Barbara Dewey quickly realized she had come home with more than just three new children after completing her adoption process. She had also taken in their behavioral oddities. The previous abuse and placement history of the foster children led them to exhibit some behaviors the Lincoln, Neb., woman found "berserk," including insomnia, temper tantrums, property damage, sexual acting out and speech issues.

But after a social worker referred Dewey to a local post-adoption support group, her perspective quickly changed. Aside from swapping stories with fellow support group members, Dewey says the program helped educate her about the state's social services system and became a vital social network that worked like an extended family to provide respite, assistance and other support.

Many adults think the adoption process is complete once you've signed all the paperwork and returned home with a newly enlarged family. But this is when the real work of raising a child begins, and it doesn't have to be where parents' connection to the adoption community ends. The growing ranks of post-adoption support groups demonstrate just that, according to the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of Children's Voice, a publication of the Child Welfare League of America.