Facilitating permanence and promoting the wellbeing of abused and neglected children through open adoption from care

Book section : Chapter

This chapter presents findings from the international research on outcomes of out-of-home care and adoption. It explores policy concerns regarding the lack of permanence in out-of-home care, the poor outcomes of care leavers and the long-term impact of abuse and neglect throughout the life cycle. It discusses the troubled history of adoption internationally. Within this context the chapter then presents the findings from a recent longitudinal study which traced the needs, experiences and outcomes of a cohort of 210 non-Aboriginal Australian children who were adopted from care. Data were collected from case notes and papers presented to court at the time of the adoption order, from a survey completed by adoptive parents and adoptees and from subsequent in-depth interviews with about one in four of the adoptees and their adoptive parents. All 210 adoptees were traced from notification of abuse or neglect to placement in permanent homes, and 93 (44%) from entry to their adoptive homes until the follow-up cut-off date, on average 18 years after permanent placement.

Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data from this study and also from a contemporaneous study of Australian care leavers, this chapter explores whether open adoption offered better opportunities than long-term foster care for achieving permanence, continuing support into adulthood and satisfactory adult outcomes for abused and neglected children in out-of-home care who could not safely return to their birth families. It considers the impact of face-to-face contact with birth parents on the stability of placements.

Finally, this chapter discusses the implications for policy and practice both for children in out-of-home care and for those who are placed for adoption. These include messages concerning ongoing support for care leavers; recruitment, training and continuing support for adoptive parents; and contact arrangements for adoptees.

Authors: Ward, H; Moggach, L; Tregeagle, S; Trivedi, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Host title: The Routledge Handbook of Child and Family Social Work Research: Knowledge-Building, Application, and Impact
• Pages: 594-608
• Chapter number: 36
• Series: Routledge International Handbooks
• Place of publication: London
• Publication date: 2024-09-30
• Edition: 1
• EISBN: 9781003241492
• ISBN-10: 1032148640
• ISBN-13: 9781032148649
• Language: English
• Keywords: fostering; adoption; out-of-home care; children's social care; social work; social science
• Subtype: Chapter