(a) Introduction. - (i) The Commission has determined that the most effective way to administer and monitor the Confidential Intermediary Program is through organizations that are willing to take certain responsibilities and make regular reports to the Commission concerning compliance by intermediaries with the standards set forth herein. Since training providers have a vital interest in maintaining quality graduates and will have the necessary skills and facilities to promote excellence in training, prospective intermediaries must complete Commission-aproved training programs and continue beyond the initial training and utilize refresher courses and support systems built into the organization.
- (ii) In considering how the confidential intermediary system should function as an organization, the following divisions are set forth: screening, training and certifying, monitoring function and support, evaluation of training and reports to the Commission.
(b) Screening. - (i) It is the responsibility of the Training Organization to receive, review and approve appropriate applications from individuals desiring to participate in the training program for confidential intermediaries. These organizations that provide training shall include a screen process that will precede training itself, or be incorporated within it. This screening process shall assure the emotional stability of the trainee, the absence of any criminal history and the absence of any vested interest on the part of the trainee.
- (ii) To evaluate the emotional stability of the trainee, organizations shalI require completion of a confidential intermediary training application form which shall incIude current identifying information (name, address, phone, height, weight, etc.), employment background, previous experience and reasons why the applicant desires to be trained as an intermediary. Such stability will be demonstrated in sensitivity to issues of adoption triad members, discretion in dealing with sensitive interpersonal feelings, empathy for all persons involved in a case and the ability to work with and speak to all persons, regardless of-differing cultural or ethnic backgrounds.
- (iii) All trainees shall be approved by the Chief Confidential Intermediary and the training director of the training organization. It is absolutely essential the trainees do not have a criminal history. A Division of Criminal Investigation check shall be done for each applicant for training, and each trainee shall be required to sign a release authorizing the Training Organization to receive this information. The Training Organization shall require all prospective intermediaries to sign and abide by the Commission-approved Oath of Confidentiality.
- (iv) The trainee must have knowledge of, and be in agreement with alI of the Training Organizati on Is policies and be willing to attend all sessions of the training course. The Organization shall instruct all trainees to utilize counseling and support services that are not provided in the Training Organization. The Organization shall act to ensure that no intermediary shall be assigned to a case involving a relative, friend, business associate or other individual that could constitute a conflict of interest for the intermediary.
(c) Train and certify. - (i) The Training Organi zation 1 eadership shalI have substantial knowledge and experience in search methods and procedures, in the emotional needs of all members of the adoption triad and a desire to impart this experience and knowledge to others. They must have the ability to develop and teach the content of the training course in its entirety and provide properly administered Commission-approved training for applicants meeting the standards for training.
- (ii) The Trai ni ng Organi zation shaII teach Intermediaries with specific procedures they can follow in conducting their work, and shall require them to practice proper standards of documentation throughout each search. A 1 1 intermediaries who successfully complete the training program shall be issued a Commission-approved identification card with a current photograph of the intermediary.
- (iii) The Training Organization shall conduct training on a regular basis so that all confidential intermediaries may take a minimum of sixteen (16) hours of training every two years.
(d) Monitoring function and support. - (i) Each Training Organization shall include one Commission-approved Training Director and at least one Commission-approved Chief ConfidentiaI Intermediary. The Training Director shall be responsible for the initial training of intermediaries, as well as for refresher courses. The Chief Confidential Intermediary shall be responsible for monitoring the performance and providing support for intermediaries. In no case shalI the number of intermediaries on active status under one Chief Confidential Intermediary exceed twenty-five (25).
- (ii) It shaII be the responsibiIity of the training organization to provide an ongoing support system for intermediaries . Further, the organization must supervise each intermediary to ensure that his/her caseload is manageable.
- (iii) Each Training Organization's Chief Confidential Intermediary shalI be responsibIe for providing assistance and counsel to all intermediaries; meeting with the intermediary whenever a case is not resolved within thirty (30) days; requesting that the Court reassign a case when it is found to be in the best interest of the petitioner or the sought-after relative of the intermediary; approving all fees, expenses and all reports submitted to the petitioner by the intermediary and maintaining current records of intermediary performance for each intermediary under his/her supervision.
- (iv) Each Training Organization shall forward all complaints to the Commission for action in accordance with the Commission's Rules for Removal.
(e) Evaluation of training. - (i) The Training Organization shall be responsible to conduct ongoing long-term evaluation of all intermediaries which shall include: an ongoing training program with written and oral testing; personal supervision of all intermediaries by the Chief Confidential Intermediary; evaluations of the overall effectiveness of the Confidential Intermediary Program; and written evaluations from petitioners served by the intermediary, and include such evaluations in the permanent records of the intermediary involved.
