A major concern and need for adoptive families is appropriate, safe respite care.
Respite can be good for both parents and children, though often difficult to find. Creativity is helpful when trying to locate respite providers as it is with other areas of parenting. Some daily activities for children can provide limited respite for parents. If a longer break is needed, the ARCH National Respite Network has an online site that provides fact sheets, a national locator service, and the respite care contact in your state. Fact sheet #33 provides good information on adoption related issues and can be helpful in educating an otherwise appropriate provider.
AdoptUSKids, of which NACAC is a partner, has published two excellent resources to help parent groups create and sustain respite programs:
- Taking a Break: Creating Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Respite in Your Community — published in 2008, Taking a Break provides a step-by-step guide for developing a respite program
- Creating and Sustaining Effective Respite Services: Lessons from the Field — published in 2012, this guide was created to help states, tribes, and parent organizations to see the value of respite care and to learn from the AdoptUSKids respite grantees how best to sustain respite programs for the long term
If you have questions regarding accessing or establishing respite care in your community, contact NACAC at info@nacac.org or 651-644-3036.
