Recruitment News

Monthly MARE Updates

• The Pre-Adopt Training is designed primarily for those persons interested in adopting older children waiting in foster care (i.e. the kinds of children featured in the MARE Book). We still have attendees referred by their agencies to these trainings who are interested in infant or international adoption. This is not an appropriate training curriculum for those persons. Since the training material is introductory in nature and provides an overview of adopting children in foster care, it is also not appropriate for experienced foster and adoptive families.
• The Pre-Adopt Trainings were meant to help fill the gaps in training opportunities for potential adoptive families, not to take the place of trainings that should already be regularly offered by agencies.

Registration in our Family Database has dropped off over the last few years. We understand it can be time-consuming for overburdened workers to fill out the Family Registration Form, and we feel we can offer a solution.

MARE currently asks workers to fill out these Family Registration Forms so that we could enter the family in our Family Database; generate monthly "suggested matches" between the families and children on MARE, and send them to the child's worker, the family's worker, and the family themselves. Additionally, if a worker contacts us looking for a family who may be appropriate for a child in their care, we look to the database for information about potential families.

In addition to filling out the Family Registration Form, we are now offering workers the option of simply sending us a copy of the family's homestudy. This step eliminates the need for the family's worker to spend valuable time repeating what can already be found in the homestudy. Each family will then be entered into the Family Database and will become part of the monthly "suggested match" process. The family's information will also be available to a worker who may be looking for an appropriate family for a child in their care.

Please be assured that the homestudy will be kept completely confidential and will not be provided to any other worker for any reason (unless we are requested to do so by the family's worker). We are simply trying to ease the process of registering a family in our database and to create a useful resource for workers.

On a related note, if agencies have approved families who are interested in being listed on our website (in much the same way as the children are listed) simply attach a note and photo to the homestudy (or Family Registration Form). Photos can be returned if requested. You can log on to our web site at: www.mare.org

If you have any questions about the Family Database or family pages on our web site, please phone Nancy Jennings at (517) 783-6273.

July/August, 1999

• The Sears Portrait Program is a FREE service available for all adoption-eligible children who appear (or will soon be appearing) in the MARE photolisting book. Simply take the required form with you when you go to have the child's photo taken, and Sears will take care of the rest. This is an excellent way for workers to update the photos of children currently in the MARE Book, in addition to getting photos for children who will be appearing for the first time. Please keep in mind that it may take 6 - 8 weeks for MARE to receive the photos, so plan accordingly to ensure that you are not submitting your MARE registration after the due date. Workers can always send a "snapshot" photo initially to avoid being late, and MARE will update the child's listing with the Sears photo once it arrives. New Sears Photo forms have already been mailed to adoption supervisors. Please phone the MARE office if you need more.
• Speaking of updating photos, descriptions and photos of children listed on MARE should be updated at least once a year. The MARE office periodically sends update request letters to workers for all cases in the MARE book which have not been updated in the last year. Please take the time to respond to these update requests! These waiting children deserve to be presented with attractive photos and up-to-date information.
• By now all Michigan Adoption Agencies which place older children for adoption have had the opportunity to receive a free copy of the MARE/MARC recruitment and promotional video: "Give Your Heart to a Child." Additional copies are still available at the bargain price of $10 per tape. Phone the MARE office to order your additional copies.
• MARE will soon be running 10-second commercials on radio stations WJR and WGPR - both located in Detroit. We will also be purchasing billboard space on west-bound I-94 at Baker Rd. Additionally, we are in the process of having 60-second and 30-second ads/PSA's made from the footage used in our recruitment tape. We will be exploring the idea of buying television advertising time throughout the state in addition to asking stations to run Public Service Announcements. We hope that all of these efforts will continue to raise public awareness about waiting children - and hopefully recruit potential adoptive families.

May/June, 1999

We are pleased to announce the completion of our adoption promotional/educational video entitled "Give Your Heart To A Child - An Introduction to Adopting Waiting Children."

