Casey Center Facilitates Financing Post-Adoption Services New England Planning And Networking Meeting
by Sarah B. Greenblatt, Director

In October 2003, the Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice facilitated a two-day planning and networking meeting with representatives from the New England states to explore strategies to fund a comprehensive array of post-adoption services. Adoption managers from each of the New England states were joined by a team of four to five people that included their state child welfare fiscal managers as well as other foster care and adoption program staff, contract organizations that support adoptive families, and representatives of foster and adoptive families.

A unique opportunity for learning emerged by bringing program and fiscal managers together to deepen their understanding about the increasing need for post-adoption supports and the funding streams that are available today to support these critically needed services. The meeting was co-facilitated by Don Schmid, a consultant and former child welfare director from the state of North Dakota, who has worked as well with the Casey Center's director, Sarah Greenblatt, to develop a white paper on financing post-adoption services (which is now available on the Casey Family Services website).

Funding for Post-Adoption Services Described
The meeting began with a brief overview from each state of their current program efforts and financial commitments to support adopted children and their families as well as those foster families making the transition to adoption. Schmid asked clarifying questions of each state to better understand their circumstances and the resources being used. Greenblatt facilitated a discussion with the group about the growing need for post-adoption services -- not only to support families adopting vulnerable children from the foster care system, but also to strengthen the recruitment of more foster and adoptive resource families by assuring them that the agency will make a commitment to "go the distance" in supporting their children's post-adoption adjustment needs.

The group engaged in an informative discussion about the range of educational, support, therapeutic, and respite services used by adopted children and their families throughout the lifelong developmental process of adoption. Schmid then reviewed the blend of federal funding streams that as of October 2003 can be used to support this extensive array of service and training supports. He explained the percentage of state matching dollars that are needed to first draw down the open-ended federal funds (Title IV-E and Title XIX, Medicaid), and then the capped federal funding streams (Title IV-B, Parts 1 & 2; Title XX; TANF; or Adoption Incentive). Schmid commented that while each state may have its own limitations on how the capped federal funds can be utilized, this approach maximizes federal revenue and may potentially reduce the state general fund obligation. "It is important to realize as well," he said, "that some post-adoption services can be funded with a blend of several revenue sources. States must then decide which 'mix' works best for them and the adopted children they are obligated to serve." He also advised states to engage in a process of reviewing current strategies for claiming federal reimbursement for child welfare services -- with the goal of maximizing the federal revenues claimed to produce savings in state general funds, which can in turn be used to draw down federal funds for a post-adoption services funding priority.

A chart, Financing Post-Adoption Services: Matching Services with Funding Sources, was shared at the meeting to highlight the administrative, case management and services/treatment as well as training components of an array of post-adoption services used by adoptive families, and the major federal revenue sources available to fund them as of October 2003.

State Teams Meet to Develop a Plan.
Each state team had an opportunity to meet together to review the information shared, consider the post-adoption programs already in place, and identify the resources needed to support the growing number of children being adopted in their states. Each state team described the opportunities available to them to strengthen and sustain their commitment to fund a blend of post-adoption services, and identified the next steps they will take -- next week, within three months, and within a year's time. State teams left with a list of interdisciplinary meetings they plan to convene, funds they can use to draw down additional federal revenues, and a deeper understanding of the need for a comprehensive array of services to support families coming together through adoption. The state teams agreed to meet again in early 2004 to review their progress and to access additional technical assistance from one another, Don Schmid, and the Casey Center.

A "Can Do" Approach is Needed.
Participants at this meeting learned that the funding of post-adoption services is complicated, but can be done! It is complicated because there are very few federal revenue sources that are targeted just for adoption and post-adoption services -- and when there are, they are very limited. Yet, funding for post-adoption services can be done because the kinds of services that adoptive families need can be funded with a combination of existing revenue sources that are broad and already being used for a variety of child welfare services and adoption programs.

Schmid urged states to work with their federal regional office of the Children's Bureau whenever implementing new funding strategies to ensure they are claiming within federal regulations and guidelines. "By doing this up front," he commented, "it will reduce the potential for a federal claim disallowance later." He also commented that while access to federal funds and how they are administered varies from state to state, the reality that funds are available makes it imperative that states establish a priority for funding post-adoption services, and the mechanisms to draw down the funds to develop the post-adoption service array that can best meet the needs of adopted children and families.

Learning While Doing.
Casey Family Services and the Annie E. Casey Foundation have learned through their work in New England and across the country that all families need an array of community supports to best meet the developmental needs of their children. Yet, we are also learning that the families coming forward to adopt special needs children have an even greater need for an array of services and supports to address the often-traumatic experiences children have had prior to their adoptions -- and which have a significant impact on how children and their new families adjust after their adoptions are finalized.

While federal adoption initiatives have been successful, the infrastructure to support these public agency adoptions has not kept up. Adoption professionals and adoptive families across the country tell us that there is a lack of adequate adoption-competent services available to support these adoptive families. Without the availability of these services, it can be anticipated that many potential adoptive families may choose not to adopt, or the numbers of people coming forward to adopt special needs children may begin to decrease, and those adoptions already finalized may be at greater risk of dissolving.

Thus, while we know that as many states face serious budget deficits and many are questioning whether they can afford post-adoption service programs, states cannot afford not to plan for and/or expand their post-adoption services if children's needs for a permanent family are to be met through adoption when that is the appropriate goal. We are learning together with the states where we are working that the need has never been greater for states to creatively find the mix of federal, state and even private funds to provide critically needed post-adoption services and supports so adoptive families can sustain a lifetime of supportive family relationships and connections for children -- true permanency.

The Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice plans to convene planning and networking meetings throughout the country during the 2004 program year -- bringing together state child welfare program and fiscal teams that can together address the needs of the growing number of children finding permanent families through adoption.

For information, please contact Sarah B. Greenblatt at sgreenblatt@caseyfamilyser-vices.org.

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