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2010 Conference Sessions General Sessions Thursday, August 5 — Josh Shipp: “Don’t Be Average” On Thursday, Josh Shipp will entertain and inform with his session “Don’t Be Average.” Author, TV host, and one of Inc. magazine’s 30 under 30 list, Josh has established an international reputation as an inspiring speaker. In this heartfelt and humorous speech, Josh will tell his own story about being abandoned as a baby and enduring an abusive childhood, but his tale does not end in sadness. It rises above the situation to show how a mess can turn into a message. Thursday’s keynote is made possible by the 2010 Sara Berman Memorial Children’s Fund award—an annual award in honor of Sara Berman’s lifelong commitment to children. Sara was chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services’ Adoption Division from 1989 until her tragic death in early 1998. Family and friends created the Sara Berman Memorial Children’s Fund to keep her legacy alive. Friday, August 6 — Oronde Miller: “Understanding Healing and During Friday’s general session, adoptee, adoption professional, and advocate Oronde Miller will explore how parents and professionals can best help traumatized children heal and grow when they understand the child’s racial and cultural heritage. Now chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Oronde’s experience includes direct service, program management, community engagement, and child welfare system reform efforts. Oronde’s work has particularly focused on the cultural and social forces that affect African American child and family functioning in the U.S. Saturday, August 7 — Awards Luncheon and Closing Session by Denise Goodman: “The Last Waiting Child” At Saturday’s luncheon, NACAC will present awards to deserving individuals and organizations. Attendees will then be educated and inspired during a closing session with Denise Goodman, child welfare trainer and consultant. Denise will ask the audience to imagine that all children have families—except one! She will explore how we all have a part in working toward ensuring that every child has the opportunity to join a family for life. Denise has been a child welfare professional for more than 30 years, and regularly offers workshops and consultations across the U.S. and Canada. On August 4, NACAC will hold two pre-conference sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Connecticut Convention Center. Fees of $110 US/$120 CDN per person are in addition to regular conference registration costs. Lunch is on your own. You can register for a pre-conference session even if you do not attend the rest of the conference. Space is limited, so register early. Click here to learn more about registration and download a registraion form. Check-in will begin at 8:00 a.m. on the meeting room floor of the convention center, and CEUs (about .7 contact hours) can be purchased when the session ends. Adoption Competency for Mental Health Practitioners Adoptive families need adoption-competent mental health professionals who are able to see beyond diagnoses. Learn about adoption-competent models, approaches, and strategies that really work for adoptive/foster families. Diane Martin-Hushman & Kim Stevens, North American Council on Adoptable Children • Gregory Keck, Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio Managing Challenging Behaviors: A Survival Guide for Parents and Professionals This session focuses on the difficult dance between poorly regulated children and their often-frustrated parents and mental health professionals. Participants will gain a new understanding about ways in which trauma and loss affect children’s developing brains, and how neurological and emotional deficits can lead to behavioral challenges such as defiance, aggression, lying, impulsiveness, and sexualized behaviors. Parents and professionals have traditionally perceived these behaviors as attention-seeking, willful, and manipulative, but current research suggests that traumatized children may instead lack the cognitive development and skills to handle frustration, solve problems, and deal with social situations that require flexibility and adaptability. Participants will learn new approaches for improving children’s cognitive skills and specific strategies for creating realistic behavioral expectations to manage children’s explosive, non-compliant, and riskybehaviors. Dee Paddock, Orchard Place
Workshop Period 1 1A In this session, workers will develop knowledge and skills to help parents address the needs of adopted children who have been sexually abused. Discover how to help parents create a healing milieu to counteract the negative impact of trauma on a child’s psychosocial and cognitive development, and enhance positive self-esteem. Learn how to help adoptive families become the central ingredient in their children’s recovery. Wayne Duehn, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington (retired) 1B Children adopted at older ages often settle in well during late childhood, only to erupt in their teens. When combined with the ups and downs experienced by all adolescents, this may create havoc and conflict in the family. This workshop will help parents understand this dynamic, and will offer simple, straightforward strategies to get through these years. Brenda McCreight, Life Span Counseling, British Columbia