Over one year in the making, this 24-minute video is designed to introduce people to the idea of adopting older children in the child welfare system. The video introduces viewers to three Michigan families who have successfully adopted older children. In their own words these exceptional, yet down-to-earth families tell of their real-life experiences of building their families through adoption. Our hope is that the video will both educate others about the children waiting for adoption, and help people to realize that are capable of adopting waiting children as well.

The video will soon be sent to all adoption agencies for their use in recruitment of potential adoptive families. The MARE lending library will have copies available for loan to interested families as well.

Thanks to Dave & Heide Belville & family, Antonio & Saundra Cullen & family, and Vince Buber & family - as well as Steve Wheeler of Eagle Village and Henrietta Carter-Farrell of The Children's Center of Wayne County, and Media Magic Productions for their participation and expertise!

January/February, 1999

Transferring Children: If a child listed in the MARE book is transferred to another agency for adoption services, the worker who last served the child must provide MARE with the name of the agency to whom the child has been transferred AND the name and phone number of the worker who will now be responding to inquiry calls. Simply saying that a child has been transferred to another agency without providing complete information is not sufficient. Changes in the MARE photolisting story will not be made unless complete transfer information is provided.

Impairment Levels: The blue MARE Child Entry Form for photolisting registration asks workers to assess the type and severity of physical, emotional, mental, and learning impairments that a child may have. Although this can be a somewhat subjective evaluation on the part of the worker, it should be noted that providing this information is important because these impairment levels are used in the book index and to generate potential matches with approved families. Prospective adoptive families often make generalizations about impairments, assuming that a physical impairment means the child can't walk or that a mental impairment implies some kind of retardation. Therefore, it is important to understand what may be included in each impairment category:

• Emotional Impairments - include but are not limited to: Behavioral problems and disorders, ADD/ADHD, loss issues, autism, attachment difficulties, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and mental illness, Schizophrenia, or Bi-Polar disorder.
• Physical Impairments - refer to any non-correctable condition such as Shaken-baby syndrome, seizure disorders, blindness, being wheelchair bound, genetic conditions, Spina Bifida, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effects (FAS/FAE), being HIV+. Wearing eyeglasses, being overweight, or needing dental braces does not generally constitute a physical impairment.
• Learning Impairments - refer to any condition which impairs a child's ability to learn and perform in school. This would include a school-certified learning disability but can also include dyslexia, behavioral/emotional conditions which impede a child's ability to perform, and disorders which are organic in nature.
• Mental Impairments - pertain to a child's ability to perform mental functions. This can include genetic disorders such as Down's Syndrome, low IQ and functioning levels, FAS/FAE, and severe lead poisoning.

Some conditions such as shaken-baby syndrome, FAS/FAE, and autism may affect a child's ability to function in more than one category. When providing MARE with information, be specific about the type of impairment, how it affects the child, and the impact that the impairment will have on the child's future.

July/August, 1998

MARE was pleased to learn recently that additional funds will be available in the next Fiscal Year to continue our efforts to recruit special families for special waiting children. In our first year of funding, we created the Michigan Adoption Recruitment Consortium or MARC -- a statewide collaborative effort of adoption agencies (grouped by geographic regions) who were interested in making specialized efforts to recruit families interested in adopting older children -- generally 8 years od and up.

Encouraged to "think outside the box," these individual consortiums have developed (or are in the process of developing) their own unique recruitment efforts for the areas they serve. We thought our readers would be interested in knowing how the MARC funding is being use and what the regional groups were doing.

First off, MARE is pleased to report that we have used a portion of the MARC funds to contract with a professional video production company to produce a 15-20 minute video that is intended to introduce prospective adoptive families to the idea of adopting older children. By using successful adoptive families and adoption professionals, the video will illustrate the joys and the challenges that comes with adopting older children, and will help families see that they are capable of providing a permanent home to these special children.

