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Intercountry adoptive parent education

• Module 1 - Introduction
  • What is adoption?
  • Who is involved in the adoption process?
  • The adoption process
  • Adoption Services Queensland
  • Suggested reading
• Module 2 - The needs of overseas children requiring permanent adoptive placements in Queensland
  • Overseas country information
  • Are you suited to intercountry adoption?
  • Motivation to adopt
  • Issues and challenges faced by adoptive parents
  • Placement proposals
  • Building resilience with your adopted child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 3 - Child development
  • Understanding child development
  • Factors that impact on child development
  • A child's understanding of adoption
  • Suggested reading
• Module 4 - Attachment and bonding
  • Attachment theory
  • What is attachment and bonding?
  • Types of attachment
  • Attachment behaviour
  • Signs of healthy attachment and bonding
  • Attachment disorder
  • Impact of attachment on adoptive parenting
  • The arousal-relaxation cycle
  • Developing an attachment with your child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 5 - Separation, grief and loss
  • Definition of loss and grief
  • The impact of loss on adoptive parents
  • The impact of loss on adopted children
  • Effects and strategies for dealing with a child's loss
  • Understanding the impact of loss on an adopted child
  • The impact of loss on birth parents
  • The grief process
  • Suggested reading
• Module 6 - Identity and culture
  • Your feelings about ethnic background and culture
  • The impact of adoption on your family
  • Definition of ethnicity, culture and identity
  • Addressing cultural identity
  • The cultural heritage plan
  • Barriers to developing a child's cultural identity
  • A child's racial awareness
  • Stages of development of racial identity
  • Combating racism
  • Telling your child they are adopted
  • The adoptive family life cycle
  • Suggested reading
• Module 7 - Preparing for assessment
  • Departmental assessment considerations
  • Assessing a couple's suitability
  • Meeting the assessment criteria
  • The assessment process
  • Placement considerations
  • Assessors - their perspective
  • Establishing a family tree and Ecomap
  • Suggested reading
• Module 8 - Placement information
  • Medical assessment of children adopted from overseas
  • Lodging an application with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship
  • Migration Health Check
  • Naming your child
  • Travel arrangements
  • Arrival in Australia
  • Queensland Birth Certificate
  • Australian Citizenship
  • Adoptive parent support groups
  • Life Story Book
  • Suggested reading
• Module 9 - General reading
• Family profile
  • My family profile
• Printable version
• Contacts

Intercountry adoptive parent education

Who is this information for?

This education program is specifically designed for couples participating in the intercountry adoption program in Queensland.

The online education program for prospective adoptive parents is designed to provide self-paced learning information about the journey of adopting a child from overseas.

• When do I start/finish the online education program?
• What is involved?
• Program structure: getting started
• How do I use the online education program?
• Your learning journal

Note: Parents considering or participating adopting a child in Queensland, need to refer to the General Children's Adoption Program.

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When do I start/finish the online education program?

Participating parents can commence this program at any time. Although it is recommended that you commence an education program once you are notified of your eligibility to adopt (through the expression of interest process), you do not need to wait for your eligibility letter to commence this education program.

You also have a choice to attend a face-to-face education program in Brisbane if you prefer, with other adoptive parents (invitations to attend face-to-face education will only be issued once parents have been notified of their eligibility to adopt a child).

What is involved?

This education program is made up of a series of learning modules, consisting of:

• Learning objectives: outlines the material being covered in the module.
• Learning activities: contains questions about topics covered in the module that you need to complete and record in your learning journal.
• Learning journal: used to record your activity answers and reflection responses presented in each module, and may assist you to create your family profile and other important records.
• References and suggested reading: where relevant, references and suggested reading relating to the topics covered in each module are provided.

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Program structure: getting started

The online education program for intercountry adoption modules are based on self-paced learning. You can complete the modules in any order, however Module 1 should be completed first to provide the foundations for other education modules:

• Module 1 - Introduction
• Module 2 -The needs of overseas children requiring permanent adoptive placements in Queensland
• Module 3 - Child development
• Module 4 - Attachment and bonding
• Module 5 - Separation, grief and loss
• Module 6 - Identity and culture
• Module 7 - Preparing for assessment
• Module 8 - Placement information
• Module 9 - General reading

A section is also provided to assist you in creating a family profile, which will form part of your assessment by an Adoption Contract Worker.

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How do I use the online education program?

Each learning module has standard features to help you to go through the learning materials and navigate each page:

1. Module menu/current topic - the module menu (left side) and the topic menu (right side) both show your current position within a learning module. All topics and activities in the current module are shown in these menus, with the active topic highlighted.
2. Navigation 'breadcrumb' - displayed on the top of every page of this website, these 'breadcrumb' links show you the path from 'Home' page to the active page you are viewing. You can use these links to navigate back to module topic you wish to view or other pages if required.
3. Link to learning outcomes - this is a permanent link on all relevant screens which allows you to view the learning objectives for the active module.
4. Learning journal questions - each module has reflection questions and activities you need to answer and record in your learning journal. The learning journal is available for download from the first page of the education program.
5. Link to next topic or module - a link to the next topic or section in the education program is located at the bottom of every module page. You can use this link to progress to the next activity when you have completed the previous learning material.

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Your learning journal

• Your learning journal is a downloadable Microsoft Word file that you can use to record your answers to the activities and reflection questions presented at various points throughout this education program.
• The answers you record in this journal may assist you to create your family profile and other important records.

When you download the learning journal, you will be prompted to "open or save" the file. You should save the file to a location on your computer hard disk where it is easy to find and retrieve when needed. For example, you could save the file in your My Documents folder as "adoption learning journal.doc".

Next: Module 1 - Introduction

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Last updated

19 October 2007