Respite Care Services for Families Who Adopt Children With Special Needs, Page 5

A Synthesis of Demonstration Program Final Reports (4/02)

Appendix

Project Information
The following information was current at the time the final project reports were written; it may have changed since then. Not all information was available from each project's report.

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Project Name: Respite Care Services for Families Who Adopt Children With Special Needs
Lead Agency: Chauncey Sparks Center for Developmental and Learning Disorders, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Area Served: Birmingham, Alabama
Project Period: 1991 - 1994
Contact Person: Dale Brantley or Betsy Edwards
Contact Phone Number: (205) 934-5471

Provider Recruitment

*Recruited providers previously unknown to the families (including foster parents) and natural helpers
*Most effective strategy was word-of-mouth from adoptive parents; other strategies included presentations at meetings, networking, and articles in newsletters and newspapers

Provider Training/Licensure

*40 providers trained
*Pre-service and in-service training offered
*Trained providers previously unknown to the families, natural helpers, and staff together

Target Population

*Adoptive and foster-adopt families with children who had all types of special needs, especially developmental disabilities/mental retardation

Recruitment of Families

*Letters to families receiving subsidies and contact through agency staff

Respite Services

*75 children served
*13,797 respite hours provided
*In-home and out-of-home services provided
Hourly, weekend, and week-long camps

Program Management/Administration

Lead agency was a University Affiliated Program (UAP)

Information Dissemination

*Presentations at meetings and conferences; articles in newsletters, newspapers, and magazines; published materials

Evaluation Activities

*Interviews with families, providers, and staff

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Project Name: Adopt-A-Rest Project
Lead Agency: La Hacienda Foster Care Resource Center, Inc.
Area Served: Tucson, Arizona
Project Period: 1991 - 1994
Contact Person: Brenda Goldsmith
Contact Phone Number: (602) 296-5551

Provider Recruitment

*Recruited providers previously unknown to the families, including prospective adoptive parents

Provider Training/Licensure

*27 providers trained
*In-service trainings offered
*Pre-service training similar to that required for foster parents

Target Population

*Adoptive and foster-adopt families with children who had all types of special needs

Recruitment of Families

*Mailings and personal contact with project director

Respite Services

*85 families served
*41,771 respite hours provided
*Hourly and weekend respite
*In-home and out-of-home respite
*Parent and teen support groups
*Family events

Program Management/Administration

*Lead agency was a private, non-profit respite care agency

Information Dissemination

*Created a brochure, presented at conferences and meetings, submitted articles for newsletters

Evaluation Activities

*Surveyed families regarding their satisfaction with services, the impact of services on them, and their needs for respite care

Policy

*Established a statewide work group to develop state policy that would entitle all adoption subsidy children to 12 paid days of respite per year

Credits: Child Welfare Information Gateway (http://www.childwelfare.gov)

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