1 Professor Beth Neil Research in Practice Change project Adoption and Children Act 2002 National minimum standards Birth parents and birth families are entitled to services that recognise the lifelong implications of adoption They will be treated fairly openly and with respect throug ID: 583036
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Slide1
Key messages from research about supporting birth relatives
1
Professor Beth Neil
Research in Practice Change projectSlide2
Adoption and Children Act 2002: National minimum standards
‘Birth parents and birth families …are entitled to services that recognise the lifelong implications of adoption. They will be treated fairly, openly and with respect throughout the adoption process.’
They must have access to a range of support services before and after adoption
Birth parents are entitled to a support worker independent of the child's social worker
Birth families should be enabled to contribute to the maintenance of their child’s heritageSlide3
Birth parent research at UEA
The Contact after Adoption study
Included interviews with 72 birth relatives involved in post adoption
contact, some up to 18 years post placement
(Neil 2007; Young & Neil
2004,
Neil et al, 2015)
The ‘Helping Birth Families’ Project
77 birth relatives.
(Neil et al, 2010; Neil &
Cossar
2009;
Neil
2013)Slide4
4Slide5
Birth families needsSlide6
6
A survey of take up of support services N= 495 (N
eil et al 2010)
Who was referred? Mothers (67%), fathers (20%), others (13%)
56% had used a service: fathers
significantly less likely
to
take up serviceTake up best when referral by self or others vs children's services (80% vs 57%)Take up varied dramatically by agency (19-74%)Slide7
Helping birth families (N
eil et al, 2010)
Two thirds of birth relatives interviewed had used support services
83% of these received emotional support
54% received advice and information
60% received help with contact
48% received advocacy and liaison
33% received group or peer supportSlide8
Evaluations of support services
73% of birth relatives were primarily positive about support services, 21% were mixed/neutral, 6% were primarily negative
Factors associated with satisfaction : (1) Relationship-based support
My support worker was the first person I have ever spoken to about losing the children who listened, who didn’t judge, who didn’t assume that because I had lost my children I was a bad person.Slide9
(2) Confidentiality and independence
If I felt really down and anxious I wouldn’t have dared tell social services because they’d say I’m being unpredictable, I can’t control my emotions and I’d be scared they wouldn’t let me see my kids. Where if I said that to this support worker she probably
thinks,
like me, like most people, that it’s normal to feel like that if your kids are being taken awaySlide10
(3) A flexible and proactive approach
Contact outside of scheduled appointments
Flexibility about how much and what type of support could be accessed
Being able to drop in and out of services
Flexibility about
where
support was provided
Workers ‘making the running’ and being proactive in keeping in touchSlide11
Measuring outcomes
Coping with adoption
Acceptance of dual connection
Feelings about the outcomes of adoption for the child
Coping with the impact of adoption on self
Brief Symptom Inventory (
Derogatis
) 53 item self report questionnaireSlide12
Does using services help birth relatives?
Average cost over 1 year = £511 (0-£4563)
The greater the costs and services (reported by agency) the greater the improvement in mental health scores over the follow up period
Birth relatives who had used services had significantly higher ‘coping with adoption’ scores than those who had not used servicesSlide13
The importance of a range of services
Use of a greater range of services was associated with higher levels of coping
The number of different types of services received used predicted satisfaction with service provisionSlide14
14
The helping birth families study: contact issues
Contact with child frequently lost
before
adoption
Constructive participation in contact planning, life story work, meeting adopters
etc
affected by poor relationship with SSD and poor functioning of parentMany parents reported ‘contact gap’ between child’s placement with adopters and first contact of 18 months or so; no info in this periodHelp with contact needed and valued and often a ‘foot in the door’ Slide15
Three patterns of adjustment/acceptance (Neil, 2007)
Positive acceptance
Resignation
Anger and resistanceSlide16
Positive Acceptance
Acknowledging that child is now also part of another family, and has other parents
Positive feelings about the adoptive parents
Feeling pleased about how things had worked out for the child
Positive participation in contact - staying in touch and supporting the child and adoptive parentsSlide17
Achieving positive acceptance: lessons about supporting birth relatives
Good post adoption contact in itself promotes birth relatives’ adjustment
Support for birth relatives is an essential part of supporting contact
Offering help with contact can be a ‘way in’ to supporting birth relatives more generallySlide18
Resignation
The reality of the loss is accepted, but…
The person feels they have no choice but to accept this: there is nothing they can do
Feelings of being unable to control events
Feelings of shame, worthlessness and guilt
Often anxious about child
Often unable to initiate or respond to contact
Main feelings about adoption are sadness and depression Slide19
What do these feelings suggest about support?
