Permanency/Adoption 1

Head: Permanency/Adoption

Wilmington University Victoria Kamara November 18, 2013

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I always been interested in adoption and the process that goes into being an adoptive parent. Growing up, whenever I saw those commercials on television about children living in poverty, I told myself I was going to adopt a child and provide them with the opportunities I was given. So when I started interning at Progressive Life Center, I wanted to learn about adoption and the necessary steps that a potential parent takes to adopt a child. For this paper, I decided to focus on the permanency/adoption program at Progressive Life Center. The permanency/adoption program primary goal is to get children in permanent homes whether its through permanency or adoption. Permanency is when a child or children has a permanent place to call home. The thing about permanency is, it is not guarantee because the biological parents rights are not terminated. This mean the biological parents can petition to the court to get their child/children back at any time. Adoption on the other hand is more official because the biological parents rights are terminated. The goal of permanency is to reunite children with their families once the family gets themselves together. However, because the biological parent wants their child or children, it doesnt means that the foster parent just give the child/children back with no problem. The foster parent can also go to court and fight to keep the child/children in their home. The documentations that has to be attain for permanency and adoption are clearances, a physical on each family member residing in the home or that visit frequently, home study, family profile and child profile. The family and child profile is a document that provide in-depth information on the persons background. It includes everything from childhood, high school, adult, medical information, and family relationships pertaining to that person. There is also a child prep service that address the goal of the permanency whether its reunification or ultimately adoption. Each parent must complete 32 hours of training and their clearances have to be updated

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every year. Others documents consist of marriage license, divorce paper, death certificate, tax rebate etc. With permanency there is no need for a lawyer because the judge make the decision. A child have to live with a foster parent for six month before being consider for permanency or adoption. Darrell P is the program supervisor and he has an intake coordinator and Sharon S as the permanency/adoption worker who has about eight consultants working under her. There are three people responsible for managing the program. Dr. Lee who is the regional director oversees the operation of the program, Darrell is the supervisor who manages the intake coordinator and the permanency/adoption worker. The permanency/adoption worker manage the eight contractor working alongside her. So everyone has a part in the management of this program. Darrell as a supervisor is very involve with his staff by having weekly meetings with them. He offers assistance with a difficult cases and review paperwork that the contractors turn in to make sure everything is on point before submitting it to DHS. One of Darrell staff describe him as being supportive at time but she will like him to be more supportive, he can be stubborn, he and his staff has their own way of doing things and he uses Im the supervisor to get his way some times. DHS is where they get all of their referrals from so there is a requirement for doing paperwork according to DHS expectations. The program is affiliate with the statewide adoption network (SWAN) so each worker much be certify for completing family profile, child profile and offering the child preps services. This program does not have a set budget but they receive their funding from the state through the county. They receive Statewide Adoption Network (contract) for adoption. They do not get funding specifically for this program. From my observation, the program can be more organize and structure. If I was the director, I will manage the program differently in a way that I will be

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more hands on. I understand that the supervisor is involve but his involvement is reviewing paperwork and having the weekly meetings that usually doesnt occur. He is in his office most of the time and the interaction between him and his staff is lacking. The director of this program doesnt macro manage. She only make sure that the program is running effective and meeting the requirements of DHS and Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN). As the director of the program I want to work together with my staff so that we are all on the same page. I will have weekly staff meeting to discuss what each staff is working on and if there is the problem, the team can offer their suggestions. I dont want my staff to have their own way of doing things and I have my own way. I want us to be on the same page and have an understanding of our job responsibilities. However, I am not oppose to staff finding a system that works for them when completing assignments. I will keep the goals and purpose of the program the same and I will also keep the same staff and evaluate their performance over time to see if they are in fact meeting the job expectations. I will continue to get funding from the state through the county and try to find funding specifically for the program needs. Some of the qualities that I would look for in employees are someone with sufficient experience, meet the educational requirement, someone that is hard working, focus, responsible, confident, ambitious, passionate, good work ethic and take initiative. All of these characteristics sum into a person that can get the job done. An intern is a student wanting to learn about an agency they are not familiar with so when Im looking for intern for this program, I want someone that is coming in with the ability and eagerness to learn. I am looking for an intern that has a passionate about working for an

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adoption program. I will appreciate an intern that can take initiative, responsible, proactive with the desire to make the most out of their internship experience.

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References Progressive Life Center- Adoption/Permanency Program.