Adoption & Foster Care

Submitted to:Department of Health and Human ServicesAssistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Submitted by: Westat Chapin Hall Center for Children James Bell Associates

Issue Papers on Foster Care and Adoption Adoption Dynamics: The Impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act by Fred H. Wulczyn Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago August, 2002

Evaluation of Family Preservation and Reunification Programs Estimating Child Welfare Service Costs: Methods Developed for the Evaluation of Family Preservation and Reunification Programs Submitted to:Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Recent fiscal reform initiatives have attempted to address some of the seemingly chronic problems of the child welfare system in the United States. This report describes how states are implementing fiscal reforms to contain costs or improve system performance. It also identifies issues that the implementation of fiscal reforms faces and describes how well fiscal reforms appear to be working.

Issue Papers on Foster Care and Adoption Growth in the Adoption Population by Fred H. Wulczyn and Kristin Brunner Hislop, Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago March, 2002

Employment Outcomes for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Final Report Robert M. Goerge, Principal Investigator Lucy Bilaver, Bong Joo Lee Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago Barbara Needell, Alan Brookhart, William Jackman Center for Social Services Research, University of California Berkeley March, 2002

Issue Papers on Foster Care and Adoption Foster Care Dynamics in Urban and Non-Urban Counties February 2002 This paper is available on the Internet at:http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/fostercare-issues02/dynamics/index.htm

1. Background InformationOhio's child welfare system is administered at the county level with supervision provided by the state. Of Ohio's 88 counties, 25, including the major metropolitan areas of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, have adopted the Annie E. Casey Foundation's reform initiative called Family to Family.

Contents Permanency and Reunification Trends in 25 States Reunification From Foster Care in Nine States 1990-1997: Description and Interpretation The Role of Race in Parental Reunification Casework Decision Making

1. Introduction and BackgroundMothers Making a Change (MMAC) is a public program serving mothers with a substance abuse problem in Cobb and Douglas counties in Georgia. MMAC came to our attention during a discussion with the Foster Care Unit Manager in the Social Services Section of the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) in Atlanta.