2024–2025 Services delivered: Adoptive Family Supports program — Aggression toward family/caregivers in childhood and adolescence

Component: provincial initiatives

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)

Service objectives

• To provide adoptive parents and other family members who are experiencing aggression in their home initiated by their child /adolescent with early intervention and clinical supports, education and resources, coping strategies and skill development that will enable adoptive families to function effectively at home. To increase awareness among adoptive parents and professionals serving adoptive families of how to identify and address violence and aggression of children directed towards their family, provide clinical therapy to Adopt4Life staff serving adoptive families, and help adoptive parents navigate and connect to services required to address their specific needs
• To build capacity across child welfare and other children and youth service sectors (g., mental health, special needs) by increasing knowledge and understanding of the intersection of services and supports provided to children and families to address similar issues experienced by adopted children and their families

Service description

The Adoptive Family Supports Program - Aggression toward Family/Caregivers in Childhood and Adolescence (AFCCA) is a specialized support program to provide clinical/therapeutic support and resources to adoptive parents who have adopted a child through a children’s aid society (“society”) and have experienced or are experiencing violence and aggression directed to them and/or family members by their adopted child (that may result from a complexity of issues including early childhood trauma, mental health issues and/or developmental delays).

The program provides counselling and therapy services to adoptive parents and their family to build family capacity to reduce the severity of, and/or address, the emotional, social, behavioural and self-regulation challenges of children and youth often displayed through violence and aggression toward family members. Services include intervention supports based on an assessment of the child, youth and family’s multiple risks, needs and strengths, and individual and integrated support to adoptive families to find, navigate and access clinical and mental supports to address aggressive behaviours toward the family. Counselling and therapy services can include a range of modalities (e.g. , individual, group, family or play-based) as well as clinical practices (e.g. , cognitive-behaviour therapy). Services are provided within the context of the family, culture and community. They can be delivered in a range of settings, at varying frequencies.

Transfer payment recipients will ensure that the provision of counselling and therapy services to adoptive families will

• Support children, youth and their families in the receipt of services designed to address identified needs
• Reduce the need for more intensive and intrusive intervention
• Reduce the severity of presenting issues associated with mental health and complex special needs
• Strengthen adoptive parent knowledge, coping skills, improve family functioning and build stronger more resilient families
• Help keep children and their adoptive families safe and reduce potential for adoption breakdown in families that are experiencing violence and aggression from children; and
• Enhance awareness and understanding of the presenting problem

People served

Families who adopt children and youth with complex and/or multiple special needs through children’s aid societies, are registered for post-adoption support through the Parent2Parent Support Network Program and whose family is experiencing violence and aggression in their home initiated by an adopted child /adolescent.

Program/service features

The program/services contracted by the Ministry will reflect the following features.

Program goals

• Provide families who adopt through children’s aid societies with opportunities to access clinical services and supports to meet the needs of their children and family
• Adoptive parents have increased awareness, ability to recognize the signs of, and knowledge about violence and aggression from children/adolescents (g., due to mental health, complex needs) and the supports needed and available to them
• Professionals supporting children/youth and their families have increased awareness and knowledge of how to serve and support adoptive families experiencing AFCCA

Specific service provided by transfer payment recipients

Services and supports provided by the transfer payment recipient include

• Supports to, or for the benefit of, parents who adopt children through children’s aid societies and have experienced or are experiencing violence and aggression from their children and their adopted children/adolescents
• Adoptive families will be identified/referred for clinical supports through the Parent2Parent Support Network This may include identifying the support needs and priority access for clinical services and supports
• Services may be provided by the Clinical Leads, Practice Lead, community service agencies or professionals with the expertise to address the specific needs of the adoptive families or purchased by adoptive Where services are purchased by adoptive parents, Clinical Leads will provide advice and guidance to adoptive parents in the selection of the community service agencies and/or professionals
• Supports provided to adopted children, who are violent or have aggression towards their family/caregivers, as a result from trauma (g., through their involvement with the child welfare system, in or outside the adoptive home in the absence of, or alongside their adoptive parents) and/or complex special needs

Children with complex special needs are

• Under the age of 18 and require specialized services/supports to participate in activities of daily living, on a long-term, continuous and/or intermittent basis; and
• Have two or more different special needs, requiring an integrated service approach that crosses sectors (health, education and social services)
• Have needs associated with a variety of conditions, which may include physical, intellectual, emotional and developmental disabilities, and chronic, severe and/or terminal illness

Complex special needs include but are not limited to: mental health disorders; developmental disabilities, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and autism

Services excluded

Supports for adopted children and adoptive parents in out-of-home settings that include short term overnight stay so as to afford the child or parent an opportunity for relief (i.e., for vacation, illness or short-term relief). Short term settings can include

• summer camps
• respite family homes; and
• motel/hotel arrangements paid by the service provider

Delivery method

• Services may be provided in person, by telephone or by videoconference by the Clinical Leads and the Practice Lead. Information and education may be provided through the website, resources and training sessions
• Agency staff coordinating or providing the clinical services are typically required to have certification in the human services field or related training or experience

