of adoption and permanent care services was
completed in the 1990s with the opening of the Hume, Loddon Mallee and Grampians teams.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
There are now nine regional teams serving eight regions of the Department of Human Services, and one statewide service.
• Department teams:
– Hume
– Barwon-South Western
– Eastern Metropolitan
– Northern Metropolitan serving North and West Metropolitan Region
• Community services organisations teams:
– Uniting Care Connections serving Southern Metropolitan Region
– Ballarat Child and Family Services serving Grampians Region
– Anglicare Western serving North and West Metropolitan Region
– Anglicare Gippsland serving Gippsland Region
– St Luke’s Child and Family Services serving Loddon Mallee Region
• Centacare Catholic Family Services provides a statewide service
Each Region refers children who are case planned for permanent care to its regional service. However, children can be
placed outside their region in order to provide the optimal permanent placement. The Central Resource Exchange (CRE)
facilitates placement of children by providing a register of all eligible families awaiting placement and children in need of
permanent care. This service is managed by the head office of the Department of Human Services and is consulted by
workers when considering placement of a child.
Both the Adoption Act 1984 (Section 21) and the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 (Section 58) provide for the
approval of community service agencies to provide adoption and permanent care services. Agencies are required to meet
standards consistent with Department programs.
The system encourages close cooperation between adoption and permanent care teams. All teams work to the National
Standards in Adoption and ensure their practice is consistent with the Department of Human Services’ Adoption and
Permanent Care procedures manual.
1.2.5 Function and structure of the Department of Human Services
The Department of Human Services provides a wide range of services and funds many community service organisations.
It is a complex organisation and it is often difficult to understand the relationship between and within branches within the
Department, and the interaction between the Department and CSOs. Although the Department has undergone several
reorganisations in recent years, the information regarding the structure and functions of the Department provided in the
Child Protection beginning practice learning guide indicates the breadth of services and complexity of organisation. Current
organisation structure of the Department can be obtained through the program managers for Adoption and Permanent
Care located on the 20th floor of 555 Collins Street. All workers are encouraged to read Section 1.4: The organisational
context of the protective services in the Protective Services beginning practice learning guide.
Resources
Child Protection beginning practice learning guide, Section 1.4.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 15
Head office of the Department of Human Services
The Department of Human Services head office provides a number of services to adoption and permanent care including:
• policy
• consultancy
• training
• maintenance of standards
• approval of community service agencies.
Regional offices of the Department of Human Services
A&PC teams provide placement services and consultancy on permanent care issues to the regional offices of the
Department of Human services. Although there are substantial regional differences in delivery of services, there are also
common organisational structures within all regional offices.
Adoption and permanent care fall under Child Protection. Each region has five teams in Child Protection:
• Intake team
• Response team
• Adolescent team
• Long term children’s team
• Case contracting team.
Although at times workers will be consulting with the Protective Services Intake and Response teams or the Adolescent
team in relation to their work, workers relate to the Long term children’s team and the Case contracting team more
frequently. Prior to placement in permanent care, the Long term children’s team is responsible for the child. After placement
the child is generally transferred to the Case contracting team.
Each adoption and permanent care team must develop a working relationship with their regional child protection service
teams. Regional differences in service delivery and the location of the A&PC team within or outside the regional office play
a part in the character of that relationship. Work with protective services is collaborative, and it is important to develop a
positive working relationship between permanent care and protective services.
Resources
Section 3.2: Departmental decision making induction program, and Section 3.11: Supervision of placements, in the
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide.
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1.3 Life issues of adoption and permanent care
Learning goals
• To familiarise workers with life issues of adoption and permanent care for all parties.
• To sensitise workers to the need of each party to placement to deal with personal issues.
• To understand that all parties to placement experience loss and have a common relationship through their experience
of loss.
