Increasing knowledge of the adoptions process and concurrent planning of pre-adoptive families

The purpose of this project is to identify and create needed information and training material on the concurrent planning process in foster care taking place through Child Welfare Services in Humboldt County. Participants were professionals currently working in the Adoptions Unit at Humboldt County Child Welfare Services. The data was collected through in person interviews. Several educational needs were identified and include: more information about concurrent planning, clear explanations of terms used by CWS and other foster care agencies, the types of adoptions, the adoptions process, and of legal matters including the legal implications of adopting a child, and providing this information prior to parents agreeing to become foster care providers or adoptive parents. Additional research is needed to identify what post-adoptive families believe the needs to be in educating, preparing, and supporting them in their experience of foster care, adoption, and the concurrent planning practices and implications. Feedback from those who have experienced this process is the best source of information for identifying how to improve services and policies through their subjective, lived knowledge.