Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

Lead Agencies Structure Their Adoption Programs in a Variety of Ways

Report 08-05, January 2008




Report Summary

  • Community-based care lead agencies use three arrangements to structure their foster child adoption programs: services primarily provided by subcontractors, a combination of in-house and subcontracted staff, or services primarily provided in-house. Lead agency administrators generally prefer to use in-house staff or contracted service providers and only use fee-for-service child placing agencies to a limited degree.
  • Lead agencies also use three models of progressing children's cases through their systems of care from foster care to adoption finalization. Lead agencies may keep a child's case with one case manager for the life of the case, transfer a child's case from the original case manager to an adoption specialist, or assign an adoption specialist to coordinate and assist a primary case manager. Lead agencies report advantages and disadvantages to each approach.


Related Reports
  1. DCF and Lead Agencies Have Made Progress in Reducing Barriers to Successful Adoptions
    Report 10-47 July 2010
  2. Additional Strategies Would Help Address the Barriers to Successful Adoptions
    Report 08-06 January 2008
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
social services, health, human services, adoption, barriers, child welfare, foster care, community-based care, lead agencies, subcontracting, subcontracted providers, privatization, fee-for-service, relative placement, adoptive parent, adoptive placements, adoptive recruitment, minority adoption, minority recruitment, sibling group, special needs adoption, termination of parental rights, adoption specialist, adoption case management