Adoptions Soar 44% in Expanded O.C. Program

The number of adoptions in Orange County has jumped 44% in the last year, and Mark Regel is one of the reasons why.

Regel, an Anaheim Hills resident, wants to adopt two young brothers with troubled pasts. The boys have been shuttled around to seven homes in the last few years. The emotional scars of all that moving lead them to sometimes lash out at Mark and his wife.

But the couple remains patient--and sympathetic.

“If you’ve been dragged through seven different homes, you’d be mad at the whole world,” he said at a Saturday morning group counseling session for adoptive parents. “The only people they have to direct their anger toward are the people taking care of them.”

Regel is one of the growing number of people who are stepping up to the plate and adopting children--even “special needs” youngsters with histories of abuse and neglect.

Over the last fiscal year, the number of county-sponsored adoptions rose from 260 to 374.

But the news is not all good. The county lags behind a state target of 440 adoptions each year, a goal intended to put troubled children in loving homes more quickly.

And a recent Orange County Grand Jury criticized the Social Services Agency for not working fast enough to place children in permanent homes.

County officials expressed pride in the improvements, though some admit there is room for more.

The adoption surge has its roots in a wave of recent national and local laws on the subject. Also, the county Social Services Agency received $2.64 million to facilitate more adoptions. Changes have followed:

* The county was able to expand the staff that handles adoptions by one-third.

* Officials have reduced the time children spend in judicial limbo, waiting for the court to sever legal ties with abusive birth families.

* Caseworkers are making a concerted effort to keep children in homes instead of in emergency shelters and other institutions.

* The county has been aggressively recruiting adoptive parents. In three years, it has boosted the number of families approved to adopt by over 90% from 148 to 284, according to county statistics. Officials now give more consideration to adoptions by older families, single parents and gay couples.

In an effort to make the adoption of troubled children as smooth as possible, the county now offers more mental health services and counseling for them.

Orange County actually contracts out many services to private adoption agencies, which can do the work faster because they have smaller caseloads and less red tape. Barbara Matthews, who manages county adoption services, said the contracting out has made a big difference.

In the past, private agency operators said they wanted to help the county place children but did not know how many families were needed or what the county’s acceptance criteria were. Some parents also complained that it took too long find a child, said Sharon Roszia, director of Kinship Center’s work in Orange County.

“There were families that were discouraged enough to drop out. Some went overseas because they didn’t want to deal with politics of Orange County adoptions. But I think we’ve changed a lot of that,” Roszia said.

Despite the improvements, many officials say more needs to be done. Families often refuse to take children with troubled pasts, and the county still cannot find enough adoptive parents.

A recent grand jury report said that while the number of adoptions is on the rise, Orange County takes too long to place children in permanent homes and needs to improve its operations.

Too Much Stress on Reuniting Families?

The report faulted an agency culture that puts too much emphasis on reuniting families, rather than finding a child a permanent home. The grand jury said the agency has dragged its feet in instituting state policies that place more emphasis on finding adoptive parents if reunification efforts don’t work.

Officials from the county Social Services Agency agree that more adoptive parents are needed but say the report overstates the problem. Officials added that sometimes it is better to keep children with their biological parents.

According to state figures, only 15% of Orange County children available for adoption are being placed in homes, a number that exceeds the state average of 8%.

“The reality is, if we’re only helping 15% of the children, what are we doing to the other 85%?” said Jim Palmer, a child welfare advocate and executive director of Mercy House, a temporary homeless shelter.