Now for a look at what the regional groups have been doing:

• MARC North sponsored its first training for potential resource families on June 19-20 at the Quality Inn of Houghton lake. Using a condensed version of the Parents as Tender healers (PATH) curriculum developed by Spaulding for Children's National Resource Ceter, MARE staff presented to approximately 31 resource parents and 7 workers. The training (including overnight lodging) was presented to families at no charge.
• MARC East used some of the recruitment funds available to place a "trailer" at the Towne Center movie complex in Southfield. If you've ever gone to the movies lately, you know what the trailer is like -- it is shown before the feature film and usually advertises local businesses. The trailer is shown on the screen for 30 seconds every four minutes.
• MARC West and MARC South have been doing individual recruitment efforts, but hope to present the PATH training in their areas at a future date.

May/June, 1998

MARE has discontinued the family listing book. In its place we have developed a family database. The MARE Family Database is comprised of Michigan families who are studied and approved to adopt special needs children. To be registered in this database a family should be studied and approved to adopt one or more of the following:

• Caucasian children over the age of six years
• African American children of any age
• Sibling groups of any age

Workers should use a Yellow Family Registration form to register a family, and should also include the back page of the family's homestudy. Remember, the database is a resource for waiting children. Because many of these children have some sort of impairment that makes them harder to place, only those families who are willing to parent a child with mild to severe emotional impairments will be included.

A child's worker can access the database in an effort to locate a family for a child or sibling group before they are listed in the MARE book. Once a child is registered in the book, MARE generates suggested matches on a monthly basis between families in the database, and children in the book. The child's worker, the family's worker and the family receive a copy of the suggested match. It is then up to these parties to determine whether the match is a viable one.

To date, the MARE Family Database has facilitated five adoptive placements between families and children on the Exchange! For those families who found being in the MARE family book too personal, the database offers the advantage of anonymity.

Additionally, agencies should be aware that MARE lists children registered in photolisting book on its website. We also register children who have been in the MARE book for six months or longer on the National Adoption Exchange's national database of waiting children. Children who are legal risk or who do not want to move out of state are not registered on either of these sites. Supervisors are sent a list of children registered on the website and the national database on a quarterly basis.

Children are removed from either site when they have been matched with an identified family, had a goal change or turn 18. They are not removed simply because a worker does not want to take calls from out of state workers/families. It should also be noted that some agencies have indicated on the back of a child's photolisting registration form that it is against their agency policy to place children out of state. This is technically a violation of an agency's contractual agreement with FIA to place children in permanent homes.

March/April, 1998

In a continuing effort to find permanent homes for waiting children, the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange provides various additional recruitment opportunities after a child has been listed in the MARE book.

When a child has been featured in the MARE book for at least two months and there is no adoptive family identified for that child, the child is automatically registered on the MARE web site. This exposes a child to thousands of potential adoptive families! We do not place "legal risk" children on the web site, and will also remove a child from the site if he or she is adamantly opposed to being featured.

Additionally, as part of its contract, MARE automatically registers children on the National Adoption Exchange database who have been photolisted for six months or longer. This database is accessible to adoption and exchange workers only, and allows a child to be matched with potential families from all over the country. Again, legal risk cases or children who do not want to be recruited for are not registered.

Beginning in March, the MARE office will send adoption supervisors - on a quarterly basis - a "courtesy list" of those children who are registered on the web site and on the National Adoption Exchange database. Children will be removed from either site when they have been matched with a family, have had a goal change, or if the child requests to not be featured. Both sites are updated monthly.

Although several agencies have indicated that it is against their agency policy to place a child out of state, FIA contract and policy indicate that agencies must recuit any appropriate families for MCI wards - including families outside of Michigan. The geographic location of an appropriate family should not be the sole factor that keeps a child from being adopted! Whenever possible, information about a child on the web site and in the NAE database will indicate a child's need to remain in contact with relatives in Michigan. Most families and workers who are involved in the adoption of harder to place children are aware the importance of maintaining significant relationships for a child, and will go to great lengths to do so.

