Featured Links

SWAN Permanency Toolkit - The SWAN Permanency Toolkit is an online resource guide about adoption and permanency practices in PA. In it, you will find permanency-related topics such as the SWAN units of service and benchmarks, online trainings, statistics about children in out-of-home care, relevant foster care and adoption laws and bulletins and regulations issued by the Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth and Families. You also will find information about the SWAN Legal Services Initiative, Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange, SWAN Helpline and Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association.

Adoption - Pennsylvania Specific

Adoptpakids.org - A program of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. This site is dedicated to children waiting for permanency. These children are provided exposure to all families wanting to expand their families through adoption. It connects families who want to adopt children waiting for a permanent home through an online photo album. This site also provides various supports to adoptive families. PAE is a resource for adoption information about search and reunion, subsidy and the adoption process. PAE offers information about upcoming Pennsylvania adoption related conferences and trainings. PAE manages the Pennsylvania Adoption Information Registry, a medical and social history database maintained by the Department of Human Services. Adoptees, adoptive parents and birth relatives who would like to share or obtain medical or social history information are provided information and instructions on how to do so.

Adoption - National Organizations

The Adoption Network - Makes information available to adopted persons, birth parents and adoptive parents. Can search over 2 million adoption web pages to research, study and make better informed decisions on your adoption journey.

The National Adoption Center - Expands adoption opportunities for children living in foster care throughout the United States and is a resource to families and agencies that seek the permanency of caring homes for children. The center supports adoption matching events, including Pennsylvania matching parties hosted by SWAN, which bring together children who are waiting to be adopted with families interested in adopting.

Voice for Adoption - Develops and advocates for improved adoption policies. Recognized as a national leader in special needs adoption, VFA works closely with federal and state legislators, as well as other child welfare organizations, to make a difference in the lives of the 107,000 children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted and the families who adopt children from foster care.

Pact, An Adoption Alliance - A non-profit organization begun by two adoptive parents in 1991. Pact’s goal is to create and maintain the internet’s most comprehensive site addressing issues of transracial/transcultural adoption. Pact also offers informative articles on related topics, website links and a book reference guide.

AdoptUSKids.org - is a service of the U.S. Children’s Bureau and has been in operation since 2002 by the Adoption Exchange Association under a cooperative agreement. They offer an array of services to both families and child welfare professionals, including tips and resources to an extensive database of children in U.S. foster care available for adoption and the families who are home studied and approved to adopt them. We have what you need right here to make your journey through foster care and adoption successful.

The Evan B. Donaldson Institute - Dedicated to promoting understanding of adoption as a viable way of creating families and to advancing the quality of adoption policy and practice. The institute identifies, analyzes, synthesizes and makes available the best information on adoption. This site includes over 1,000 abstracts on qualitative and quantitative adoption research conducted or published from 1986-2012. Bibliographies on adoption and related topics are also available as are adoption statistics for each U.S. state.

North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) - Promotes and supports permanent families for children and youth in the U.S. and Canada who have been in care, especially those in foster care and those with special needs. Committed to meeting the needs of waiting children and the families who adopt them. This site includes information on how to adopt, post-adoption services, family recruitment and retention, upcoming conferences and publications pertaining to subsidy, concurrent planning, parent support groups, trans-racial parenting, etc.

Child Welfare - Pennsylvania Organizations

Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administration - The mission of the Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators, PCYA, is to enhance the quality of service delivery for children, youth and their families by providing its members with: a forum for the exchange of information; assistance in educating the general public and its constituencies; and an environment of support for the association membership. This site also hosts the Technical Assistance Collaborative partners and the agencies’ county assignments

Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association (PSRFA) - Advocates for all those who care about children and their families. PSRFA works supportively with foster, adoptive, and kinship families and with local foster parent associations and agencies who care for the children we serve. We involve all parts of the community to improve the quality of family life in Pennsylvania and to influence child welfare policy and practice, both nationally and internationally.

The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services (PCCYFS) - The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services (PCCYFS) Is a membership association of private providers. Council members serve non-adjudicated, dependent and delinquent populations, including the families of these children and youth, and provide a broad range of residential, therapeutic and supportive services. Services range from prevention focused, in-home services to foster and campus based residential and residential treatment services. Many members also have strong behavioral health and educational components incorporated into their array of services and supports. They are committed to: advancing professional business practices, achieving better outcomes for those served, working together to meet their obligation of membership, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the work of the private provider community, activities to educate themselves about fiscal and programmatic issues. United in a consistent and strengthened voice, the council promotes the efforts of the private provider community, ensuring that the needs of Pennsylvania's most vulnerable children, youth and families are not forgotten.

Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center - Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center is a collaborative effort operated through the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, providing county children and youth agencies with individualized training and technical assistance services. These services are provided through ongoing collaborative partnerships with county children and youth agencies, the Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania children and youth administrators, private provider agencies, children, youth, families, community members and other system partners. Through cross-system collaboration, the resource center facilitates county specific assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring that leads to improved knowledge, skills and practices. This method helps ensure that the training and technical assistance needs of child welfare professionals are met across the state and better prepares our system to facilitate the outcomes of safety, permanence and well-being for the children, youth and families we serve.

Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board - The Youth Advisory Board is a part of the Independent Living Project sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and the Child Welfare Resource Center. The Youth Advisory Board educates, advocates and forms partnerships to create a positive change in the substitute care system. This site also holds the Know Your Rights: A Guide for Youth in Substitute Care, a must for all caseworker of our youth in care as well as for all the youth 14 years and up.

Child Welfare - National Organizations

Child Welfare Information Gateway - Provides child welfare and related professionals with easy access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. The Child Welfare Information Gateway consolidates and expands upon the services formerly provided by the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse to provide easy access to programs, research, statistics, laws and policies and training resources all in one place.