Increasing numbers of adoptions have generated a growing need for post- Allyson Mack, University of Connecticut Health Center 1D In a world where disruption looms too often, this workshop offers a positive approach for workers and families. Learn to make sense of and deal with negative feelings that adopted children can make their parents feel, and anger and frustration that parents can feel toward their children. By understanding this dynamic, plus other key parent/child interactions unique to adopted children and families, adoptive parents can help turn a family crisis into an opportunity for true communication and strengthened commitment. Maris Blechner, Family Focus Adoption Services, New York 1E Aimed at adoption professionals preparing families for placement and current or prospective adoptive parents, this interactive workshop will take a new look at some of the conventional wisdom surrounding child placement. Come prepared for a lively discussion that might challenge your assumptions. Phyllis Charles, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Virginia • Dixie Van de Flier Davis, Adoption Exchange, Colorado • De Guerre Blackburn, Voice for International Development and Adoption Agency, New York 1F In any disaster, the most vulnerable victims are children. The immediate response must reflect the urgency of the crisis. But it must also fit into the appropriate long-term response that is developed thoughtfully, carefully, and with respectful regard to the well- being of the local culture, local community, and broader global context—and most of all, the best interests of children. Susan Soon-Keum Cox, Holt International Children’s Services, Oregon 1G Every organization involved in transracial and transcultural adoptions should be responsible for implementing a cultural continuity plan. In this workshop, learn to develop plans for children and their families that beautifully illustrate that every child has a right to build racial pride within his home and community. Sarah Rohde & Christian Eshelman, Adoption STAR, New York
In more challenging times, there is greater impetus for innovative collaborations in child welfare. Public agencies have mandates, expertise, and institutional resources; private agencies have flexibility to try innovative approaches and respond creatively to emerging needs. Together, the private and public sector can build strong and sustainable programs that prepare and support families through adoption. This workshop will describe a successful private/public adoption agency partnership in California, and offer a toolkit to help agencies manage the challenges and opportunities in such collaborations. Karen Alvord & Carol Ramirez, Lilliput Children’s Services, California • Lois Rutten, Contra Costa County Children and Family Services, California 1I In this session, the presenter looks at the attachment styles of adults and how they affect children. The session will examine how to prevent attachment problems, which can be difficult to address and treat and which present challenges for the whole family. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Center For Family Connections, Massachusetts
1J Schools have a significant impact on children's self-esteem and welfare. Those who came to their families through adoption or foster care can encounter challenges not faced by other children. Learn to recognize how children's losses affect their experience in the classroom and how schools can accommodate these children without changing their curriculum's goals and objectives. Joan Clark, Adoptions Explained LLC, Massachusetts 1K The presenters share proven strategies for not only preventing cuts to adoption funding, but also increasing state and county funding for adoption while other social services receive devastating cuts. Join a professional lobbyist with a passion for permanence and two veteran adoption advocates who will teach you how to follow the money. Gail Johnson-Vaughan, Mission Focused Solutions, California • Kathy Van Osten, Rose and Kindel, California • Colleen Ellingson, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin 1L This workshop provides the opportunity for participants to examine how and why birth parents are so critically important to adopted children, and how adoptive parents’ attitudes toward birth parents affect their children’s self-concept and identity. The presenters will also cover age-appropriate communication about birth parents, coming to terms with difficult information, and searching for information or reunion. Ellen Singer & Cynthia Cubbage, The Center for Adoption Support and Education, Maryland Institutes IN-1 The session will use case consultation, discussion, and role play to make sense of the difficult situation faced by all the adults associated with fostering and adoption, and the importance of keeping a child-centered focus especially in open and contested cases. The presenter will emphasize that the professional is of utmost importance and has a great influence on outcomes. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Center For Family Connections, Massachusetts IN-2 See your kids in a whole new light! This workshop offers a toolbox of strategies for parenting children and teens. Topics include developing trust and attachment while helping children learn to manage their own behaviors, building self-esteem, and maintaining your sanity. The presenter will give special attention to the unique world of teens. Denise Goodman, trainer/consultant, Ohio IN-3 This institute will provide an overview of why adoptions disrupt and explore signs of a pending disruption. The presenter will also provide strategies to help the child, adoptive parents, and adoption worker grieve and move on. Brenda McCreight, Life Span Counseling, British Columbia IN-4 In this participatory institute, attendees will become familiar with FAS and FAE signs and symptoms and learn about obstacles faced by children with these diagnoses. Participants will learn strategies to aid in parenting and educating this special population. Bette Hoxie, Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine IN-5 Learn how to replicate Extreme Recruitment—an intensive 12- to 20-week recruitment effort for youth in foster care who have been failed by traditional recruitment. In this model, a collaborative team engages in all forms of recruitment, including using investigative techniques to find kin, while preparing youth for permanency from mental health to educational perspectives. Melanie Scheetz & Carlos Lopez, Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition, Missouri • Sheila Suderwalla, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, Missouri • Phil Bertlesen, Big Mountain Productions, New York IN-6 A panel of experts with knowledge about placing U.S. children for adoption in other countries will explore this sometimes challenging area of practice. Participants will gain an understanding of issues involved in placing U.S. children in other Hague-participant countries, best practice considerations, and helpful resources. Phyllis Charles, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Virginia • Dixie Van de Flier Davis, Adoption Exchange, Colorado • De Guerre Blackburn, Voice for International Development and Adoption Agency, New York • Susan Soon-Keum Cox, Holt International Children’s Services, Oregon IN-7 A transracially adopted presenter offers firsthand experiences and practical ideas related to race and diversity challenges in adoption and foster care, including integrating family and community, hair and skin care, dating, and perceptions vs. reality. An adoption/foster care professional will frame the discussion for professionals and offer practical solutions for having a more realistic dialogue about race and class. April Dinwoodie & Barry Chaffkin, Changing the World One Child at a Time, New York IN-8 Come hear about three ways to help a variety of professionals become adoption competent: (1) The University of Connecticut School of Social Work Post Master’s Certificate Program on Clinical Issues of Adoption; (2) The Center for Adoption Support and Education’s pilot of a standardized adoption-competency training program; and (3) NACAC’s eight-day train-the-trainer adoption-competency curriculum, designed so professionals can educate co-workers, adoption professionals, and parents. Diane Martin-Hushman, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota • Sean Delehant, The Center for Adoption Support and Education, Maryland • Cathy Gentile Doyle, University of Connecticut IN-9 Laughing is one of the healthiest things one can do when facing the deep stresses, tensions, and pain of parenting and life in general. This workshop will highlight how one can bring more laughter into both home and work, and will make the case that laughter can prevent burnout for those raising even the most difficult of children. Pat O’Brien, You Gotta Believe!, New York IN-10 The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act included provisions to better serve children in kinship care. This workshop will provide an overview of the provisions, and share best practices and tools for implementation of notice to relatives, licensing waiver authority, guardianship assistance, and efforts to keep siblings together. The presenter will facilitate dialogue about kinship improvement strategies across the country and share ways to assess existing kinship policy and practice. Jennifer Miller, ChildFocus, Rhode Island IN-11 With a growing international coalition, parents and professionals across North America are poised to demand national commitment to equitable and consistent post-adoption supports in both the U.S. and Canada. Come to this workshop to join the coalition and develop an agenda and game plan. Kim Stevens, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Massachusetts IN-12 Sibling relationships have often been overlooked in child welfare. In this session, the presenter will explore the benefits of keeping siblings together, the parenting child, and grief related to unknown siblings. A video of parents and children discussing these issues will be shown. Regina Kupecky, Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio
Workshop Period 2 2A Domestic or family violence has a major impact on all family members—especially children and youth. Through visual tools and real examples, you’ll learn how to know if a child has been exposed to violence, the impact at various developmental stages, and how violence affects children’s future relationships with foster and adoptive families. The presenter will discuss a case scenario and offer best practice treatment options for the family. Mary M. McGowan, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 2B After hundreds of hours of training and lectures what emerges as the most powerful tool we have is our authentic selves. This workshop will help us define our personal beliefs about health and how to use those beliefs to aid our work and maintain our well-being. Rick Tsukada, Middlesex Hospital Center for Behavioral Health, Connecticut 2C AdoptUsKids—in collaboration with NACAC—has created a how-to manual and is offering mini-grants and training for parent support groups and public agencies to start respite program in their communities. Come hear how your groups can be involved. Diane Martin-Hushman, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 2D Led by an emotion-focused therapist, this workshop provides a basic understanding of the adopted child’s behavior as driven by thoughts and feelings, which themselves are based in the child’s experience during his short life. Professionals help best by recognizing adoptive parents do the best they can, given the supports they have. Robert Spottswood, North Star Counseling Services, Vermont 2E Adopt America Network uses a customer service model that includes an electronic matching database that demonstrates its effectiveness through an average of 200+ placements per year. Critical to the model’s success is the personal service and consistent follow-up provided to families as they navigate the adoption process. Wendy Spoerl & Karen Hojnicki, Adopt America Network, Ohio • Claudia Fletcher, Adopt America Network, Minnesota 2F International waiting children may have major or minor health problems, which may or may not be correctable. This session will introduce many common special needs, including cleft lip and palate, congenital heart disease, club foot and other limb deformities, congenital hip dysplasia, HbH disease and other types of thalassemias, and hepatitis B and C. We will review diagnosis, management, and potential long-term complications. Dr. Elaine Schulte, Department of Pediatrics, The Cleveland Clinic, Ohio 2G A transracially adopted adult/researcher, a multicultural program director, a transracial adoptive mother, and a transracial adoptee will present about how to initiate, create, and maintain connections for a transracially adopted child. Designed for practitioners, adoptive parents, and those hoping to adopt, the session will include what is best for the child, how to find and initiate connections, how to maintain and manage connections, roles of adoptive and birth families, and more. Susan Crawford, Halton Multicultural Council, Ontario • Anne Pollard, adoptive parent, Ontario • Carol Yoselin Corrales, transracial adoptee, Nebraska • Robert Ballard, University of Waterloo, Ontario 2H Pre-adoptive families with challenging children from foster care often experience high stress. Professionals can provide helpful support, but sometimes they inadvertently do damage by failing to coordinate their efforts. Without careful collaboration, placements threaten to blow up. This collaborative presentation by an agency head and a therapist will describe how to identify and resolve pitfalls. Maris Blechner, Family Focus Adoption Services, New York • John Sobraske, adoption psychotherapist, New York 2I What happens when we take P A R E N T out of P E R M A N E N T? We are left with M N E which stands for Mostly Not Enough. While alternative “permanency options” (significant connections, mentors, volunteers, etc.) may be good things, none will prevent homelessness for a teen aging out of care. This workshop makes the case that parents are the only permanency option for teens as they age out of care and will offer excellent strategies for finding those parents. Pat O’Brien, You Gotta Believe!, New York 2J The Multiethnic Placement Act/Interethnic Adoption Provisions (MEPA/ IEPA) requires states to develop plans that “provide for the diligent recruitment of potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in the state for whom foster and adoptive homes are needed.” This training will provide tools for how to follow the law and successfully recruit families while avoiding potentially discriminatory placement practices. Ruth McRoy, Boston College School of Social Work, Massachusetts • Joe Kroll, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota • Adam Pertman, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, New York 2K We have the best of intentions in helping children who have been abused and neglected. Unfortunately, our systems often turn on the very children they are supposed to serve. A reexamination of best practices and policies in adoption and foster care is long overdue. Children coming into care have experienced many traumas. While children can recover from multiple traumatic events, safety is a prerequisite to their healing. This presentation will identify policies, licensing requirements, and therapeutic practices that are critical in ensuring the safety of children in care. Wayne Duehn, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington (retired) 2L Designed for adoption professionals, this workshop provides an overview of the clinical issues that relatives experience when adopting kin. The presenter will draw on professional and personal experiences to provide practical suggestions for working with relatives in adoption. The session will also cover tools to determine readiness for adoption and the significance of kin in children’s lives, even when the children are not able to remain in kinship care. Karen Alvord, Lilliput Children’s Services, California