The MARE web site has been up and running for just over one year. It has received over 16,000 visits and thus far has been directly responsible for the placement of 13-year old Ryan, who had been available for adoption for a year and a half when a family saw him the web site and decided to call his worker!

The MARE website address is www.mare.org

January/February, 1998

MARE has recently updated its registration and removal forms. These were sent to agencies in October, and in the future will be sent automatically at the beginning of each quarter. Please disregard out of date forms. If you need additional new forms contact the MARE office or feel free to make you own copies (the color of the copy does not matter).

January is the last month MARE will publish the family insert which accompanies the child photolisting book. As always, MARE will continue to offer a family database that will be used to match approved families with MARE children, and can be accessed by workers who are looking for families for waiting children. Families currently listed in the family section will be transferred to the family database. Workers who have families in the family book will be notified of the change in format.

Each month, MARE runs letters suggesting matches between children registered in the MARE photolisting book and families in the supplemental family listing and in the family database. In the past, copies of the suggested matches were sent only to the child's worker and the family's worker. Oftentimes the letters were never shared with the families. Beginning in December '97, MARE began providing a copy of the suggested match letter to the family as well. Matches are based on the criteria of the type of child a family is willing to parent, and the letters emphasize that this is only a suggested match. Follow up contact must be made between the child's and family's workers for the decision making process to proceed. If you have any questions about the process or would like to register a family in the database, contact Nancy Jennings MARE.

In an effort to keep the MARE book as accurate as possible, children should be removed when they have been matched with an approved family, or when a foster family or relative has decided to adopt. If a worker is not accepting calls on a child because a family has been identified, that child no longer needs recruitment and therefore should not be in the book! MARE case managers will assist you in removing a child during their monthly calls with workers who have children listed in the book. If a child is removed from the book and the placement subsequently falls through, the child can be re-registered in the book simply by notifying MARE. MARE staff will also follow through on cases that have been removed from the MARE book for 3 months or longer and for whom no OTR has been received and will register those children who no longer have an identified placement.

Although the MARE photolisting book is updated monthly, there is a gap of approximately two weeks between when information is updated and sent to the printer, and when it arrives back at the MARE office in book form. To ensure that a child is added or removed from the book, documentation must be received by the MARE office no later than the 25th of each month. If documentation is received after this date, the addition or deletion of that child will occur the following month.

The MARE program recently received funding to help recruit adoptive families. Called the Michigan Adoption Recruitment Consortium (MARC), the effort is aimed at educating and recruiting families who are interested in adopting older (age 10 and over) and African American children. Letters were sent out in November to agencies that do special needs adoptions. Currently, we are in the process of creating local consortiums based on the geographic location of the agencies that indicated they were interested in participating. Each group will set their own goals and recruitment plan. MARE will assist in coordinating each group and provide needed resources. An orientation to MARC will be held on February 5. If you are interested in more information, please contact Nancy Jennings at MARE.

MARE has ADOPTION bumper stickers. Please call us at (517) 783-6273 if you would like some.

July/August, 1997

For the last year, FIA zone managers and specialists have been reviewing those FIA cases on the MARE tracking list that have been on hold with an identified family longer than one year, and also those cases where documentation is missing. In February, zone managers also began to review children in purchase of service agencies that fell into the same categories. In total there were some 600 cases that were reviewed for the October-December, 1996 quarter; 426 were with private agencies, 174 were in FIA care.

Of the cases reviewed, 97 children had been adopted and their cases were closed; 50 children had their goal changed to some permanency plan other than adoption; and there were 38 cases where either documentation remained overdue or no zone review was received. By far the largest category reviewed were those children who were being adopted by a foster family, relative or recruited family; 267 (about 45% of the total children reviewed) were children matched with a family and had been available for adoption one year or longer. It is interesting to note that a majority of the children (75%) waiting over one year for adoption and who had an identified family were 10 years old or younger! Of the foster parent, relative and recruited family adoptions, incomplete documentation was sighted on 144 cases as the reason for delay in adoption; this included cases where families were delinquent in producing physicals, background checks, etc., agencies were just starting the home study process, or documents were needed to complete the adoption (i.e. birth certificates, divorce decrees, etc.) were missing.

