How to Adopt > Glossary - P to R

Adoption Glossary - P to R

PDD
Pervasive Developmental Delay
PRIDE
Parent's Resource for Information, Development and Education. A training program for foster and adoptive parenting developed by Parkland College, Champaign, Illinois. It is required in some states.
PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
parenting preparation class
A family preparation or parenting preparation class is a course taken by prospective adoptive parents, usually as part of the homestudy process. Many states and/or agencies require a particular kind of training. The Foster Family to Forever Family, an online parent preparation class.
parental rights
The legal right to parent a particular child.
parent-initiated adoption
An identified adoption may also be called a parent-initiated adoption. In this type of adoption, the adoptive parents and birthparents identify, find, or already know each other, and then use the services of an adoption agency or an independent adoption social worker or other facilitator, to arrange and finalize the adoption.
permanency, permanency planning
Permanence, or permanency, is an arrangement for the care and parenting of a child that is expected to be lasting and to eliminate the need for further moves. Adoption, reunification with a birth relative, and legal guardianship are all permanency options. Permanency planning is the process through which planned and systematic efforts are made to assure that a child is in safe and nurturing family relationships expected to last a lifetime.
permanent foster care
Long term foster care, also called permanent foster care, is the intentional placing of a child in foster care for an extended, and often indefinite period of time. Long term foster care may be assigned as a goal for a child when workers believe there are no possibilities for reunification with any members of the birth family, or for adoption. It is also sometimes used as a plan for teenagers who believe they do not want a permanent family and are refusing a goal of adoption.
photolisting
A published listing, either online or in print, containing a photo and description of a child or sibling group that is available for adoption, used by agencies to recruit prospective adoptive parents. Photolistings are in book form at adoption agencies and libraries and, increasingly, online. Most states have photolisting services online.
placement
The move of a waiting child, teen or sibling group into the home of the family who plans to adopt them.
post-adoption services, post-legal adoption services
Services (such as counseling or respite care) provided by an agency or community organization to the adopted person, the adoptive parents, and/or the birthparents after placement or after an adoption has been legally finalized.
post-placement
The period after a child has been placed in an adoptive home. Usually post-placement refers to the period before legal finalization.
post-placement supervision
The process of providing support and supervision to the adoptive family between the time of placement and finalization. Post-placement supervision is required and usually includes a specified number of visits to the family's home and/or a specified period of time.
pre-adoptive home, pre-adoptive placement
A home in which a child is placed with a family, usually homestudied, with the understanding that the family plans to adopt the child.
presentation
The term presentation is used by some agencies to refer to a meeting during which staff from the child's agency meet with a family who has been selected for a child in order to present comprehensive information about the child. This includes the child's family background, developmental history, personality, special interests, interpretation of medical and psychological findings, any problems experienced in foster homes or school, legal status, and eligibility for adoption subsidy.
pre-service training (PRIDE, MAPP, etc.)
Required training for foster or adoptive families prior to their being approved to care for children. Popular curriculums for pre-service training include PRIDE MAPP, and the Adoption RoadMap training available online.
private adoption
Independent adoptions, also known as private adoptions, are arranged through an intermediary such as a lawyer, physician, or other facilitator, rather than through a licensed adoption agency. Usually independent adoptions involve infants who are healthy or believed to be healthy. They often do not include counseling for the birthparents or parent preparation for the adoptive parents, and are not legal in all states. Children adopted through independent adoptions are not usually eligible for adoption assistance for special needs that may not have been noticeable at birth. Independent adoptions can be open adoptions, but this is not always the case. Private adoptions should not be confused with private agency adoptions.
private agency
A non-profit or for-profit agency licensed by the state but not government sponsored, and dependent on fees and donations rather than tax dollars to operate. Some private adoption agencies place infants or children from other countries; some work with (and are paid by) public agencies to place children who are in foster care. Some provide services to birthfamilies; others provide services only to adoptive families.
private providers
Private adoption agencies who work in conjunction with or as subcontractors to public agencies to provide services to children, such as foster care supervision or adoption recruitment, while the public agency retains custody. In this situation, a child may have one social worker through the provider agency, who is in contact with prospective families, and another through the public agency, who makes final decisions on placement.
prospective adoptive family
A family interested in adopting a child or children.
provider agency
Private adoption agencies who work in conjunction with or as subcontractors to public agencies to provide services to children, such as foster care supervision or adoption recruitment, while the public agency retains custody. In this situation, a child may have one social worker through the provider agency, who is in contact with prospective families, and another through the public agency, who makes final decisions on placement.
public agency
State and county adoption agencies that are responsible for placing waiting children who are in their care with adoptive families. Public agencies may be known as the Department of Social Services, Division of Human Services; Children, Youth and Family Services; or by other names. The public agency is generally responsible for most older child adoptions and for handling cases where children have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their birthparents.
public system