Workshop Period 3 3A Rather than describe specific diagnoses, this session looks at the the use and misuse of labels, such as bipolar and reactive attachment disorder. The presenter explores the importance of various influences such as developmental delay, identity issues, and chemical exposure in utero, and how to determine, on a case-by-case basis, which factors are relevant. In addition, the speaker will discuss how parents are expert advocates who can maintain a whole picture of the child and thus resist diagnostic fragmentation by specialists. John Sobraske, adoption psychotherapist, New York 3B Parents, come hear the truth about mother blame, and begin to understand why traumatized children respond negatively to Mom. The presenter will help you cultivate skills for deflecting blame, rethink your expectations of your child, use humor, and learn strategies to develop resiliency, reclaim yourself, and prepare for a healthier lifelong relationship with your children. Diane Martin-Hushman, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 3C For the past 11 years NACAC has been supporting adoptive parents in Minnesota by providing peer-led post-adoption services. Program staff will discuss this model program, including structure, implementation, challenges, and lessons learned. Ginny Blade & Mary M. McGowan, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 3D Parenting a hurt child calls for innovative, creative, and nurturing ideas. Often parents can’t understand why techniques used to successfully parent other children simply have no effect. Come learn what parenting tools do not work and why—and retire those tools without guilt. Then you’ll discover new ways to help your child heal. Regina Kupecky, Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio 3E Created by the U.S. Children’s Bureau in 2002, AdoptUsKids is a set of strategies and tools to raise awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families, increase the number and speed of children adopted from foster care, and support adoptive families. This workshop will explore challenges and successes, and highlight how AdoptUsKids has increased permanency options for certain kinds of children and youth. Learn how we can help with your recruitment and retention efforts. Kathy Ledesma, AdoptUsKids, Maryland 3F This presentation explores medical and developmental issues related to domestic adoption, including both prenatal and postnatal topics. Agency staff and prospective parents will learn from presenters with more than 23 years of experience in international adoption who are now counseling prospective parents in domestic adoption. Laurie Miller & Linda Tirella, Tufts Medical Center International Adoption Clinic, Massachusetts 3G This workshop will present universal Latino values and offer suggestions on how to integrate these values into family practices, traditions, and parenting. Maria Quintanilla, Latino Family Institute, California 3H E-mail marketing is one of the most popular and effective forms of marketing today. It is quick and inexpensive, and offers immediate and highly measurable results. Learn how the Adoption Exchange Association has taken advantage of e-mail marketing to fulfill its mission and the mission of the Children’s Bureau through AdoptUsKids. Using mass e-mail marketing, we promote events, services, and products and even match families with waiting children! Find out if e-mail marketing is right for your organization. Anastasia Edney, Adoption Exchange Association, Maryland • Rachel Pratt, Adoption Exchange Association, New York • Helen Owens, AdoptUsKids, Washington 3I This workshop will provide the opportunity to explore how hard it is to have a good and satisfying adult relationship in the middle of the tornado of raising foster or adoptive children. Rick Tsukada, Middlesex Hospital Center for Behavioral Health, Connecticut 3J California’s Tribal Customary Adoption (TCA) bill was signed into law in October 2009. TCA allows Indian children and families to realize the permanency and support of adoption without terminating parental rights. The workshop will provide insight into TCA’s history, purpose, and potential challenges, and will explore how to implement TCA at tribal, county, and state levels and how TCA will affect private agencies. Nancy Currie, Soboba Band of Lusieno Indians, California • Kimberly Cluff, Forman and Associates, California 3K The session will present findings from three studies based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents and the 2008 National Survey of Adoptive Parents of Children with Special Health Care Needs. The studies explore the well-being of U.S. children adopted domestically and internationally, the well-being of children living with or adopted by relatives, and parent/child relationship for adopted children with special health care needs. Sharon Vandivere, Child Trends, Maryland • Laura Radel, Department of Health and Human Services, Virginia • Cristina Mogro-Wilson, University of Connecticut Health Center 3L Adoption workers have been hampered in serving the variety of pregnant women who seek help by too closely adhering to a patronizing model of what that woman is like. Such a model ignores the wide range of personality characteristics and family situations, as well as differences among women in their attitudes about unplanned pregnancy. This workshop will demonstrate how workers can help birth parents and prospective adopters understand the complex issues of loss inherent in all adoptions, and will show adoptive parents the critical importance of helping adopted children reconnect with their birth family. Wayne Duehn, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington (retired) • Bob Rooks, Florida’s Adoption Information Centers