Where a child has been adopted or placed in a family through Permanent Care, each party to the placement—the child, the
birth family and the adoptive or permanent care family—face issues that are related to the way the family is formed. These
are universal issues and are not themselves indicators of problems. For most persons they are issues that are addressed
periodically and are at times felt intensely but are most often not talked about. These issues are experienced as part of
adoption or permanent care alongside the joys and pleasures of daily life. Because these issues are universal and all parties
to the placement must deal with them, it is essential that the adoptive or permanent care parents and the birth parents be
informed of possible issues, and that adoptive and permanent care parents have the capacity to deal with their issues and
to assist their children. These issues underpin the reasons for assessment of adoptive and permanent care parents.
Life issues of adoption and permanent care revolve around three themes:
• loss
• search for identity
• entitlement.
Loss is the common denominator of adoption and permanent care. All parties experience loss. The search for identity and
entitlement relate to the losses for each party. The children, the adoptive or permanent care parents, and the birth parents
are united through these issues, although expression of the issues may be different between adoption and permanent care.
When discussing life issues of adoption or permanent care, there is tendency to over-emphasise the possible negative
impacts of the issues. However, the issues of loss and the search for identity and entitlement emerge periodically while
people rework their understanding of the issues. The issues are part of a process of living with being part of a non-biological
family. Although the issues must be addressed periodically and may at times seem all important, most parties have no need
to dwell upon the issues for long periods. Adoption and permanent care issues tend to arise at periods of developmental
change that require re-evaluation of understanding for the child, or at times of reminder or trigger events in the lives of
adults. Many children and their birth parents, and adoptive or permanent care parents experience these feelings
infrequently, whereas other children and their birth parents and adoptive or permanent care parents may go through longer
periods of intense review during which adjustments are made. A small number become stuck on these issues and require
assistance to resolve them.
The positives of adoption and permanent care far outweigh the problems and issues for parties to the placement. The issues
are not generally the cause of great distress but are part the experience of every family raising a non-biological child and
every birth family related to that child.
Resources
Silverstein, D. & Kaplan, S., 1982, ‘Lifelong issues in adoption’ (available in the supplement to the Adoption and permanent
care learning guide).
Brodzinsky, D. M., Schechter, M. D. & Henig, R. M., 1903, Being Adopted: The life long search for self, Anchor Books,
New York.
Johnston, P., 1992, Adopting after Infertility, Perspectives Press, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Verrier, N., 1996, The Primal Wound: Understanding the adopted child, Gateway Press, Baltimore.
Armstrong, S. & Slaytor, P., 2001, The Colour of Difference: Journeys in transracial adoption, the Benevolent Society Postadoption Resource Centre, The Federation Press, Sydney.
Section 4.4: Identity, in the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 17
1.3.1 Loss
Adoption has been seen as a solution to a series of problems: for adoptive parents their infertility; for the child, the provision
of a family; and for the birth parent, the solution to an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy. Permanent care is a solution for
children who cannot be raised in their birth family. In reality, all are a way to resolve a crisis but they are imperfect solutions.
All parties face losses. Losses can and do help form identity, set values and priorities and expectations, but before a loss
can contribute positively to a person’s life, the loss must be mourned. Adoption does not cure infertility, nor does it allow a
couple to bypass the fact that they are unable to have biological children. Relinquishment is not just an event in a child’s
past. The permanent care parent cannot regain that part of the child’s life that they have missed. Birth parents must live with
the decision to relinquish a child and all its implications for themselves and for their future families, whether their children
were relinquished voluntarily or removed from their care by Protective Services. The issues for all parties are life-long.
Loss is the common denominator of adoption or permanent care. Each party experiences loss and that experience unites
them. It is a part of their personal history and it helps make each of them what they are. Parties to adoption or permanent
can seek to ignore the losses as acknowledging them can bring into focus the idea that adoption or permanent care is an
imperfect solution for every party. They risk becoming too close to the pain.
Intellectual and emotional understandings of placement are different. At some point each party encounters the differences
and must develop emotional acceptance and understanding of their situation. The issues are a part of adoption or
permanent care and create ‘extras’ for each party to deal with emotionally.
Parties to an adoption or permanent care have a shared fate. They are united through placement and how they interact,
whether in person or through emotional processes, has great significance to each party and their resolution of personal
issues.
