|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Family Services | ||||||
3 | recognizes that adoption facilitates the endeavors of the State | ||||||
4 | of Illinois to protect children from neglect and harm, enhance | ||||||
5 | childhood health and nutrition, reduce and control diseases in | ||||||
6 | children, foster student learning, and encourage the | ||||||
7 | transition of children into productive responsible adults; and
| ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Although the adoption of children into loving | ||||||
9 | homes has a positive impact upon the lives of children who | ||||||
10 | might otherwise face the challenges of foster care and the | ||||||
11 | feeling of being unwanted, the difficulties in caring for an | ||||||
12 | adopted child continue well after the formal adoption court | ||||||
13 | order, especially for those families who adopted former wards | ||||||
14 | of DCFS or children with special needs; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, Children with special needs often have a greater | ||||||
16 | likelihood of not being adopted; and
| ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, Subsidies to adoptive families and post-adoption | ||||||
18 | services are central to the success of many adoptions; and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, DCFS has a significant reservoir of information | ||||||
20 | about post-adoption services in Illinois; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, There is considerable variation among states | ||||||
22 | concerning programs and services available to adoptive parents | ||||||
23 | of children with special needs and adoptive parents of former | ||||||
24 | state wards and thus, a cross-state analysis would be useful to | ||||||
25 | determine what range of post-adoption programs and services | ||||||
26 | exist in other states; and
| ||||||
27 | WHEREAS, Data from other states with post-adoption | ||||||
28 | programs would be helpful to determine possible changes in | ||||||
29 | Illinois post-adoption programs; and
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | WHEREAS, Public interest and advocacy groups involved in | ||||||
2 | post-adoption policy have valuable insights, suggestions, and | ||||||
3 | resources; and
| ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, The General Assembly would be well served during | ||||||
5 | legislative deliberations by an in-depth study concerning | ||||||
6 | post-adoptive services, adoption of children with special | ||||||
7 | needs, adoption of DCFS wards, costs of raising adopted | ||||||
8 | children with special needs, and adoption subsidies; | ||||||
9 | therefore, be it
| ||||||
10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
11 | NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
12 | we urge the Department of Children and Family Services to | ||||||
13 | conduct a study and issue a report with respect to | ||||||
14 | post-adoption services available in Illinois, the involvement | ||||||
15 | of the Department of Children and Family Services in | ||||||
16 | post-adoption services, and a comparison of the post-adoption | ||||||
17 | programs and services in Illinois with those in other states, | ||||||
18 | particularly focusing on post-adoption support, the adoption | ||||||
19 | of state wards, and the adoption of children with special | ||||||
20 | needs; and be it further | ||||||
21 | RESOLVED, That the study report also include the following | ||||||
22 | matters: | ||||||
23 | 1. The types of post-adoptive services available in | ||||||
24 | Illinois, including an analysis about the funding levels | ||||||
25 | for those services; | ||||||
26 | 2. A description of all services in Illinois that are | ||||||
27 | available to families with adopted children with special | ||||||
28 | needs; | ||||||
29 | 3. The costs that adoptive families incur while raising | ||||||
30 | a child with special needs; | ||||||
31 | 4. The types of specialized services that adoptive | ||||||
32 | families with children with special needs report that they |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | need; | ||||||
2 | 5. An identification of recent trends in Illinois with | ||||||
3 | respect to the adoption of DCFS wards, particularly since | ||||||
4 | the passage of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act | ||||||
5 | of 1997; | ||||||
6 | 6. A survey of a random sample of adoptive parents of | ||||||
7 | former DCFS wards in Illinois to gather data on their | ||||||
8 | household characteristics, the parents' estimates of the | ||||||
9 | costs of raising an adopted DCFS ward, the parents' | ||||||
10 | perceptions of the particular needs of an adopted former | ||||||
11 | DCFS ward, and the manner in which the adoptive family | ||||||
12 | spent its adoption subsidy; | ||||||
13 | 7. With respect to other states, determine what | ||||||
14 | subsidies and services are available to families adopting | ||||||
15 | former state wards; | ||||||
16 | 8. With respect to other states, determine what | ||||||
17 | subsidies and services are available to adoptive parents of | ||||||
18 | children with special needs; | ||||||
19 | 9. Where available, determine what other states spend | ||||||
20 | in order to offer subsidies and post-adoption services; | ||||||
21 | 10. With respect to other states, identify and collect | ||||||
22 | policy documents concerning post-adoption services, | ||||||
23 | especially reports, legislation, and policy manuals; and | ||||||
24 | 11. Identify information, reports, and proposals | ||||||
25 | supported by public interest and advocacy groups involved | ||||||
26 | in post-adoption services; and be it further
| ||||||
27 | RESOLVED, That the adoption study report of the Department | ||||||
28 | of Children and Family Services be submitted to the House of | ||||||
29 | Representatives and the Senate no later than March 6, 2006, and | ||||||
30 | a copy of the study shall be submitted to the Governor; and be | ||||||
31 | it further
| ||||||
32 | RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to | ||||||
33 | the Director of Children and Family Services.
|