Workshop Period 4 4A This workshop presents an overview of the new understanding of attachment, trauma, and neurobiology and how it affects preparation and support of permanent families for children who have been hurt or scared. The workshop will present the theoretical underpinnings and discuss how the new information can be integrated in each stage of the permanency process. Sherry Anderson, Three Rivers Adoption Council, Pennsylvania 4B Being an adoptive parent offers insight into the profession unparalleled by other experiences. This session focuses on the balance an adoptive parent/adoption professional must keep in her work. The presentation includes how to maintain professional boundaries, how to keep personal issues separate from work with families, and how to use experience to enhance the field rather than alienating other professionals. Loryn Smith, Woven Basket Christian Adoption Services, Florida 4C Adoptive (as well as foster, kinship, and guardianship) families often struggle to find therapists who understand the special challenges they face. In an effort to help families make informed choices about their support services, this workshop will explore approaches (such as family-focused, trauma- and attachment-informed, and sensory integration therapies) that have proven helpful to adoptive families. Bill Chasse, Casey Family Services, Connecticut • Kathi Legare, therapist, Connecticut 4D Workshop participants will learn the meaning of “spare the rod and spoil the child” and explore how to work with families whose beliefs might impede healing for children with certain disabilities and mental health issues. The presenters will teach new techniques that help the professional empower the family, the parent develop effective communication skills, and the children build their own self-control. Priscillia Gore & Jenilee Henriquez, New York Council on Adoptable Children 4E This workshop will update participants about the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, an innovative and intensive child-focused model of achieving adoptions for older foster children, operating in all 50 states, D.C., and Canada. The speakers will present descriptive findings and preliminary results from a rigorous program evaluation. Sharon Vandivere, Child Trends, Maryland • Rita Soronen, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Ohio 4F This session will address the varied post-adoption services provided to international adoptees and their families across the life cycle. Attendees will learn about the developmental and longitudinal aspects of service provision; the need for clinical, supportive, educational, and recreational programming; children’s and families’ varying needs and interests over time; and the ongoing need for services. The presentation will discuss marketing programs to families and helping families understand and address post-adoption service needs as their children grow and develop, particularly in the adolescent years. Lynn Gabbard, Lutheran Social Services of New England, Connecticut 4G The All Children – All Families Training Curriculum offers a comprehensive approach to achieving LGBT cultural competence at all levels of the agency and in all areas of practice. The training’s content and learning objectives are directly linked to the 10 benchmarks outlined in the All Children – All Families Promising Practices Guide. Come learn how this training can be customized to meet the needs of your particular agency. Modules 1 and 2 comprise the core competencies essential for all agency staff and are required to earn the All Children – All Families seal of recognition. Ellen Kahn, Human Rights Campaign/ Family Project, District of Columbia 4H This workshop will explore domestic infant adoption practice and how things should change. Would standardized home study requirements help? How do we harmonize the fact that some states do not require expectant parent counseling or notice to the putative fathers while others do? How do professionals integrate potentially difficult information about the birth family? How do we handle pregnancy-related living expenses respectfully without influencing expectant parents’ decisions? How do we follow ICWA? We will explore what domestic adoption might look like if we could wave a magic wand. Marla Allisan, Full Circle Adoption, Massachusetts 4I This workshop is filled with information about typical adolescent development and how the adopted adolescent may deal with developmental issues such as separation and individuation, identity formation, and sexuality. Parents will gain insights into how to help an adolescent make necessary transitions, and professionals will get information helpful in their work with adopted adolescents and their families. Gregory Keck, Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio 4J This workshop provides a model for teen permanence that addresses teen ambivalence toward a permanent family, locating families, making the strongest placements, and supporting placements. Reassessing birth