Zone reviews for the next quarter are already in process. As we continue to "perfect" the zone review process, we will get more accurate data that may point toward areas where policy changes, education, and reform can lead to the elimination of the barriers that delay adoption.

May/June, 1997

The staff of the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange would like to offer "Congratulations and Best Wishes" to the following Family Independence Agency adoption professionals on the occasion of their retirement:

• Muriel Ambers, Wayne County FIA
• Paula Clegg, Jackson County FIA
• Marty Cruger, Oakland County FIA
• Barb DeWitt, Kent County FIA
• Richard Hoekstra, FIA Adoption Division Director
• Carol King, Muskegon County FIA
• Lorrie LaCross, Alpena County FIA - Northern MI Adoption Program
• Diane Ramsey, Jackson County FIA
• Margaret Vaughter, Genesee County FIA
• Linda Wilkinson, Wayne County FIA

We applaud your commitment and many years of service to Michigan's children and wish you hapiness and success in your future endeavors!

January/February, 1997

According to FIA statistics, 2,189 children were placed for adoption in Fiscal Year 1996. This record number of placements by public and private agencies represents an 18% increase from the previous fiscal year, and the first time ever that more than 2,000 children were placed in one year. The majority of these children (78%) were placed with foster parents or relatives.

During that same time period, 414 children were removed from the MARE photolisting book for various reasons:

• 131 (32%) were adopted by Relatives or Foster Parents
• 91 (22%) had a change in goal
• 88 (21%) were adopted as a result of being seen in the MARE Book
• 35 (8%) were adopted by a family from the same agency
• 25 (6%) were adopted by a family from another agency

November/December, 1996

Mary McGinnis of Catholic Social Services of Oakland County will be retiring at the end of this year after forty years in the adoption business!

She began her career in 1956 at Catholic Social Services of Wayne. Since that time Mary has been involved with nearly 2000 adoptions! She has seen adoptions evolve from a time when a two year old was almost impossible to place to present day where even teenagers are adopted. Mary has witnessed the effects of crack cocaine on new born infants, but has also seen the incredible families that come forward to nurture and rebuild the damaged children who come into the system.

Mary indicates that for every family she has touched, she has been touched back ten fold. At a recent retirement party in her honor, she relates that she was nearly brought to tears when was introduced to a young man that she had placed as a little boy. So damaged had this child been, that she had never expected him to live to reach age ten. At the party, he showed he his drivers license!

Mary's knowledge and wisdom have led many a young social worker toward a career in adoption. Her down to earth manner and her ability to advocate for kids and families will be missed but never forgotten.

Upon retirement, Mary is planning a trip to Cuba where she will bask on sunny beaches and smoke cigars with Castro!

Good Luck, Mary, and don't forget to send postcards!

September/October, 1996

The MARE book is sent out to almost all Michigan adoption agencies, dozens of parent groups and adoption advocates, over 200 Michigan public libraries and a number of out of state agencies and exchanges. The act of featuring a child in the MARE book exposes a child to literally hundreds of potential families!

Responding to these families and their workers within the mandated 10 day time frame cn be a challenge for workers. But it is a challenge that must be met if we are to find families for children and to keep families interested in the adoption process.

Each time a family inquires about a waiting child they take the emotional risk of being rejected. Although most families understand that only one family can be chosen for a child and that the decision is based on what is best for that child, families get frustrated and angry when they decide to take the risk and do not even receive a response. When they feel that they, or perhaps more importantly the children, are not being well served, most will not hesitate to voice their concerns to supervisors, agency directors, FIA administrators, the Ombudsman, or their legislators.

