	Adoption Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-AS 13: Personnel

Personnel are qualified and receive support to facilitate the development of permanent caring relationships between children and adoptive families.

Note: When the agency is unable to fully implement one or more of the practice standards, intensive efforts should be made to fully implement the other standards. For example, if the agency is unable to recruit workers with specific qualifications, it can ensure that appropriate supervision and workload standards are implemented.

PA-AS 13.01

Adoption workers are qualified by:

an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field; or
a bachelor’s degree in social work; or
a bachelor's degree with two years of related experience.

PA-AS 13.02

Supervisors are qualified by an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field and two years of experience in working with children and families, preferably in adoption.

PA-AS 13.03

Adoption workers have the competencies to:

facilitate adoptions that meet applicable legal requirements;
conduct assessments and identify children with special needs;
provide support to persons affected by adoption to cope with social and emotional issues;
facilitate adoptions for children with special needs; and
maintain and protect confidential information and assist persons served to access information, as outlined by applicable law.

Interpretation: Competency can be demonstrated through education, training, or experience.

PA-AS 13.04

Adoption workers and supervisors, depending on job responsibilities, are knowledgeable about relevant provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) including:

the importance of ICWA and special considerations for working with Indian children;
the identification of Indian children;
determination of jurisdiction;
appropriate notice and collaboration with the child's tribe;
placement preferences that support the child's connection to their native culture and heritage;
process for, and alternatives to, terminating parental rights; and
court procedures.

PA-AS 13.05

The agency determines the appropriate type of in-service training needed to ensure personnel remain current on adoption trends and practice issues.

PA-AS 13.06

Adoption workers maintain a manageable workload, and cases are assigned according to a system that takes into consideration:

the qualifications and competencies of the worker and the supervisor;
the complexity and status of the case;
services provided by other professionals or team members; and
other agency responsibilities.

Interpretation: Case complexity can take into account: intensity of child and family needs and size of the family. Generally, caseloads do not exceed 12-25 families. However, there are circumstances under which caseloads may exceed these limits. For example, caseload size may vary depending upon the volume of administrative case functions (e.g., entering notes, filing, etc.) assigned to the worker. Caseloads may also be higher when agencies are faced with temporary vacancies on staff.

Note: The evaluation of this standard will focus on whether the assigned workload is manageable for staff, taking into account the factors cited in the standard and interpretation. The specific caseload sizes stated in the interpretation are only a suggestion of what might be appropriate. Each agency should determine what caseload size is appropriate, and reviewers will evaluate: (1) whether the agency’s designated caseload size reflects a manageable workload, and (2) whether the agency maintains caseloads of the size it deemed appropriate.

Research Note: Research on special needs adoptions suggests that high caseloads can make it difficult to recruit prospective adoptive families, and can delay the processing of homestudies and background checks. Additionally, high caseloads may lead to infrequent contact by adoption workers, which can cause some prospective adoptive parents to seek services from other providers.

PA-AS 13.07

Supervisors or experienced workers provide additional knowledge, skills, and support when personnel are new or are still developing competencies.

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	PURPOSE: Adoption Services establish a permanent family for children and youth awaiting adoption, and increase the well-being and functioning of birth parents, adoptive families, and adopted individuals.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master's level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor's degree, an associate's degree, or an educational certificate.


	SOCIAL WORK Professionally responsible interventions carried out by persons with formal, professional education at the BSW or MSW level from an accredited school of social work and appropriate licensing, certification, and registration credentials. Interventions are directed toward improving the transactions between people and environments to enhance the adaptive capacities of the participants and improve environments for all that function within them. Social work is a professional practice with a consumer group consisting of individuals, families, small groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities and involving the disciplined application of knowledge and skill.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	IN-SERVICE TRAINING Educational programs provided by an organization to help personnel become more knowledgeable, skilled, and effective in accomplishing specific tasks or meeting the overall objectives of the organization. Such training often occurs on the job and for short time periods.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	CASELOAD The aggregate number of clients and/or consumers of service (including individuals, families, and groups) for whom a given employee is responsible. See also WORKLOAD


	BACKGROUND CHECK The review of an individual's personal information typically performed by or at the request of an employer, which may include verification of educational credentials or employment experience, as well as an examination of the individual's criminal records, driving records, licensing records, and civil abuse or neglect history.