Examining Post-Adoption Services: What Adoptive Families Need for Beneficial Outcomes

This research is about what post-adoption services exist, what sort of supports and services adoptive families need, and if there are any disparities. The researcher aimed to answer the multidimensional research question: What types of post-adoption issues do adoptive parents identify, how were these issues addressed, and what do they recommend to other adoptive parents? A qualitative research design with a narrative analysis was used to conduct the study. The Ecological Approach was used as the conceptual framework. The researcher found that both participants participated in foster to adopt, felt they did not receive the full extent of the supports and services they needed, however they did have some informal personal supports they accessed on their own. The main theme of the data suggested that social workers and other professionals do not have the specific knowledge base about the workings and challenges of adoption that is necessary in order to properly serve the adoptive family population. Further research and additional education is required to appropriately meet the needs of these families in future work