Transfer payment recipients will ensure that services will be

• Reflective and responsive to child/youth, family and community strengths and needs
• Accountable to the child/youth, family and community
• Sensitive to the social, linguistic and cultural diversity of families and Indigenous communities
• Staffed by individuals with the appropriate range of skills and abilities necessary to respond effectively to the needs of adopted children/youth and their adoptive family
• Based on the child/youth’s and adoptive family’s assessed needs and available individual agency, community and contracted ministry resources

Ministry requirements of transfer payment recipients

Proactive Supports – building knowledge and capacity to support families

Clinical Leads will

• conduct research, provide clinical supervision, case consultation and resources for adoptive families to Adopt4Life’s Parent2Parent Support Network Regional Parent Liaisons (P2P RPLs) and provide mental health
• support to Adopt4Life’s Regional Parent Liaison staff to help prevent vicarious trauma and burnout from their daily duties
• serve adoptive families (e.g., parents, family members and children) experiencing AFCCA
• Act as a resource to community service agencies, including mental health, complex special needs and developmental services agencies, regarding aggressive behaviours of children/adolescents toward adoptive parents/family members. This could include participating in case‐ conferences with other service system partners serving adoptive families
• Build Adopt4Life’s Parent Liaison staff capacity to better support adoptive families with children who have complex care needs through education, mentorship and support on specific cases, where needed. This could include leading weekly virtual consultative case-conference team meetings with Regional Parent Liaisons
• provide clinical perspective/training to support professional development of Adopt4Life’s Parent Liaison staff regarding aggression toward adoptive parents/family, including how these situations are impacted by mental health, trauma, attachment disorder, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD); as well as managing challenging behaviors, including self‐harm, and self‐care for adoptive parents and front‐line workers
• Other responsibilities as determined and agreed upon by the ministry and Adopt4Life

Practice Lead will

• Develop scalable processes and approaches to ensure the program maximizes reach and support by providing ‘low touch’ community wide engagement, education, and support (g., monitoring online groups, hosting live webinars)
• Research, gather, and develop AFCCA specific resources, supports and services for adoptive families through regular consultation with the Clinical Leads and P2P Regional Parent Liaisons
• Consulting with the Clinical Leads, plan, develop, coordinate and deliver education/training for
  • adoptive parents to build awareness of and destigmatize AFCCA
  • professionals serving adoptive families experiencing AFCCA to build province wide capacity to understand the specialized needs of adoptive families and how to support and provide adoptive parents with strategies and skills needed to respond to their children with shared goals of stability and safety in the home; and
  • Adopt4Life Parent Liaison staff to build knowledge to better support adoptive Training to include clinical information, strategies and approaches to develop trust with caregivers, and evidence‐based strategies to address aggressive behaviours displayed by children
• Facilitate parent support group meetings for families experiencing violence and aggression established as part of the Parent2Parent Support Network Program
• Develop, implement, and facilitate a provincial AFCCA Community of Practice, which includes representatives from other sectors (e.g., special needs, mental health, FASD , clinical therapists, families with lived experience) and support development of best practices
• Lead organizational outreach to the community and partner organizations to grow awareness of AFCCA and the specific supports available through the program. Outreach activities may include running workshops, training engagements related to aggressive behaviours by children and building and maintaining collaborative working relationships with societies, service providers and associations working with families of children with complex needs
• Other responsibilities as determined and agreed upon by the ministry and Adopt4Life

Intensive Supports – early intervention supports for adoptive families

• Clinical Leads will collaborate with Parent2Parent Support Network Regional Parent Liaisons (P2P RPL) to provide one-to-one (‘low-touch’) early intervention supports to adoptive families experiencing AFCCA
• Clinical Leads will provide clinical therapy sessions at parent support group meetings for families experiencing violence and aggression established as part of the Parent2Parent Support Network Program
• Crisis Supports – managing urgent cases, collaborating with other sectors (g., special needs, mental health) to support family preservation
• Clinical Leads will manage a small caseload of families experiencing highly complex issues around AFCCA, including developmental trauma, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and mental health of the child/youth or caregiver which often co‐exist with AFCCA
• Practice Lead will build and maintain relationships between Ministry funded services providers and organizations such as Health Nexus, Surrey Place Centre, Parent’s Lifeline (PLEO), Parents for Children’s Mental Health (PCMH), Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and Coordinating Agencies providing Coordinated Service Planning and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Worker services, to facilitate knowledge transfer and coordination of services and supports to adoptive families of children with complex needs. The relationships and partnerships fostered will alleviate duplication of supports and services and improve coordinated referral and service provision to adoptive families in crisis

Reporting requirements

The transfer payment recipient will monitor and evaluate the program to ensure that program goals and service objectives are being met.

At each reporting period, an interim report on the project objectives, services, and outcomes.

On an annual basis, provide a report that details activities undertaken to support implementation of the initiative, including collaborations with other ministry funded services and children and youth sectors to support families who adopt children with complex needs.

The following service data will be reported on at an Interim and Final stage. Please refer to your final agreement for report back due dates and targets.