Grantee Projects Adoptions Unlimited Inc.

Family Connections Project (April 2010)

The Family Connections Project is a partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and two private agencies, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and Hull House.  Adoptions Unlimited is not a direct service agency, but administers the adoption exchange for the State of Illinois.

Training has been a major activity of the project.  Curricula were developed to train legal professionals, case workers, foster/adoptive parents and youth in understanding the importance of youth maintaining family and other important relationships while youth move to permanent families or other supportive situations that will serve them well as they grow into young adults.  A video was made to assist in the training programs.  The video has been distributed nationwide and is available for the cost of duplication by contacting the project.  Click this link to view the Family Connections Video »

“Maintaining Connections”

An online adoption education service for parents and professionals, Adoption Learning Partners, has added “Maintaining Connections” to its offerings.  Created by the Family Connections Project through Adoptions Unlimited, Inc. in Chicago, the goals of this course are to help child welfare professionals recognize the benefits to older youth in care of maintaining connections with their birth families, and to facilitate adoptions in which older foster youth can maintain such contacts.  Enrollment in Maintaining Connections is free of charge. To access the course, go to: http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/.

As ofApril 2010, seventy-seven youth have been identified by our partner agencies and have received services through the project including adoption listing; matching with potential adoptive families; adoptive placements; formalizing foster parents’ long-term commitment to a youth; finding “lost” relatives, especially siblings; helping youth understand through training, that they need adult support and commitment when “aging out” of the child welfare system; providing adults who are committed to a long-term relationship with youth in the independent living and transitional living programs; providing regular, consistent contact, including monthly care packages for youth in college; and giving youth a voice (with a live panel), during the legal professionals training so they could speak out about the importance of ongoing family connections.

“Strong Connections” Theatre Troupe:

A Chicago theatre company worked with young adults who have left the child welfare system, through adoption, guardianship or “aging out.” They created original material from their life experiences on the importance of family connections.  The first performance of the “Strong Connections” theatre troupe took place September 19, 2008.  About 130 people attended the first performance, including the chief judge of the Cook County Juvenile Court, other judges and staff from the court, and Deputy Directors from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS). To date over 2,465 people have attended a performance of “Strong Connections.”  Click this link to view the “Strong Connections” theatre troupe performance. A DVD copy of the video is available by contacting the project. Click this link for information on How to Replicate the Strong Connections Theatre Project.

Key components and strategies of the Family Connections Project include:

• An ongoing advisory workgroup that consists of representatives from the child welfare community, including caseworkers, youth, adoptive parents, and attorneys.

• Training for caseworkers, court personnel, foster and adoptive parents, and youth.

• Ongoing involvement of project staff with youth in the project and their caseworkers to promote permanencies that sustain important relationships.

• Lifebook work with youth to assist them in making sense of their past and exploring important connections they would like to preserve.

• Development of a DVD and a theater performance, through which youth convey the importance of maintaining positive relationships in their lives.

• A mentoring program matching adult mentors and youth.

• Curricula available for legal professionals, foster and adoptive parents, youth, and social workers.

• Online social worker training (with CEUs).

Major Challenge

• Caseworker turnover

Selected evaluation findings:

• Survey responses from 122 workers and 127 foster parents indicated that the majority of workers support some level of openness in child welfare adoptions as compared to the majority of foster parents not supporting openness.
• Trainings were very positively evaluated by recipients from all groups.  For example, workers completing pre and post tests reported positive changes in attitudes toward openness on mean scores of the Open Adoption Scale.

For more information, please contact:
Marilyn Panichi
Adoptions Unlimited, Inc.
120 W. Madison Street, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone:  312-346-1516
email: mrp@adoptinfo-ill.org