ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a description of the methodology and data collection procedures used in the research. For the purposes of improving service delivery and positive adoption outcomes for special needs children, the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) initiated an evaluation study of the state agency adoption services program. Following a similar procedure as Smith and Howard in their study of successful and disrupted adoptions, data were collected by a systematic review of case records. Disrupted adoptions are placements in which the child has been removed from a pre-adoptive home before his or her adoption has been finalized. In the case of sibling placements where all siblings met the criteria for inclusion, the oldest child with complete case record information was selected as the "target child". Additionally, the children in both dissolved and disrupted adoptions had to have been in the home for a minimum of six months prior to the breakdown.