1.3.2 Search for identity
Much has been written about the adopted person’s search for identity and many of the changes in the Adoption Act 1984
were made to assist adopted people in their search. Adopted persons have described their feelings of alienation and
disconnection which directly relate to their search for identify and their search for their past. They describe their confusion
and curiosity, and their need to know. What is written about adoption also applies to permanent care.
A part of identity formation is making connections with the past and accepting the events that have happened. These
events are formative and defining. To come to the point of accepting themselves and securely defining ‘who I am’ they must:
• accept the birth parent for who they are
• mourn the losses they have experienced.
The search for identity can be a painful process for a person who must acknowledge and address intense and painful
feelings related to relinquishment. The person must reconcile the pain with the positive experiences of the person’s ‘new’
families. Where experiences of abuse and neglect are a part of the past, the person raised in a non-biological family must
address even more issues of loss and pain. But the underlying need to know and accept the past is fundamental to feeling
whole and positive about oneself.
In discussing the search for identity, the focus is generally on the person raised in care. Identity issues, however, are also a
part of the birth parents’ and the adoptive or permanent care parents’ experiences. The lives of birth parents change with
relinquishment and that change affects their sense of self and their identity. The pregnancy and relinquishment are often
unplanned and occur without emotional preparation. Many birth parents express this as ‘I am a parent but have no children.’
Birth parents must incorporate what has happened into their identities and resolve the conflict between what has occurred
and that part of their sense of self that has been challenged and altered by the relinquishment.
The adoptive parents may face a search for identity. Being parents may have been a part of their identity but becoming
parents through adoption or permanent care may not have been a part of their senses of self. They must incorporate the
issues of parenting a non-biological child into their senses of self.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.3.3 Entitlement
The building of entitlement is central to adoption and permanent care: for the adoptive or permanent care parent, the
entitlement to be the parent to the child; for the child, the entitlement to belong within the new family; for the birth parent,
the entitlement to respect and to be a parent to other children.
Adoptive or permanent care parents
Without a sense of entitlement, it is difficult for an adoptive or permanent care parent to become a total parent to the child.
The parent may keep an emotional distance from the child or find it difficult to make demands on the child, or to set limits.
Many of the positive rewards of being a parent are denied to a person who does not feel entitled to be the parent. The
parents feel undermined personally and in the roles as parent and fears rejection by the child.
Birth parent
Relinquishing a child shatters many birth parents’ views of themselves. This can affect many aspects of their lives and how
they relate to others. If they feel guilty and shamed, it is difficult to feel entitled to form positive relationships and to accept
others’ expressions of caring. For many birth parents, feeling entitled to be loved and to respond to others’ expressions of
concern can be impaired, negatively affecting their lives.
Persons raised in care: the child
A common feeling of children who have been relinquished voluntarily or placed in care is that they are in some way
responsible for the decision. Their feelings can inhibit their building strong relationships with adoptive or permanent care
parents or birth parents. The blaming of self can support feelings of alienation, not belonging, and difference. It can place a
barrier to belonging and feeling entitled to be a part of the ‘new’ family and can place barriers to feeling entitled to be
accepted for the person they are.
Feeling entitled and the search for identity are strongly connected with the way a person handles loss. To resolve issues of
loss a person must mourn the loss.
Activity
Read Deborah Silverstein and Sharon Kaplan’s ‘Lifelong issues in adoption’ and discuss the issues of loss for each party with
you supervisor or in a team meeting.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 19
1.3.4 Issues for the adopted person
Being placed for adoption or permanent care has the capacity to raise many feelings for the child. It can affect the child’s
self esteem both negatively and positively, and create additional hurdles for identity development. It provides opportunity
and additional challenges associated with understanding the emotions of adoption and permanent care. The adopted
person by virtue of being adopted has the task of building his or her identity from the biological family and from the carer
family. She or he has the task of understanding the decision for placement not only intellectually but also emotionally. That
task requires the child to find a way to understand and accept that he or she has, in emotional terms, been ‘given away’ or
‘rejected’ by the birth mother, the person who is supposed to care for and protect him or her as an infant. The child has lost
his or her birth family and cannot rely on either the birth mother or father for protection or care. Intellectual understanding
and emotional understanding of adoption or permanent care are often very different.