Passivity, resignation and low self worth may be reasons why people don’t seek out services or take up offers of services
A sense of loss is the most prominent feeling, so emotional support may be valued
Non judgemental support helps with low self esteemSlide20
Anger and resistance
The reality of the loss of the child is (usually) understood, but not accepted emotionally
Anger at others; adopters not ‘real’ parents
Anger could stop people keeping up contact:
“They do that in prison and I’m not a prisoner.”
Or it could motivate people to keep in contact:
“I don't want her growing up thinking that it's me that's done it when it's them that's done it.”Slide21
Support issues
For some, anger, hostility and lack of trust will be significant barriers to accepting support
Fair and open treatment
before
and
during
adoption may reduce anger
after adoptionIndependence and confidentiality is vital Offers to help may need to be repeated at different points in time, or by different people Advocacy, information and advice, practical support or help with contact may be more acceptable than counsellingIntense, unrealistic perceptions of adoption that don’t change may be contraindication for contactSlide22
22
Acceptance of adoption: changes over time
Most changes in acceptance happened early on. These categories then were generally stable. Changes in teenage years were between ‘acceptance’ and resignation’ category and were linked to changes in contact
Birth relatives encountered new challenges in child’s teenage years: child’s increase in problems; child’s changing views of contact; worries about what happens when child aged 18; contact suddenly ceasingSlide23
Conclusions about birth relative support
Different needs of different people at different stages: take account of birth relative type, level of acceptance, time since adoption, special needs
etc
Getting people to start and continue using services is challenging: Flexible casework services with a proactive outreach approach are indicatedSlide24
Further reading
The UEA ‘Helping birth families’ study: http://www.adoptionresearchinitiative.org.uk/study5.html
Neil, E., Beek, M. & Ward, E. (2015)
Contact after adoption: a longitudinal study of post adoption contact arrangements
. London: CoramBAAF.
Neil, E. (2013) The mental distress of the birth relatives of adopted children: ‘disease’ or ‘unease’? Findings from a UK study.
Health and Social Care in the Community
, 21(2), 191-199. Cossar, J and Neil, E. (2013) Making sense of siblings: connections and severances in post-adoption contact. Child and Family Social Work, 18, 67-76. Slide25
25
Neil, E., Cossar, J., Lorgelly, P. and Young, J. (2010
)
Helping Birth families: services costs and outcomes.
London:
BAAF.
Cossar, J. and Neil, E. (2010) Supporting the birth relatives of adopted children: how accessible are services?
British Journal of Social Work 40/5: 1368-1386.Neil, E. (2009) ‘The corresponding experiences of adoptive parents and birth relatives in open adoptions’. In Wrobel, G. and Neil, E. (Eds.) International advances in adoption research for practice. Chichester: Wiley/Blackwell. Slide26
26
Neil, E. (2007
)
‘Coming to Terms with the Loss of a Child: The Feelings of Birth Parents and Grandparents about Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact’,
Adoption Quarterly, 10
(1), pp. 1-23.
Young, J. & Neil, E. (2004
) The ‘Contact after Adoption’ study: The perspective of birth relatives after non-voluntary adoption. In E. Neil & D. Howe (eds.), Contact in Adoption and Permanent Foster Care: Research, Theory and Practice. London: BAAF.Neil, E. (2003) Accepting the reality of adoption: Birth relatives' experiences of face-to-face contact. Adoption & Fostering, 27(2), 32-43.