Barriers to adoption

• Main Author: Harrington, Margaret Ellen
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17843

Finding adoptive homes for children in continuing custody of child welfare authorities is a significant problem in child welfare. Previous research in this area highlights systemic barriers as the chief impediment to achieving permanency for children in care. Recruiting and retaining families figures prominently in the discourse. This study explores barriers to adoption of children in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development in British Columbia from the perspective of adoptive applicant parents and from the perspective of social workers who work in adoption. Results confirm that barriers to adoption of children in care exist. Social workers and adoptive applicants who participated in the study agreed that the recruitment and retention of families and resource issues are central to addressing the problem of waiting children. They further agreed that improvements in the adoption system in British Columbia are necessary to facilitate the movement of children from government care into permanent families. === Arts, Faculty of === Social Work, School of === Graduate