- (ii) In addition, the Commission shall arrange for' an independent evaluation of Confidential Intermediary Training with a view toward unbiased input regarding overall effectiveness and quality of training.
(f) Reports to the Commission.
It shall be the responsibility of the Training Organization to forward a complete resume of each properly trained confidential intermediary to the Commission, including a record of successfully completed training, a signed Oath to Uphold Standards and Confidentiality, current identifying information and a current photograph.
The Training Organization shal l maintain records of the number of intermediaries trained, the number and dates of training sessions held, the number and dates of refresher courses held, the number of cases accepted by intermediaries under their supervision, the current status of each case, the number of requests received for intermediary services, the names and number of active confidential intermediaries and the number of complaints received. These records shall be compiled on a quarterly basis, and shall be available for inspection, upon request, by the Commission. This information shalI be provided in a written annual report to the Commission along with the names of all intermediaries who have been removed during the year as a result of disciplinary action, resignation or for other reasons.
(g) Training standards. - (i) Any Commission-approved curriculum shall provide a minimum of twenty-five (25) hours of instruction and will include training objectives, a time frame for each module and a clear agenda, actual narrative or a complete outline of all lecture material, a full description of all training exercises, all handouts, videos and overhead transparencies included, a competency assessment test and a method of determining whether or not the student is competent to perform as an intermediary, preparation of students by teaching investigative skills and knowledge of, and sensitivity to, adoption issues, a training format which includes both didactic (lecture) and experiential learning experiences. All courses in the training program shall be taught by persons with sufficient skill and experience in the area(s) they are to teach. The course that addresses the psychodynamics of grief/loss and attachment shall have someone teaching it who has experience in that area, and the organization shalI maintain an informal contact with the persons, or a person with that level of skill, to help deal with a crisis situation.
- (ii) AlI approved training courses shalI include instruction about the history of adoption practices in the twentieth century addressing the formation of adoption agencies, closed records policies and the reasoning behind them, 'best interests of the child', attitudes toward birth parents through the years, development of search issues and support groups, influential adoption literature, changing adoption practice, open placements, open adoptions, policies involving release of information, 'good cause', legislation in various states, black/gray market adoptions, shifts in societal attitudes, the nature of Wyoming's Adoption Intermediary Program and the role of the intermediary and the history of the adoption process.
- (iii) Training courses shall include instruction about the adoption triad , addressing typical feelings of adoptees growing up, who searches and who does not -the patterns, the usual reasons for searching and not searching, differences between the searcher and search , the gamut of emotions adoptive parents experience, especially when their child searches, what birth parents experience from pregnancy on and birth siblings.
- (iv) Training courses shall include instruction about search techniques addressing-how to understand documents such as court decrees and hospital/agency records, piecing together the story$ including 10 . oking for and understanding the significance of clues, using directory assistance, whether to speak with relatives, use of discretion throughout the search, interviewing former neighbors and landlords, using city directories and crisscross guides, state records (marriage, divorce, death, voting, motor vehicles, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, real and personal property probateY, school records (yearbooks, alumni, etc.), Professional organizations, church records, town newspapers, town historians, worker's compensation records, military records, genealogy records and resources, utility records, foreign adoptions, illegal adoptions (and those with no paperwork), brainstorming techniques, using intuition and creativity, and using legitimate search techniques.
Training courses shall also include instruction about counselling the client, -addressing -the reasons why adoptees and birth parents search, familiarizing the petitioner with the procedure, identifying fears, clarifying expectations for self and the sought-after relative, dealing with anger and guilt from the past, dealing with resentful/uncooperative family members with sensitivity, supportive words and phrases, do's and don'ts of the counseling process, key questions to draw out the petitioner, dealing with difficult petitioners, assisting petitioners for reunion, dealing with rejection, assisting petitioners in dealing with sensitive information, preparing the petitioner for reunion, dealing with rejection, assisting the petitioner with post-reunion issues , other resources, assigning writing exercises and journalizing to assist the petitioner in self-discovery or resolution of certain issues .
(h) Training courses shall include instructions about the role of the intermediary, addressing maintenance of confidentiality, maintenance of a search log (including cont acts , replies , organizing information , keeping track of expenses, etc.), filing progress reports with the Chief Confidential Intermediary or the Court, maintenance of regular and timely contact with the petitioner, contact with the sought-after relative, handling various responses, closing a case , uncompleted cases and a review of the Commission Manual of Standards.