New Jersey Adoption Resource Clearing House

THE FUTURE OF ADOPTION:  Moving Beyond Safety to Well-Being

Although the three goals of the child welfare system include safety, permanency, and well-being, the first and most urgent attention is typically paid to safety. Well-being is a broader and longer-term goal. When it is the focus, primary attention is paid to well-being of children, rightly including such issues as physical health and social development.  When adult adoptees are asked about issues that concern them, however, they often mention broader issues that touch on who they are and how they fit into the world. These include knowledge of their own genetic background and health history as well as their connections to their birth relatives and birth culture. These connections all have the potential to enhance adoptees’ sense of well-being and will be the focus of the 2018 Rudd conference, “The Future of Adoption: Beyond Safety to Well-Being.”