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IRASSPage 1 of 75
TheDevelopmentofanAdoptiveParentSelf-SurveyandaStructuredAdoptionInterviewGuide
TowardaUsersGuide
JaneF.GilgunUniversityofMinnesota,TwinCitiesSusanKeskinen,St.Paul,MNMuchofthematerialinthisdocumenthasnotappearedelsewhere,butsomeispartofapaperpresentedattheannualconference,NationalCouncilonFamilyRelations,Orlando,Florida,November22,2004.JaneF.Gilgun,Ph.D.,LICSW,isprofessor,SchoolofSocialWork,UniversityofMinnesota,TwinCities,USA.E‐mail:jgilgun@umn.edu.SusanKeskinen,MSW,isaconsultantinSt.Paul,MN.E‐mail:skeskinen@yahoo.com.ProfessorGilgunhaschildren’sbooks,books,andarticlesrelevanttoadoption,childrenwithspecialneeds,andothertopicsonAmazonKindle,scribd.com/professorjane,andstores.lulu.com/jgilgun.TheauthorswouldliketothankBrandiHill,LaurieKarp,andSamanthaShermanfortheircommentsonpreviousversionsofthispaper.
 
IRASSPage 2 of 75
ABSTRACTThisdocumentpresentstwonewlydevelopedinstrumentsusefulinadoptionpractice:TheReadinesstoAdoptSelf‐Survey(RASS)andtheInterviewfortheReadinesstoAdoptSelf‐Survey(IRASS).Bothtoolsaredesignedtobeusedwithparentswhoarethinkingaboutadoptingchildrenwithspecialneeds.Theitemsofthetoolsparalleleachother.Thisdocumentdescribeshowweconstructedtheinstruments.Weshareexcerptsfromadoptiveparents’interviewssothatreaderscanlearninadoptiveparents’ownwordswhatitmeanstoparentchildrenwithspecialneeds.Wealsodiscusstheitemsofthetoolsinsomedetail.Theseitemsincludecommitmenttothechildren,capacitiestomanageone’sownemotionalresponsiveness,andwillingnesstoengageinservices.Theinstrumentsareattheendofthisdocument.
 
IRASSPage 3 of 75
TheDevelopmentofanAdoptiveParentSelf-SurveyandaStructuredInterviewGuide
Thegoalofthisresearchonwhichthetoolsarebasedwastodevelopatool,anadoptiveparentself‐assessmenttool,thatcouldbeusedbyprospectiveadoptiveparentstohelpthemtopreparethemforthetasksofparentingspecialneedsadoptedchildren.ThecreationtheReadinesstoAdoptSelf‐Survey(RASS)grewfromconversationsamongmembersofanadoptionadvisoryboardaboutaneedforguidelinesforassessingprospectiveadoptiveparents’willingnessandcapacitiestoparentchildrenwithspecialneeds.Parentingthesechildreninvolveshavingmorethanordinaryparentingskillsandresources.Wedevelopedtwotools:theReadinesstoAdoptSelf‐Survey(RASS)andtheInterviewfortheReadinesstoAdoptSelf‐Survey(IRASS).Webasedthesetoolsoninformationweobtainedfromadoptiveparentsandadoptionprofessionals.Specifically,usingresearchandtheoryweusedtheinformationobtainedfromindividual,couple,andfocusgroupinterviewsthatweconductedwithadoptiveparentsandfocusgroupinterviewswithadoptionprofessionals.WereconstructedthatinformationintotheRASS,atoolforadoptiveparents,andtheIRASS,atoolforadoptionprofessionals.TheRASS,asitstitlestates,isaself‐surveydesignedtohelpprospectiveadoptiveparentsreflectupontheirwillingnessandcapacitiestoparentadoptivechildrenwithspecialneedsandtoidentifyparents’strengthsaswellastheirareasforgrowth.Thetoolallowsparentstodoself‐reflectionabouttheircapacitiesandwillingnesswithoutfearofbeingjudgedbyadoptionprofessionals.TheIRASSisastructuredinterviewthatparallelsthetopicsintheRASS.AdoptionprofessionalsconductthisinterviewafterparentshavecompletedtheRASSandhavediscussedtheirresponseswithsignificantothers.Adoptionprofessionalscanofferparentssupport,counsel,referralfortraining,andotherformsofself‐developmentinordertopreparethemtowelcomechildrenwithspecialneedsintotheirfamilies.
ChildrenwithSpecialNeeds
SincethepassageoftheAdoptionandSafeFamiliesAct(ASFA)of1997,thenumberoffosterchildrenplacedforadoptionfrompublicsocialserviceagencieshasalmostdoubled,from28,000to51,000(Testa,2004).However,thenumberofchildreneligibleforadoptionstillexceedsthenumberplaced;asmanyas128,000childrenwereeligibleforadoptionin1999.Thesechildrenlingeringinfostercarearemorelikelytobechildrenofcolororolderchildrenthanthosechildrenwhoareadopted(Green,2003).Inaddition,theyoftenhavemoreseriousbehavioral,emotional,andmedicalissuesthanchildrenwhohavebeenplacedinadoptivehomes.InDecember2003,PresidentBushsignedintolaw
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