July 26-28, NACAC Conference: About 90% of the children in foster care have “special needs,” representing challenges in placing them for adoption. Specialized support and preservation services save families and benefit society. The types of post adoption services required to help many of these families clearly go beyond weekly counseling sessions; they involve:

• family therapeutic interventions with home-based service availability

• 24-hour phone support in emergencies

• advocacy for other needed services (educational, diagnostic, etc.)

• child and parent support groups

• case coordination with other professionals

• respite care

Workers providing these services need specialized training in a range of competencies and interventions. Evaluations of such programs that exist in two states document their effectiveness (Smith & Howard, 1999; Atkinson & Gonet, 2007). Link to Conference Handouts