Adopted children may experience a sense of disconnectedness from the past and a sense of confusion and alienation in
the present. They may at times experience a profound sense of loss that is pervasive and socially unrecognised. They often
feel a sense of isolation and bewilderment sometimes referred to as ‘genealogical bewilderment’ and a loss of
completeness with no way to fill the void within. These children may experience intense and generalised anger while
seeking to understand their situation. Each developmental task of childhood and adolescence becomes more difficult for
the children as they must navigate additional areas with few guideposts.
Activity
Think about what it would be like to be an adopted person. Define and list some of the issues which might affect the child’s
emotional development and leave the child more vulnerable to emotional problems in late childhood and adolescence.
Keep the list for reference when discussing placement support.
A core issue for the child is trust. If a parent cannot be trusted and counted on to care for a baby, who can be trusted? Can
the adoptive mother and father be trusted? What did I do to be rejected? Is there something wrong with me? What must I do
to be sure this does not happen again? These are issues that are not easily resolved and issues that may recur in different
ways and intensity throughout the child’s life.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.3.5 Issues for adoptive or permanent care parents
Adoptive or permanent care parents want to have children and in most cases have been very focused on having a
biological child before applying to adopt a child. Frequently they have experienced many losses related to infertility which
impact on their feelings of self-worth and self esteem and can leave them feeling powerless, out of control, hurt, angry and
inadequate. They have lost their dream child and their sense of continuity with the past and the future. They often feel out
of step with their friends and peers. Their belief that if you try hard enough you will succeed (a belief prevalent in our
culture) has been shattered. Achieving a pregnancy and the birth of a child is out of their control.
The infertility treatment may have assaulted the couple’s intimacy and may have taken over their lives to the detriment of
other aspects of living. They may see adoption as a way to avoid dealing with the many feelings connected with infertility.
The issues of infertility are not issues that are resolved and put behind. Even when the couple has moved to accept their
infertility and has made the decision to care for a child for the right reasons, those feelings are a part of the equation.
These feelings are sometimes described as ‘an old friend’. The feelings may remain dormant for long periods but make
themselves known at times of stress or during significant life events.
These feelings may affect the adoptive parents’ feeling of entitlement to be a parent. If a person does not feel entitled to
be a parent it is difficult to set limits or to allow the child to explore and develop his or her independence. These feelings
may lead the adoptive or permanent care parent to place unrealistic expectations on the child to be someone they cannot
be or to achieve in ways alien to the child. They may lead to the adoptive parents placing unrealistic expectations on
themselves to be the perfect parent, a task which brings inevitable failure.
Activity
Think about what it means to be an adopted parent and how some of the issues might be played out in placement. Define
and list some of the issues, which might leave the parents more vulnerable. Keep the list for reference when discussing
infertility and placement support.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 21
1.3.6 Issues for the birth parent
Birth and relinquishment of a child are not events a birth parent can ever forget. Birth parents can find themselves in a
situation where to keep the child is considered wrong by outsiders, and the decision to relinquish the child is not one that
is understood. The act of relinquishment creates confusion and a proliferation of negative feelings for the birth parent.
It is generally a situation where no decision is right. Each decision has consequences which have some negative impact.
The decision to relinquish a child has significant impact on the birth parent’s future life. While it may contribute to the birth
parent’s valuing of people, it may also increase the birth parents’ vulnerability to incorporating negative feelings about
themselves. Birth parents may experience strong feelings of guilt and a lessening of feelings of self-worth. Birth parents
may feel unworthy and may reject themselves. They have lost a child and have no acceptable public means to express
their feelings of loss. Where the child has been removed from the birth parent’s care, they may not accept the decision
and live the hurt and pain in their daily life.
