Q: What is REACH?

A: Rural Expansion of Adoptive Communities and Homes (REACH) is a federally funded grant project that helps adoptive families in rural communities in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin adopt children and youth with special needs.

Q: What is REACH trying to accomplish?

A: With the help of rural families and communities with open hearts and open arms, the REACH project seeks to increase rural adoptions of children with special needs in the three-state area by 50 percent over the next five years. This will be accomplished through helping improve services, education and support to make the adoption process easier to navigate for rural families. Post-adoption services are also in place, supporting families as needed after the adoption is final.

Q: How does REACH find prospective adoptive parents for children with special needs?

A: REACH works with people in rural communities to find prospective adoptive parents for children with special needs and to support and improve the adoption process for rural families. REACH helps identify and prepare adoptive families; conducts targeted, regional communications campaigns; creates and/or improves the access to pre- and post-adoption information, education and support; and uses the existing wide-spread network of PATH foster and adoptive parents to promote and support successful rural adoptions.

Q: Who are the children with special needs?

A: Children with special needs can range in age from infants to 18 years old. These children include those who:

• Have physical challenges or health problems
• Are older
• Are members of ethnic or racial minorities
• Have a history of abuse or neglect
• Have emotional problems
• Have siblings and need to be adopted as a group
• Have experienced multiple placements
• Have documented conditions that may lead to future problems
• Were exposed to drugs or alcohol before birth

Q: How many children with special needs are waiting to be adopted?

A: In the United States, more than 110,000 children with special needs are waiting to be adopted into permanent homes. In Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, approximately 1,000 children and youth are waiting for the right adoptive families.

Q: Must parents who adopt a child with special needs have special qualifications?

A: Adoptive parents don’t need to make a lot of money to adopt a child. They don’t have to own their home. They don’t even have to be younger adults. They may be married or single. Click on the Adoption by Community [Note – Virgil, please hot link to this section] section of this Web site to learn about specific adoption guidelines for Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and American Indian communities.

Q: How do I begin the process of adopting a child with special needs?

A: The first step is to learn a lot about adoption. There are many sources. One good “clearinghouse” for information is the North American Council on Adoptable Children.

NACAC
970 Raymond Ave., Ste 106
St. Paul, MN 55114-1149
Phone: 651.644.3036
E-mail: info@nacac.org
Web site: www.nacac.org

An excellent on-line resource is the Dave Thomas Foundation:
http://www.davethomasfoundation.com/html/resource/index.asp

It is vital to carefully assess your own situation. Adopting a child is a lifetime commitment. Do you know why you want to adopt? Are you and your partner (if applicable) in agreement about adopting? Do your lifestyle and interests lend themselves to caring for a child? Do you have the time, patience, skills and understanding needed to care for a child with special needs?

If you think adopting a child with special needs is right for you or if you simply want more information, contact REACH toll-free at 1-866-797-3224 or at www.adoptinfo.org. When you’re ready, REACH will help you move to the next step: referral to an agency that can start you on the road to an adoption application.

Q: What are the challenges of finding adoptive parents in rural communities?

A: According to the Child Welfare League of America, the 40 million Americans living in rural communities often lack access to necessary social services. This happens for many reasons including not enough community services, a lack of human and material resources, and limited training for social services professionals. Sometimes, rural families are very interested in adopting but do know not how to go about it.

Q: How long does the adoption process take?

A: The process may take from several months to two years or more. A minimum of 16 hours of basic adoption education is required for all adoptive parents. Completed application forms, including a current home study by a licensed social worker, must be on file. Making the best possible match between a child and a potential adoptive family takes time. Once a child is identified, several pre-placement visits take place. Even after the child is in your home, it may be several months until the court hearing at which the adoption is made final.

Q: How much will the adoption cost? Is there financial support available?

A: People who adopt a child with special needs are usually eligible for financial and medical assistance from their state and from the federal government. In some cases, the only cost to parents may be to have an attorney of their choice review all the adoption documentation before the adoption is finalized. The financial assistance is to help meet the current and future needs of the child.

Q: Why is there a special focus on American Indian communities?

A: A number of the children waiting for permanent homes are American Indian. For many of these children, the connection to their Indian heritage is protected by the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). In helping to find Indian families for these children, REACH works with each tribe and supports that particular tribe’s way of caring for its own children. Extended family members, tribal leaders and elders are generally involved in planning permanence for children. REACH helps local American Indian communities identify their needs and build resources to support permanent families for children to grow up in.

Q: What if the child and adoptive parent(s) can not make their new family work?

A: According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, approximately 80 to 90 percent of special needs adoptions are successful. Education and support resources for families before, during and after an adoption is final, can make a big difference to the success of the adoptive family. REACH works to make these resources available whenever and wherever they are needed.

When adoption relationships do not work, it is a difficult emotional situation for everyone. Social service professionals work with the adoptive family and with the child to try to find the next best option for everyone and focus on finding permanency for the child. In most cases with young children, the search begins to find another adoptive family. Teens and older youth sometimes stay in long-term foster care or with a guardian rather than enter the adoption system again.

Q: How is REACH funded?

A: The Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH) was recently awarded a five-year, $2 million federal grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau.

Q: Who is REACH accountable to for its results?

A: The grant sets the guidelines and expectations, and regular reports are required to the federal government (Children’s Bureau) to monitor accountability.

Q: What happens after the grant period ends?

A: The goal of the grant is to put materials, resources and support structures in place so families in rural communities will continue to benefit from these enhanced resources after the grant period ends.

Q: How does REACH collaborate with other adoption providers?

A: The REACH project collaborates with other adoptive services and state networks to provide adoptive parents with the necessary resources, services, training, child preparation and education. As the project develops, REACH will:

• collaborate with North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) and National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) support group models.
• help create new support groups and strengthen existing groups.
• develop and implement enhanced educational opportunities as needed for adoptive parents and social services professionals.
• work with community organizations to determine local needs.
• offer referrals to local support groups and other community resources.
• connect with talking circles in American Indian communities and help build mentor relationships for prospective adoptive families.
• develop national advisory and state steering committees.
• develop service connections with state, county and tribal governments and private agencies, creating a framework for multi-organization collaboration.

Q: Can adoptive parents in urban areas use REACH’s services?

A: The REACH project’s focus is specifically on rural adoptive families, meaning that is where its efforts will be concentrated (as determined by the Children's Bureau and the parameters of the grant). If an urban family hears about REACH through media or other means, REACH will refer them to urban resources close to where they live. Of course public resources such as the REACH Web site are available to everyone with an interest in adoption.

Q: Will REACH eventually expand to other states?

A: The REACH project operates in states in which PATH has offices: Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. PATH also provides foster care services in Colorado, but does not currently offer adoption services there. Expansion to Colorado may be considered in the future, but it is unlikely that the project will grow beyond the states named above.

Q: Why were three communities chosen for initial services?

A: REACH will initially focus on southwestern Minnesota, north/northwestern Wisconsin and north central North Dakota. It isn’t possible to provide services to all areas of the grant’s three states at once, so REACH will target one area in each state for the first year of the grant. In the second through fifth years, the focus will rotate to eventually cover all rural areas of each of the states.

The communities that were chosen have a significant need for more services and a strong desire to strengthen their adoption resources. PATH offices in each region provide initial contacts in the communities and will serve as a resource for helping to support local needs. Although the initial focus is on specific areas of each state, all potential adoptive families in any parts of the three states are encouraged to contact REACH for support.