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Program Director: Deborah Croston
Executive Director: Richard Chapman
About the JJC Adoption Department
In 1993, the Juvenile Justice Center was granted a Pennsylvania adoption license and by the Spring of 1994, our adoption unit was staffed and ready to provide services. The department is known as the Department of Permanency Planning or by the acronym DPP. DPP delivers a full range of adoption services to families who wish to adopt special needs children. We also provide child profiles and specialized recruitment services to foster children who wish to become adopted.
How do I qualify to be an adoptive parent at JJC?
At JJC foster parents become the adoptive parents of children whose permanency goal changes from re-unification to adoption. Singles and couples over the age of twenty-one years old, who are in good physical and emotional health, can apply. You do not need a large income, nor do you need to own your home. The adoptive parent cannot share a room with a child, but the adoptee can share a room with any children, of the same sex, that currently reside in your home. You would only need to provide a separate bed, with linens, for the adoptee. In Pennsylvania, anyone who has been convicted of assault or a crime against a child is automatically ineligible to adopt for at least five years from the date of the conviction.
Who are the children in need of adoption?
The mission of the department is to place special needs children who are waiting for permanent homes. It is these children who need families to open their lives and their homes. The special needs child is described in many ways. For the purpose of this agency, these children are African American children in foster care who are over the age of eight (8) years, sibling groups of three or more, children with medical, educational and/or emotional difficulties, and children who have been exposed to situations/conditions that may affect their future health and/or development.
The first steps
Contact the JJC intake workers at (215) 849-2112, extension
5111, to let us know when you are ready to begin the home study
process. A social worker will contact you to provide more detail
regarding our program. Each applicant is required to undergo a
home study process before a child can be placed in their home.
The purpose of the home study is to assess applicant's appropriateness
for foster/adoption parenthood, the process taking two months
because all applicants attend training and interviews and submit
documents required by the State and Agency (Criminal Record /
Childline clearances, medical, references, verification of employment,
etc.)
If an applicant successfully completes the home study process, then efforts begin to match the applicant with an adoptee. The time frame for this activity is not as predictable. Much of it depends on the willingness of the applicant to accept the characteristics of the children who are found to be waiting for adoptive homes.
Training and post-adoption support
All prospective adoptive families are required to attend group training and to participate in home interviews during the home study process.
Upon placement of a child, a social worker will remain in contact to monitor the adjustment of your family. If a child's FBP goal has changed from re-unification to adoption TPR will be pursued. If TPR is granted an update for adoption will be prepared upon the recommendation of the social worker and the consent of the child's custodial agency, the process of finalizing your adoption will begin.
Families who have completed the adoption process are eligible for post-adoption counseling services until the adoptee is eighteen years of age. JJC invites all families to call if ever in need of information or referral services. Families are placed in contact with local adoption support groups so that they may maintain on-going contact with other adoptive families.
How much does it cost?
City funding which will cover the foster care and adoption costs on behalf of all families willing to accept special needs children. This funding would also allow the adoption applicant to be reimbursed for legal fees and travel expenses that may be incurred during the pre-placement process.
In addition, through the Adoption Assistance program, there may be funds and health insurance available to the adoptive family for the on-going care of the adoptee (until the adoptee reaches the age of eighteen).
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