Adoption in Child Time, Inc.

• Don’t Make Kids Wait (PDF version for printing)
  Waiting for the welfare system or court to do something is destructive to children. This article graphically describes the harm done to children by waiting. Four practical suggestions are provided on how to change or enter the systems and shorten the time spent in temporary care.
• Learning to Love Again: Treating Reactive Attachment Disorder (PDF version for printing)
  One all-too-common consequenceof interrupting bonded relationships and being shuffled around and parked in fostercare for extended periods is a resultant failure to attach. This article emphasizes the need for patienceand provides practical home therapies to help the child trust and love again.
• There's No Place Like a Permanent Home (PDF version for printing)
  Every child has the right to a permanent home. Caseworkers need to begin as soon as the child is removed from the parental home with a reunification plan, set deadlines for the completion of the required corrections, follow up, and have zero tolerance for delay. One year is already too long a time in the life of a child to be in temporary care.

Topics of Concern Collection

• Adoption Subsidies and Tax Issues for Adoptive Parents (PDF version for printing)
  The federal and state governments, wishing to end foster care drift and provide incentives for adoption, have offered a variety of post-adoption subsidies. Families who adopt special needs children should not hesitate to take advantage of these subsidies. The money is for the children.
• Advocating For Your Foster Children (PDF version for printing)
  Foster parents have the right to be heard in court. They were given this right in 1997 by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA.) The right to be heard, however, does not guarantee that foster parents will be taken seriously. To be effective foster parents must have something important to say, be able to document and support it, know when and where to say it, and know what they wish to accomplish.
• The Case Conference Policy Of The Division Of Family And Children (PDF version for printing)
  Foster parents will have a voice in what happens to the children in their care, thanks to a new policy of the Division of Family and Children. The new policy became effective January 1, 1998. The policy was developed by the Division of Family and Children and IFCAA board members working together.
• The Importance of Bonding In Legal Decisions Affecting Foster Children (PDF version for printing)
  Bonding has often been ill-defined. Mental health professionals have been vague and fuzzy, giving opinion rather than data, generalizations rather than facts. As a result, courts and case managers may not have given bonding the critical consideration it deserves.
• The Indiana Cooperative Adoption Law (PDF version for printing)
  Cooperative adoption has been a reality in Indiana since 1994, yet many potential adoptive parents are not aware of its existence. Using this law as it was intended might permit hundreds of young Hoosiers to secure permanent homes through adoption.
• When Foster Parents Need An Attorney (PDF version for printing)
  Foster parents need legal representation when their rights are being threatened and/or when they wish to adopt. Unfortunately, foster parents have been hesitant to speak out for fear of being labeled a troublemaker and blackballed. The opposite may be true. Foster parents who are appropriately assertive are more apt to be fully heard.
• Who Is My Brother? Who Is My Sister? When Siblings Should and Should Not Be Separated (PDF version for printing)
  “The bond between siblings is often the longest lasting relationship most people have, and these bonds help children develop their own unique personal identity throughout their lifetime.” (Indiana DFC Child Welfare Manual: 403.33) When children must be removed from a birth home for cause, every effort should be made to keep the siblings together. Problems arise when children have remained for six months or more in a foster/adopt home and may have bonded with their new parents, brothers and sisters.
• A Voice for Foster Parents: What You Need to Know
  Foster parenting involves more than providing food and shelter for a child in wardship. Advocating for the foster child is one of the rights and duties of a foster parent. Indiana law gives foster parents certain rights which allow them to be effective advocates.
• Family Reunification Plan (PDF only)
  The CPS case worker will complete the following plan within 24 hours of removing a child from the home and will present the plan to the parents. The purpose is to identify those specific reasons why the child was removed and allow the parents to begin immediately to work toward their child’s return.

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