Many birth parents speak of their comfort with the decision to adopt and with the placement but also speak of the
continuing pain they feel regarding giving up their child. These difficult feelings recur periodically and may be stronger at
certain times such as a child’s birthday or Christmas. Circumstances will change for a birth parent and decisions they
made at a particular time may not be the decision they would have made in different circumstances.
Activity
Think about what it would be like to be a birth parent and how issues of loss might be played out. Define and list some of
the issues which might leave birth parents more vulnerable to incorporating negative views of themselves. Keep the list for
reference when exploring relinquishment counselling.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
1.3.7 Mourning the loss
Loss is the common denominator of adoption and permanent care. The life issues of adoption and permanent care for
each party are related to their common experience and to the personal resilience of each person in managing loss. Loss is
a universal human experience and one that enriches our understanding and our lives. Before a person can experience the
enrichment of loss, the strengthening of confidence in oneself to handle adversity, the re-evaluation of values and
priorities, the increased understanding of people and their vulnerabilities and other positive learning, the loss must be
mourned. Each person must allow themselves to experience the feelings and to work with these feelings to gain an
understanding. This allows the person to accept what has happened and to move on.
There are five stages of grief essential to the mourning process (see the diagram below). They are not experienced
sequentially but rather people move between sets of feelings as they make adjustments to their loss. It is possible
for a person to ‘get stuck’ in any of the first four stages and be unable to move forward without assistance.
Figure 1.1: The five stages of grief
Denial
Acceptance
Anger
Depression
Bargaining
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 23
Denial
A person may not believe that the adoption event happened: the child may develop a fantasy which denies the
relinquishment; the birth parent might maintain the belief that the placement is temporary. Denial is characterised
by shock and some degree of detachment to the event. It is generally the first reaction to a major loss but it often
recurs regularly.
Anger
Anger is a means of confronting the loss and avoiding its pain, at least temporarily. What has happened is viewed as unfair
and there is an element of ‘why me.’ Adults and older children generally handle feelings verbally. They connect their anger
to an event or circumstance and focus on that. Where there is no explanation for what has happened, as in many cases of
infertility, considerable anger can be focused on the unknown. Many adoptive parents indicate that not having something
to focus their anger on makes it harder to resolve the anger. For the adopted person, the event generally occurred during a
preverbal stage and the child may have difficulty in verbalising the feelings and connecting the feelings to events in their
lives. In such situations the anger is generalised and often expressed behaviourally.
The birth parent may remain angry and non-accepting of the child being removed from his or her care. Others may be
blamed for what has happened and birth parents may be hostile toward workers, their parents and others who may have
attempted to assist them. It may be easier to remain angry than to deal with the pain.
Bargaining
At some point a person feels that the loss can be changed or not experienced, if he or she acts in a certain way. This is a
universal feeling. Most people recognise that their current actions cannot change the past but it is possible to get stuck in
this phase believing that they can avoid experiencing loss if they can only act in a certain manner. Silverstein and Kaplan
described persons stuck in this phase as ‘people pleasers’ but it may take on other characteristic. For instance, a child
may try to be so good that he or she cannot be sent away or the adoptive or permanent care parent may try to be perfect
so that people will not know that they feel inadequate.
Depression
There is good reason for depression following the experience of significant loss. Depression with its intense sadness
embodies all the negative feelings experienced following the loss. As one adjusts, depression lifts and does not rule the life
and emotions of the person.
Acceptance
Acceptance is an often-misunderstood term. It does not mean that a person does not remember or experience ongoing
sadness and feelings which have a strong element of distress. It means that the feelings connected with the loss do not
determine the person’s outlook on life, or their behaviour and response to situations. The person can function and
experience the pleasures and pains of life and learn from the experience they have been through.
Until a loss can be mourned, a person is not in a position to move forward. If mourning is incomplete, people may become
stuck, and their experience determines their actions without them being in a position to control their behaviour. Learning
from the experience enriches one’s life. The task for each party is to reach the point where they can find a way to
understand the loss and where they can use the experience to enrich their lives rather than relive the pain.