Although responding to each inquiry can be a challenge, especially if the worker receives dozens of calls on one child or sibling group, there are several easy techniques that can be used to respond in a timely manner. They include the preparation and use of a secretary to field inquiries; asking for assistance from co-workers and supervisors; or the creation of a simple form letter that can be quickly sent off to families or their workers indicating where the worker is in the decision making process. Equally as important is the notification to those families being considered as a potential placement for a child when a final decision is made.

Although only one family can be chosen for a child, each family or worker that inquires about a child listed in the MARE book deserves the courtesy of at least a response from that child's worker.

July/August, 1996

At the MARE Advisory Committee meeting on 5/29/96, it was proposed and strongly supported that the activity status codes which accompany each child's photolisting in the MARE book be eliminated.

The new MARE book will contain only those children who are NOT going to be adopted by a relative or current foster family, or those who have not yet been matched with an approved family (i.e., the child evaluation packet has not been sent to an approved family). Children whose foster parents or relatives have decided to adopt will not appear in the book. Children who have been matched with an approved family and whose child evaluation packed has been sent will not appear in the book. Children who have several interested families (both approved and not-yet-approved) but not ONE chosen family to whom the child evaluation packet has been sent will remain in the book UNTIL ONE FAMILY IS SELECTED. And, of course, children with no interested families will continue to be listed in the book.

These changes are based on the belief that the purpose of a photolisting book is to feature children who truly need recruitment. However, these changes must also be tempered by the desire to not let any children slip through the cracks and be denied an opportunity to be exposed to potential families. The adoption system (of which MARE is a part) continues to rely on the good will and professionalism of the many adoption workers throughout the state. Placement of children with identified families should occur in a timely manner. If a situation occurs where an identified placement does not materialize, it is expected that workers will contact the MARE office promptly so that the child may be featured in the next issue of the MARE book. Additionally, the MARE office will send adoption supervisors monthly reports of children who are six months past the "Hold" extension period and for whom no OTR has been received (one year past permanent custody). This will enable agencies to monitor cases and investigate any delays in placement.

The accuracy of the MARE book depends in large part on the information we receive from adoption workers. We trust that workers will continue to assist us so that we can produce a valuable recruitment tool that will benefit Michigan's hardest to place children.

May/June, 1996

The obvious appeal of a photolisting book are the photos of the waiting children. The expression on a child's face, the look in his or her eyes, the smile on a face - these are all qualities that can make a child's description come alive! If you've ever watched someone looking through a photolisting book, you'll notice how that individual will take the time to look at every single story that has a photo but will skip over those that do not. When a child is listed in the MARE book without a photo they are deprived of a fair chance to be noticed, to be worth individual attention, and to be adopted.

In recent months, the MARE office has seen an increase in the number of child registration forms being submitted without photos. On most of these forms the worker had indicated that a picture of the child would be sent shortly; in the majority of the cases no photo was ever sent. In some instances registration forms were returned to workers because of missing photos or lack of adequate information about the child.

Beginning May 1st, 1996, the MARE office will return all child registration forms that are not accompanied by a photograph and/or have minimal child information to the registering agency. Per agreement with the Michigan Family Independence Agency-Adoption Division, a case can be counted as late and sanctions issued if the completed registration is returned to the MARE office after the 182nd due date.

Agencies already have six months from a child's permanent custody date to procure a photo and to gather adequate information for the registration form. There should be no reason why a photograph and completed registration form can not be submitted. Photographs should be clear and well-lighted. Polaroid photos should only be used as a last resort and will be sent back if they are not usable. Photographs that have been photocopied or sent by fax are not acceptable! Any exceptions for not sending a photograph must be cleared through the program director, Kirsta Grapentine.

March/April, 1996

290 children were removed from the MARE photolisting book in 1995 for various reasons (i.e. adopted, permanency plan changed to something other than adoption, child turned 18, etc.) The largest number of children (97 or 33%) were removed because they were adopted by a relative or their foster family. However, the second largest number of children (74 or 25%) were removed because they were seen in the MARE Book.