parents (even after TPR), relatives, and past connections is the focus, and other recruitment techniques will be covered. Bring your most challenging cases to this interactive discussion. Barry Chaffkin, April Dinwoodie, & Doris Laurenceau, Changing the World One Child at a Time, New York 4K Parents and young people have shaped significant federal legislation recently, including the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act. This session will help you be part of implementing the Fostering Connections Act in your state—estimating how much your state will receive when it increases adoptions and places previously non-IV-E eligible children for adoption. Joe Kroll, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 4L The workshop will dispel common myths and fears about open adoption. By sharing their personal and professional experiences, a social worker and adult adoptee will explore ways in which open adoption has changed over time and how it is viewed today. Sarah Rohde & Christian Fried, Adoption STAR, New York
Workshop Period 5 5A Everyone has a disguise, especially adopted adolescents. Teens use masks to hide, protect themselves, and forget the pain. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of adolescence for the adopted teen, and how identity, abandonment, grief and loss, and relinquishment issues affect personal and family development. Therapists and clinicians will learn the six most common adoption “stuck-spots,” a step-by-step assessment on adoption, clinical interventions strategies, and therapy tools. Debbie Riley, The Center for Adoption Support and Education, Maryland 5B In this session, two experienced fathers share stories, insight, and advice about adoption, foster care, and parenting from a man’s point of view. With a total of 45 years and 30 children between them, these two have learned not to take things too seriously—at least not all the time! Get renewed, share successes and challenges, have a good laugh, and more. Randy Ross, adoptive parent, Missouri • Buddy Stevens, adoptive parent, Massachusetts 5C In this session, you will learn the basics of adoption assistance for children adopted from foster care, including eligibility, benefits, taxes, and more. Participants will receive state- and province-specific information plus concrete strategies to better advocate for foster and adopted children with special needs. The workshop will also include an overview of the U.S. federal adoption tax credit. Josh Kroll, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 5D Children’s behaviors are often motivated by the acknowledgment and unconditional positive regard they feel from their parents. Yet parents who are working hard to help their children heal may forget to create opportunities for the kind of nurturing that only genuine fun and laughter can promote. What our kids really need is the firm consistency of a steel box, cushioned by the softness of a velvet lining. Learn creative techniques for parenting your children with grace. Susan Peach, Lifeworks Family Treatment Group, Kansas • Lori Ross, Midwest Foster Care & Adoption Association, Missouri 5E This session will provide participants with skills to design recruitment campaigns that educate their communities about the need for foster and adoptive parents. Special attention will be given to designing recruitment strategies that focus on teens, children with special needs, sibling groups, children of color, and other target communities. Denise Goodman, trainer/consultant, Ohio 5F Open adoption is becoming the norm in U.S. infant adoptions. Open adoption’s benefits outweigh the fear factor—women have a voice in choosing adoptive parents, children have access to their birth heritage and history, and adoptive parents are not left in the dark about family medical and mental health issues. Open adoption provides an opportunity for connection and relationship throughout the life of the adopted child. Lisa Maynard & Linda Harris, Hillside Children’s Center, New York 5G Can children of diverse cultures truly have the best of both worlds? Everywhere we look, adoption materials encourage us to adopt the culture as well as the child. Is that truly possible? If not, then what? This workshop will provide tools, resources, and support strategies to encourage the healthy development of the unique culture of adoption. Astrid Dabbeni, Adoption Mosaic, Oregon • Kevin Hofmann, adoptee/author, Ohio 5I The workshop will focus on the culture of secrecy in foster and adoptive families and how secrets from past and present can affect a family. A dramatization will provide insight about how the poisons of secrets can eat away at the root of any family. Tanya Williams-Bell & Sara Agerton, Rejoice! Inc., Pennsylvania 5J As adoption changes, agencies find themselves searching for ways to create partnerships between birth and adoptive families in the concurrent planning process. How do we meet children’s needs, while balancing the needs of their caregivers? Prospective adopters can be frightened by concurrent planning, while birth parents face myriad required services and the potential loss of their children. Session participants will be able to identify the 10 qualities successful concurrent families must have, tools to build relationships between birth and adoptive parents, cooperative parenting strategies, and therapeutic services that may help. Edythe Swidler, Carol Ramirez, & Beverly Johnson, Lilliput Children’s Services, California 5K Advocate for children with your community and elected officials! Use special tips to learn the basics of effective advocacy. Sue Badeau, Casey Family Programs, Pennsylvania • Lana Freeman, McClain County/Specialized Alternative for Families and Youth, Oklahoma