The public welfare system or foster care system. These are known by various names in different states, such as the Department of Human Services, the Department of Social Services, Division of Children, Youth and Families, or Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
purchase-of-service
In an interstate adoption or other adoption where more than one agency is involved, an agreement between the family's agency and the child's agency, in which the child's agency agrees to pay a fee to the family's agency for providing services, usually including a homestudy and post-placement supervisory visits and reports. Other services and expenses which may be negotiated into the purchase-of-service agreement include pre-placement travel, videoconferences, and legal costs associated with finalizing the adoption. When purchase-of-service fees are not available, the adoptive family may be expected to pay for these services.
RAD
Reactive Attachment Disorder
receiving agency
In an interstate adoption, the agency that works with the family, making sure the family has a completed homestudy, commenting on the suitability of the proposed match, and providing post-placement supervision.
reciprocal service agreements
In reciprocal service agreements, two states or jurisdictions agree to provide certain services for one another without charge. These agreements are often used by adjoining states or jurisdictions.
recruiter
An adoption worker whose job involves seeking and recruiting families to adopt waiting children. In some jurisdictions, children are assigned a recruiter in addition to their caseworker. A recruiter's job may also include retaining families by providing support to increase their possibilities of completing the adoption process.
recruitment
Activities for the purpose of encouraging families to adopt waiting children. Recruitment efforts may be general, such as an advertisement on television about the need for adoptive families, or child-specific, such as a waiting child feature in a newspaper. Recruitment may involve all forms of the media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, photolisting books or pamphlets, videotapes and websites. But is also done by networking among social workers and using community resources.
referral
A service performed when an individual or family is sent or directed from one organization to another that is better suited for working with them. Adoption exchanges often refer families to agencies that can complete their homestudies, and may perform other referrals as well, such as referring birthmothers to pregnancy counseling services. In adoption, a referral may also be a match referral (suggestion), made by an exchange or other intermediary between child workers and families who may be appropriate matches for the children.
registry
A service through which any adult member of the adoption triad who wishes to learn about birth relatives may register personal data and request to be notified should the other parties in that adoption also register. Some states have state- run registries; there are also privately-sponsored registries such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry.
relative adoption
A kinship or relative adoption is one in which the adoptive parents are biologically related to the child to be adopted, such as a grandparent, aunt, or cousin. In kinship adoption, as opposed to kinship care , the relatives legally adopt the child.
relative placement
A relative placement or kinship care occurs when a child is placed in the care of birthfamily members, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, or other adults who have a kinship bond with the child. This may be an informal agreement among the parties, a formal foster care placement made with the assistance of a public agency, or a pre-adoptive placement. The relatives may be awarded custody or legal guardianship by the court. When an agency is involved in a formal foster care placement, the relative may be entitled to the same benefits and supports as other foster care parents.
relinquishment
The voluntary surrender or termination of custodial and legal rights to a child by a birthparent. This is a legally binding, permanent procedure which involves the signing of legal documents and court action.
resource room
A classroom or designated area in which a child may receive special education or related services from a certified special education teacher trained to give specific support to students with disabilities in the appropriate subject and skill areas.
residential care facility, residential treatment facility
A facility which provides 24 hour care for severely troubled children, and therapeutic intervention to help them overcome behavioral, emotional, mental or psychological problems that prevent them from being able to function in the family, in school, and with peers.
respite, respite care
Temporary care provided for a child in order to give the child's foster or adoptive parents time off or a rest from parenting.
reunification
Reunification occurs when a child who has been in foster care returns to his or her birth family. Reunification is the goal for many children in foster care.
reunion
A meeting of a birthparent and an adoptee who become re-acquainted with one another after having had no contact due to a closed (traditional) adoption.
reunion registry
A service through which any adult member of the adoption triad who wishes to learn about birth relatives may register personal data and request to be notified should the other parties in that adoption also register. Some states have state run registries; there are also privately-sponsored registries such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry.
revocation of consent
A withdrawal of consent to adoption which a birthparent had previously agreed to and signed, and a request by the birthparent that the child be returned to his/her custody. There is a limited period of time during which a birthparent may do this, which varies from state to state.
risk
Legal risk is a term used to describe a potential adoption in which the child to be adopted is placed with the adoptive parents prior to termination of the birthparents' rights.

An adoption placement of a child of any age is considered to be high risk if there is a strong likelihood that a birthparent or other relative will decide (and be approved) to parent. The adoption of newborn infants is often considered high risk because one or both birthparents' consent to the adoption is not yet legally final. In a situation where the birthparent is voluntarily relinquishing a child, the length of the period during which a birthparent can revoke consent (Change his/her mind) and the adoption is at risk varies by state.

An adoption is considered low risk when the rights have not yet been terminated, but it is expected that they soon will be, and there is little likelihood of the child returning to birthfamily.