The MARE Book goes to the printer on the 28th (or closest business day) of each month in order to be printed and mailed by the 15th of the following month. All Child Entry Forms, story updates, or photo updates must be received by MARE no later than the 25th of the month in order to be printed in the next edition. Anything received after the 25th will appear in subsequent editions.

MARE Tips, Notes, Updates . . .

• Recently the MARE office has seen an increase in the number of children coming back into the MARE Book after having been removed initially because a family had been identified. For various reasons, the identified family is no longer proceeding with the adoption, and the child is subsequently re-registered in the photolisting book. Please note: if a child's identified family withdraws and no other family is immediately available, the child should be re-registered in the photolisting book as soon as possible. This also applies to children who were on hold, but never appeared in the photolisting book.
  
• Children who are registered in the photolisting book and now have an identified family can be removed from the book by sending documentation to MARE that changes the child's status to a foster family, relative, or recruited family "hold." This can be done with the salmon colored MARE form, or via your MARE case manager during call back time. When removing a child from the photolisting book for any reason, please remember to completely fill out the green Child Removal Form! This allows us to capture important statistics for various state reports.
  
• In an ongoing effort to make the MARE book a more effective recruitment tool, the MARE office will now phone on children scheduled to be entered in the MARE book before they are actually photolisted. This means that during the monthly call back time, your MARE case manager will verify the status of a child who is scheduled to be listed in the upcoming book. A child with an identified family will not be photolisted.
  
• Currently there are over 600 children in the MARE tracking database who have identified families and who have been on hold for six months or longer. These are children who have been free for adoption for over one year. Additionally, there are 70 children who were removed from the photolisting book because they had an identified family, and now have been on hold with no petition for adoption being filed for over 6 months. This means nearly 700 children have been waiting at least one year for permanency, even though they have an identified family!
  
• In order to document what progress is being made toward adoption for these children, (and to close out those cases where a petition may have been filed, but no OTR has been sent to the MARE office,) MARE will be conducting a survey regarding these hold cases at the end of March, 1996. Each agency will receive a list of children in their care who have been on hold for longer than six months. The agency will be asked to verify the status of the child from a list of reasons why the adoption has not yet been completed. Agencies will also be asked to attach OTR's for those cases that have been closed, or Child Entry Forms for photolisting registration for those children who no longer have an interested family. We hope to complete the survey by May, and are counting on agencies to respond to the survey in a timely manner.

January/February, 1996

This edition of Recruitment News is dedicated to helping workers understand the "ins and outs" of the MARE program.

The state of Michigan has one of the most comprehensive special needs adoption systems and adoption resource exchanges in the nation. It is designed to ensure that every permanent state or court ward is accounted for, and that children who do not have identified families are exposed to resources in a timely manner.

The MARE tracking system monitors nearly 5,000 children each month. Although not a perfect system, it does account for every child with a permanency plan of adoption and allows MARE to track a child's progress toward a permanent home. The MARE tracking system also helps identify children who have waited the longest for adoption.

As the lead article in this issue details, Michigan's adoption system is quite intricate, but has produced good results in the nearly three years since its redesign. MARE staff are always happy to arrange for agency staff training or to answer individual questions workers may have about tracking lists or the adoption system. We also value your input, so please feel free to give us feedback.

November/December, 1995

As the MARE tracking system gets more sophisticated, the messages and warnings that appear on the monthly tracking lists can be confusing. Use the following "Cliff's Notes guide" to the tracking system to help understand what the different messages mean:

Messages that appear on tracking lists:

Congratulations- Case Closed

Appears when an OTR is sent for a case before the 182nd day due date. An OTR closes out the case, and the child's name will be removed from the tracking list.

Hold expired: Case reported for Dept. review

Appears for cases where some sort of hold documentation (FP/Rel/Hold/Petition) was sent but was not followed up with an OTR within six months of the due date (i.e. it has been one year or more past the Permanent Custody (P.C.) date and filing has not occurred).

