Do adoption support services increase satisfaction in parents who adopt internationally?

Project (M.S.W., Social Work)--California State University, Sacramento, 2012.The current literature supports the need for adoption services to assist parents to prepare for and manage the complexities involved with international adoptions (Barth & Miller, 2000; Miller, 2005; Tan, 2007; Barth, 2005; Juffer, 2006; Kupel, 2010; Kim, 2009). This project examined the adoption experiences and support services of parents who adopted children internationally for the purposes of gathering information that could be used to improve future adoption services for families. The researchers conducted interviews with 16 adoptive parents that resulted in the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. All of the participant families indicated that adoption was the right choice for them; and 68.75% of these participants reported they completed pre-adoptive training and post-placement services. Most of the participants (62.50% and 56.25% for pre-adoptive and post-placement services, respectively) liked the services they received from their agencies. The researchers found a relationship between adoption support services and parental satisfaction with international adoptions. However, the researchers were not able to establish whether the services actually increased parental satisfaction because all of the participants indicated they were satisfied with their adoptions despite their experiences with adoption services. Consequently, the researchers posed additional questions and made recommendations for future research.Social Wor