This report outlines the findings of two legislatively mandated adoption-research studies conducted by AdoptUSKids. In the first study (“Barriers”), 300 families seeking to adopt children with special needs from the public child welfare system were surveyed about actual and potential barriers to the completion of the adoption process. More than 380 private- and public-agency adoption staff members were also surveyed. In the second study (“Success Factors”), 161 families who had adopted children with special needs were surveyed about factors that contributed to successful adoption outcomes. In total, families and staff came from all ten standard federal regions, 47 states, and the District of Columbia.
Published: 2008
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