Interesting thread. Our agency provided what I would consider less than the bare minimum education requirements in this area.
That being said, while I think adoption agencies definitely SHOULD provide and require more in-depth preparation and it's just plain wrong not to do so, the responsibility was definitely MINE since we were the adoptive parents so I prepared accordingly. I tend to fall into the "the more you know, the more you know" camp, so I would much rather be very prepared, know a lot and not need it than vice versa.
I wanted to be thoroughly educated particularly in two areas:
1) what would be considered to be within the realm/range of "normal" behavior for infants/toddlers (we had expected one of each) at various stages of development, and
2) potential challenges, issues and syndromes of post-institutionalized (PI) children and possible symptoms as well as how to best help them.
I personally thought it was critical to be educated & aware of both what would fall into the range of "normal" infant/toddler behavior and what might constitute something "more."
WHY do this before "something happens" or you see an obvious problem later with behavior? Well of course, the earlier you recognize a problem and can get help, the better -- your odds of improvement are greatly increased. But mostly, because if you don't have a baseline level of education regarding both typical children's behavior and some of the more common issues that MAY develop with post-institutionalized (PI) kids, how will you even have a clue as to when or what to investigate or research further? You may miss some very basic markers just because as others have pointed out, You don't know what you don't know. How could you?
EXAMPLE: if your post-institutionalized child is superficially polite and very friendly, pleasing and/or affectionate to everyone right off the bat, MANY people will just think, "What a nice, polite and friendly little girl!" Your extended family will all remark upon it in a positive way, I'd bet you anything. Rather than recognizing that an indiscriminate need to please or willingness to go with ALL strangers and/or be affectionate to almost everyone is a POTENTIAL warning sign about attachment.
NO, it is not ALWAYS a problem -- some children, adopted or not, seem destined to "work the room" right from the start!
However, indiscriminate friendliness IS a potential warning sign among post-institutionalized children and we all need to know that. Because that's what all our kids are: Post-Institutionalized (PI). They ARE at higher risk for some things, that’s just part of it, and not thinking so and failing to do your homework accordingly is taking an unnecessary chance with your child. That doesn't mean you have to live your life in terror, looking up every cough, mean glance, or wiggle; instead, it gives you a basic comfort level that I think can actually help you relax more as a parent since you have a better idea of what to expect and consequently feel more prepared.
Like others, I assumed if I were pregnant, we would be reading all of the "What to Expect if You Are Expecting" type books with great relish and enthusiasm, charting what was happening each step of the way. So why in the world would I do any LESS for children joining my family through adoption, particularly when I had already been able to do less to help give this child his/her best start than a biological child (ex: I couldn't control the nutritional habits of their birthmom when I could have guaranteed I wouldn't be drinking during pregnancy, I couldn't require prenatal vitamins and good prenatal health care when you know darned well I would have had it, etc.)
To me, it just seemed that not preparing adequately would be ignorant at best, and wouldn't be giving my child the best start I could under the circumstances imposed. Besides, I had already figured out that this was going to be a LOOOONNNNNGGG process, so reading books and articles to educate myself seemed like a great use of the time.
Please note: I didn't mean this to criticize anyone else, just wanted to explain what I did and my own rationale as to why I think it's important. Please, no harm, no foul!