Adopter experiences of the linking and matching process in adoption

Objective: Public policy in the UK is currently focused on tackling delays in achieving permanence for children in public care. It is argued that timely permanence is linked to better developmental outcomes. For those children... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: Public policy in the UK is currently focused on tackling delays in achieving permanence for children in public care. It is argued that timely permanence is linked to better developmental outcomes. For those children awaiting adoption as their route to permanence, that focus has included how the process of linking and matching children to their adoptive families is working in practice. There is a growing body of evidence on the impact of organisational processes and social worker attitudes on delays in linking and matching. However, there is little research about adoptive parents’ experiences of the linking and matching process. This study aimed to explore those experiences in-depth, including the potential impact of failed previous matches on adoptive parents’ approach to the match for their adopted child.

Method: The Wales Adoption Study is a national research study that used a mixed-methods approach to examine the characteristics and experiences of a sample of children recently placed for adoption in Wales. The experiences of their adoptive families in the first year of placement were also explored in order to better understand what helps adoptive families flourish. These included adoptive parents’ expectations of adoption, their experience of the assessment process and linking/ matching, and the early support needs of the whole family. Ethical permission for the study was granted by the ethics committee at Cardiff University, School of Social Sciences. Data for the present paper is based on parent reports of the linking and matching process for 96 Welsh children, where the child was placed for adoption between July 1st 2014 and June 30th 2015, and in-depth qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of up to forty adoptive parents. Questionnaires were sent to parents between 3-5 months post-placement. Ninety six adoptive families completed a questionnaire around four months after the start of their adoptive placement. Forty adoptive parent were, or will be, interviewed at home approximately nine months after the start of the adoptive placement. Parental experiences of the linking and matching process were explored in-depth as part of the interview. The characteristics of the 96 children whose families participated in the study were compared to all Welsh children placed for adoption during the study period (n=374). Our sample is representative of Welsh children placed during the study window for age, gender, primary reason for placement and past experiences of abuse/neglect.

Results: We will present data on adoptive parents’ experiences of the linking and matching process for their child. Analysis is on-going, and will be presented in full at the conference. Early themes emerging from the data include:
• The impact of failed previous links/ matches. Questionnaire data indicated that 30% (n=29) of adoptive families in the sample had experienced a failed link/ match previously. 79% reported they had found this ‘difficult’ or ‘somewhat difficult’ to deal with. The reasons for this, and adoptive parents’ subsequent practical and emotional approach to matching with the child they adopted will be reported.
• The flexibility of adoptive parents towards finding a suitable match
• The dominance of social worker led matching in the study population, and the feelings of powerlessness, competitiveness and ‘playing the waiting game’ this engendered in some adoptive parents.
• The central role of medical advisors in advising and/ or reassuring potential adoptive parents about health problems and potential developmental uncertainty at matching stage.
• The impact of information gaps and possible inaccuracies in assessments of the child’s background and experiences prior to adoption.

Conclusions: Implications for policy and practice around the linking and matching process in adoption will be discussed in the light of evidence presented from this study.