This report, developed by The National Think Tank on Adoption Policy Planning Committee, is intended to support reflection and action among policymakers, system leaders, practitioners, advocates, and young adults working to modernize adoption policy and practice.

This report addresses the need for specialized post-adoption supports including adoption competent mental health which is addressed on page 12. Many of the Committee’s recommendations (see page 15) align with the work of the National Center such as:

• Prepare families to engage in hard conversations early, and throughout the process, and acknowledge and normalize feelings of fear, grief, or loss.
• Coordinate pre- and post-adoption services to ensure continuity of support for families before crisis.
• Identify and address potential service “cliffs” an adoptive family may experience after finalization.
• Comprehensive, effective post-adoption support should be available to both the family and the adoptee, including services like peer support (helplines, support groups, 1:1 mentors, etc.), family resource hubs, tuition waivers, respite care, educational/disability supports, financial support, and family/individual counseling offered by an adoption-competent provider.
• Clear workforce training and practice strategies to ensure proactive support for post-adoptive families (for example, leverage prevention plan before a family is at risk for adoption dissolution and child is at risk of reentry into child welfare).