This message will also appear for those cases which were removed from the photolisting book because they had an identified family and for whom no OTR has been received after being removed from the book 6 months or longer.

All cases with this message are collected in monthly report and sent to the MCI superintendent and central office for possible investigation.

Not in CSMIS: Due Date Unknown

Documentation has been sent by an agency for a child whose case has not appeared in the CSMIS data provided to MARE; no due date or case numbers can be produced.

OTR Overdue/Case report for Dept Review

The due date for a case has past with no type of documentation sent to MARE.

September/October, 1995

July/August, 1995

Just a reminder: When you are sending the MARE office an OTR, please send us the PCA 320 - Order Placing Child After Consent. This is the document that identifies the agency placing the child and the adoptive family.

Children who have been registered as a foster family, relative, or "hold" (recruited family) placement must be registered in the MARE book immediately if the identified placement falls through. This is done by submitting a blue Child Entry form and a well defined photo of the child.

The MARE office is now sending to the MCI Superintendent a monthly list of children who have been on "hold" (via foster parent, relative or recruited family adoptions or expired petitions) for more than six months past the 182 day due date for that case. This includes children who have been listed in the MARE book and were subsequently removed because a foster family or relative placement was being planned. Staff from the MCI office will be following up on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that when a child's goal is changed to adoption from some other permanency goal (long term foster care, custodial care, relative placement), the six month time frame starts anew. This means that agencies need to provide the MARE office with the date that the child's plan was changed to adoption. Otherwise the original permanent custody or acceptance date sets the due date, making most cases in this category already overdue. Resetting the six month date also means that the child cannot be featured in the MARE book until the new 182nd day has been reached.

March/April, 1995

This issue is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of Michigan's adoption and tracking systems. Please share it with all adoption, foster care and other placement staff, and retain copies for new worker education. Extra copies are available from MARE, and enlarged flowcharts will be forwarded to any worker on request.

Two significant changes are affecting your role in the system. First, a number of counties are now using new two-part OTRs. Formerly the Order Terminating Parental Rights After Consent and Order Placing Child was a single form, the PCA 320. OTRs now come in two separate parts- Order Terminating Parental Rights After Release or Consent (PCA 318), and Order Placing Child After Consent (PCA 320). When sending the MARE office documentation showing that a child has been placed for adoption, Please send only the Order Placing Child After Consent (PCA 320). The PCA 318 will not be accepted as a tracking document.

Also, with the streamlining of the Hold registration forms, notarized Petitions are no longer necessary and should be discontinued. MARE will accept them until May 1, but we ask that you convert to Hold registration forms as soon as possible. See the inset box on page 4 for more details.

January/February, 1995

There still appears to be some confusion regarding the protocol of exchanging information about children listed in the MARE book.

Once a child appears in the MARE photolisting book, the agency registering the child has 10 (calendar) days from the date of the first inquiry call to select a family and send that family's worker the child's referral packet. If the child's worker receives only one inquiry call the worker sends the packet to that family's worker. If there are multiple calls on a child, then that child's worker may select one family and send the evaluation packet to that family's worker.

In situations where more than one family has expressed interest in a listed child, the child's worker may request additional information about the families as long as the child's referral is forwaded within ten days of the initial inquiry. This is best facilitated by open worker-to-worker communication, and may include forwarding a copy of the family's adoption assessment to the child's worker. However, it should be noted that the child's referral packet should be sent only to an agency whose family has been studied and approved for adoption.

As a courtesy, once the referral packet has been sent out, the child's worker should notify the workers of families that were not selected as to the status of the case. In turn, the family's worker must notify the child's worker within 21 calendar days of the receipt of the packet whether the family intends to proceed with that adoption.

A Child Referral Packet Transmittal Form has been developed, and is in the process of being distributed by the Michigan Department of Social Services. The form should be sent to agencies in the near future, and allows for more accurate documentation of when inquiries were received and responded to. The form may be requested from the Department now; refer to Form #4748 - Child's Adoption Referral Packet Transmittal.