Workshop Period 6 6A Join this workshop designed to empower your parenting! The presenter will bring neuroscience research, environmental influences, and insightful assessment to parents’ efforts to help a child develop into an adult with the positive self-esteem and tools he needs to achieve his potential. You will walk away from this workshop with a methodology and an empowering new tool. Thomas Rector, foster/adoptive parent, California 6B Laura and Malcolm Gauld run the Hyde Organization, a group of schools whose philosophy has been profiled on 60 Minutes, 20/20, PBS, and NPR. Known for their success in helping parents find balance between taking hold of what they can control in their children’s lives and letting go of what they can’t, they draw upon three decades as education and parenting experts in this upbeat, interactive workshop. With humor and anecdotes, Laura and Malcolm offer ways for parents and children to engage and communicate effectively. Laura Gauld & Malcolm Gauld, Hyde School, Connecticut 6C Raising children with challenging behaviors is hard work, and you can’t be there for your kids if you aren’t there for yourself. Parent-to-parent support is one of the tools that can help make your journey successful. Learn how to start or rejuvenate a support group or association and how to make the group rewarding and fun to attend. In this workshop, we’ll laugh and learn together. Diane Martin-Hushman, North American Council on Adoptable Children, Minnesota 6D Most parents who adopt tough kids begin their journey as fairly balanced people who just want to help a child. Somewhere along the line we may become so entrenched in our children’s behavior that we forget who we are. We arrive at one extreme or another—either frustrated and angry, still attempting to control and change our children, or defeated and hopeless. Learn how parents can change their thinking to arrive at a place even better than where they started. Claudia Fletcher, Adopt America Network, Minnesota • Bart Fletcher, pastor, Minnesota 6E Explore best practices for foster care and adoption home studies. Using examples, participants will discuss how workers can promote sincere interaction between workers and prospective adopters, identify red flags, ensure providers and adopters make informed decisions, maximize potential for permanence, and minimize disruption and dissolution. Etta Lappen Davis, Etsky Consulting, Massachusetts 6F Internationally adopted children are at risk for speech, language, and communication challenges. What red flag behaviors may indicate a possible communication disorder? The session will include a discussion of the types of communication assessment practices or behavioral observations that are best for internationally adopted children. Adele Raade, The Center for Child Health and Development, Massachusetts 6G Many LGBT parents raise children of a different ethnic or racial origin than their own. Do LGBT parents bring unique skills and sensitivities to transracial adoption? A panel of parents will discuss the question and attempt to advance the conversation. Gary Sutherland, LGBT Family Coalition, Quebec • Ellen Kahn, Human Rights Campaign/Family Project, District of Columbia • John Raible, University of Nebraska College of Education and Human Services 6I This workshop will explore issues facing children of incarcerated parents, including children’s complex ambiguous loss; factors that affect attachment and the parent/child relationship; feelings about the separation and relationship; implications of these feelings; and how adoptive parents can support children, including talking with them openly and facilitating an ongoing relationship with the incarcerated parent Barry Chaffkin, Changing the World One Child at a Time, New York • Tanya Krupat, The Osborne Association, New York 6J How do workers and teens work together to create a vision of permanence and hope for a future with family connections? How do they move from vision to reality? For older youth, the focus is often on either permanent relationships or independent living services rather than both. How can workers successfully engage youth? Come join this interactive discussion and learn about the importance of time, place, approach, mode of communication, and more as you seek to engage youth in permanency efforts. Sue Badeau, Casey Family Programs, Pennsylvania 6L Explore adoption through the eyes of the birth father and his family. We look at the continuing impact of the shame and secrecy that pervaded adoption more than 20 years ago and explore the lack of supportive services for birth fathers at placement. As we fast forward, the discussion focuses on the birth father’s current life and what an adult adoptee’s search brings to the surface. Sharon D. Holmes, Medina County Job and Family Services, Ohio • James Holmes, birth father, Ohio |
North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)
970 Raymond Avenue, Suite 106
St. Paul, MN 55114
phone: 651-644-3036
fax: 651-644-9848
e-mail: info@nacac.org
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