Mourning for most people is a process which has an end. The loss becomes a part of their lives and something they can
learn from. The feelings are there, but no longer overwhelm or direct the person. The person can acknowledge the loss and
acknowledge the richness in their lives. They can use their experience to evaluate ‘who am I’ and to set value and priority
on their lives.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
Activity
Read the Silverstein and Kaplan article ‘Lifelong Issues in Adoption’ and review the table ‘Seven core issues in adoption’
attached to the article. The article is available in the supplement to the Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide.
Choose one issue. Try to imagine yourself as a child, a birth parent, or an adoptive or permanent care parent being
controlled by that issue. How do you think you would react to those around you? Discuss with your supervisor.
When you attend the adoption and permanent care workshops, identify the areas relating to loss that are covered during
the workshops.
Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide 25
1.4 Checklist of things to do
In the first six weeks
1
View the videos:
– Building New Families: Permanent care, 2004, Centacare Catholic Family Services, Triple A Productions, Melbourne.
– A Challenge Worth Taking: Growing up in permanent care, 2003, Centacare Catholic Family Services, Triple A
Productions, Melbourne.
– You Can Do It, 1998, Anglicare Victoria, Tapeflex, Melbourne.
– These videos were produced by Adoption and Permanent Care and are available in your agency.
– Identify four issues from each video to discuss with your supervisor.
2
Arrange a visit to:
– Adoption and Family Records Service (AFRS) of the Department of Human Services or the Adoption Information
Service (AIS) of your agency
– VANISH (Victorian Adoption Network for Information and Self Help)
– MacKillop Heritage and Information Service (provides information to persons placed in the Catholic
Children’s homes)
– a foster care agency in your region
– a case contracting team in your region
– the Disability Services Initiative in Adoption and Permanent Care (DISAPC), Head Office, Department of
Human Services.
3
Meet with Administration staff to learn the record keeping procedures of your agency.
As soon as can be arranged
1
Attend a Link Meeting—Read reports on child and families to be presented before Meeting.
2
Attend an Applicant Assessment Committee Meeting (AAC)—Read the report and prepare questions regarding the
applicants prior to the meeting.
3
Attend a case planning meeting—Read the permanent care worker’s report prior to meeting.
4
Attend a permanent care hearing at a children’s court with another worker—Observe pre-hearing negotiations and as
well as a contested hearing if possible.
Prepare questions ahead of each visit. Discuss what you have learned with your supervisor after the visit. Wherever
possible, make these visits with other new starters or other workers in your agency.
5
Observe an experienced worker (your supervisor will make the necessary arrangement).
6
Obtain a copy of your agency Privacy Policy and Procedures. Discuss the policy with your supervisor.
7
Attend workshops:
– Adoption Information Program—The programs are held periodically through Head Office
(Department of Human Services).
– Adoption Education Workshop—The Education programs are organised through Head Office (Department of Human
Services) for regional teams and are held several times each year. Centacare CFS holds two adoption education
programs each year. Contact both sources for the next workshop.
Complete Section 1.3: Life issues of adoption and permanent care of the Adoption and Permanent Care
learning guide and read section 7, page 45 of the Department of Human Services Adoption and Permanent Care
procedures manual before attending the workshops. Note how the issues of loss are addressed throughout
the workshop.
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Adoption and Permanent Care learning guide
Each couple receives a resource pack during the workshop. You should read all the handouts provided to the
prospective applicants.
– Permanent Care Information Program—Each Regional Team and Centacare runs Information Programs regularly.
– Permanent Care Education Workshop—Regional teams and Centacare run Education Workshops periodically.
Read Section 7, pages 42–44 of the Department of Human Services Adoption and Permanent Care procedures
manual before attending the workshop.
Each prospective applicant receives a resource pack at the workshop. You should read all the handouts provided
to prospective permanent care parents by your agency.
8
Read Fahlberg, V., 1994, A Child’s Journey through Placement, BAAF, London (available through the Department’s
library if your agency does not have a copy).