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) - The oldest and largest non-profit organization developing and promoting policies and programs to protect America’s children and strengthen American families. CWLA is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies serving children and families since 1920.The site contains publications, lists upcoming conferences and program notices, articles, gifts, etc.

Spaulding for Children - Provides help to children who wait the longest for permanency and support services to their adoptive, foster and kinship families. Spaulding offers training, consultation and informational materials for professionals, organizations and parents. The site features publications and videos, current schedule of trainings and the Adoption Support and Preservation Program (ASAP), a referral service.

The American Humane Association - The association reaches millions of people every day through ground breaking research, education, training and services that span a wide network of organizations, agencies and businesses. The website features fact sheets on topics such as emotional abuse, Shaken Baby Syndrome, reporting abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, etc. The site offers information on roundtable institutes on child welfare topics throughout the country.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation - Fosters public policies, human service reforms and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. This foundation provides grants to public and non-profit organizations to strengthen support services, social networks, physical infrastructure, employment, self-determination and economic vitality of distressed communities. Grant guidelines are provided on the site. The site features publications and “Kids Count,” a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States.

Legal Organizations

American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law - Is a full service technical assistance, training and research program addressing a broad spectrum of law and court-related topics that affect children. These include child abuse and neglect, adoption, adolescent health, foster and kinship care, custody and support, guardianship, missing and exploited children and children's exposure to domestic violence.

Disability Rights Network - A statewide, non-profit corporation designated as the federally–mandated organization to advance and protect the civil rights of adults and children with disabilities. DRN works with people with disabilities and their families to assure their rights to live in their communities with the services they need, to receive a full and inclusive education, to live free of discrimination, abuse and neglect and to have control and self–determination over their services.

Education Law Center of Pennsylvania - A public interest law office that engages in training, information sharing, advocacy and collaboration to make sure that all children have access to school and school programs, provide families with information about education laws and policies and improve schools.

HIAS of Pennsylvania - A non-profit organization that provides legal services to low income and at-risk immigrants and refugees.

Pennsylvania Health Law Project - A nationally recognized expert and consultant on access to health care for low-income consumers, the elderly and persons with disabilities. For more than two decades, PHLP has engaged in direct advocacy on behalf of individual consumers while working on the kinds of health policy changes that promise the most to the Pennsylvanians in greatest need.

The Juvenile Law Center (JLC) - A non-profit, public interest law firm that advances the rights and well-being of children in jeopardy. JLC works for the reform and coordination of the child welfare system, juvenile justice system and public health care systems in their delivery of services to children. The site features frequently asked questions about children’s rights, and publications for judges, attorneys, health care workers and child care workers. If you have questions about an individual child’s rights or children’s rights in general, an online form is provided to submit your question to JLC.

Parenting

Center for Schools and Communities - Since 1988, the Center for Schools and Communities has been committed to improving outcomes for children and families through training, technical assistance, program evaluation, research and resource development. The center supports education, community and family, and violence prevention initiatives funded primarily by the Pennsylvania Departments of Education, Health and Public Welfare. The center's work focuses on prevention and intervention initiatives operated by schools, organizations and agencies serving children, youth and families.

Parents Involved Network - A statewide organization that assists parents or caregivers of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. PIN provides information, helps parents find services and will advocate on their behalf with any of the public systems that serve children. These include the mental health system, education and other state and local child-serving agencies.

Parent to Parent of Pennsylvania - is a network created by families for families of children and adults with special needs. We connect families in similar situations with one another so that they may share experiences, offer practical information and/or support.

The Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance - PFSA protects children by teaching citizens to recognize and report child abuse and neglect and by providing information, educational materials and programs that promote positive parenting. They have recently partnered with American Humane, a nationally recognized leader in the prevention of child maltreatment, to launch the Front Porch Project® (FPP) in Pennsylvania - a community-based primary prevention initiative based on the belief that everyone can -- and should -- become more aware of how to help protect children in their own community. It provides people with the knowledge, training and encouragement they need to become involved.

Together as Adoptive Parents (TAP) - Taplink is a resource website for adoptive, foster and kinship families that brings local resources from across the state into one central, accessible place. Dedicated to providing support for adoptive families and assisting adoptive parents find necessary resources. Supports – respite, tutors, therapists, support groups, Medical Access contacts, children and youth contacts, attachment specific services and sexual abuse specific services – are listed county by county. This site provides in-depth information about subsidy and special education. Phone and website links are listed.

Training

E-LEARN – Act 101 Overview - Click this link to go to the Child Welfare Resource Center’s E-LEARN site. You will need a user name and password that you may obtain by emailing cwtpreg@pitt.edu. The two-hour Act 101 Overview course is free of charge. The overview of Act 101 allows you to learn about any or all three sections of the act that covers the Pennsylvania Adoption Information Registry, access to records and voluntary post-adoption contact agreements. Training certificates are available. If you have any questions about the training, please contact the SWAN LSI Warmline at 888-793-2512 or at lsiwarmline@diakon-swan.org.

SWAN Units of Service Training - The Spaulding/SWAN online trainings are an interactive web-based tool. They were built to include a supervisory component allowing review of the progress caseworkers make as they complete the training. These trainings are produced online making it more conducive to updates that reflect the most current SWAN practice. They were created to assist both affiliates and counties in their understanding and delivery of SWAN units of service. Currently four units of service trainings are hosted by Spaulding on this website. They are the child profile, child preparation , family profile and post-permanency units. All other units will be added as they are developed.

Adoption Literature

Tapestry Books - Lists over 300 books on adoption, infertility and parenting challenges. An online catalog and online ordering form make purchasing easy.