Click on highlighted workshops to view workshop handouts.
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• Workshop Period 1 • 10:30-12:00 Noon 1. Identity and Împlications In Adoption "Who am I?" "Am I worthwhile?" Setting the groundwork for helping adopted children answer the questions which follow them through their lives. Ken Watson 2. Support for Parents, Support for Foster Parents Learn about a time-tested program that helps children go home sooner and makes sure they have one and only one placement while in foster care. Panel, St. Christopher's 3. Trends in Termination of Parental Rights & Suspended Judgments In the aftermath of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, what are the consequences of more TPR petitions and speedier filings? Margaret Burt 4. Permanency Mediation to Benefit Children and Families An overview of a child-centered, family-focused alternative to contested court proceedings, using a specially-trained mediator to facilitate permanent outcomes for children. Mary LeBeau & Sonia Nieves, Children's Services of Roxbury, Inc., MA 5. LifeBooks from Day 1 A seasoned adoption worker and former foster baby gives powerful examples of how her life would have been different with a LifeBooks. Beth O'Malley, Adoption Works • Workshop Period 2 • 1:45-3:15 p.m. 6. What Really Makes a Good Adoptive Parent? Understanding the essential characteristics of good adoptive parents serves children best. Ken Watson 7. Using TV to Get Your Message Across The how-to's of using local public access cable TV to educate a broad audience, recruit families for waiting teens, and share information on adoption resources. Pat O'Brien & Chester Jackson, You Gotta Believe. 8. Permanency Hearings for Foster Children What are the rights of foster parents? How can they advocate meaningfully for safe permanency for the child? Margaret Burt |
9. Living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) FASD (formerly referred to as fetal alcohol syndrome and effect) affects children in different ways. A discussion of how children are diagnosed and ways to manage family living. Dianne O'Connor, NYS Foster & Adoptive Parents Association 10. Follow the Money A look at adoption funding, government support for adoption, ethical issues, and the intangible costs of the current system to children and families. Madelyn Freundlich, Children's Rights, Inc. • Workshop Period 3 • 3:35-5:05 p.m. 11. Post Adoption Services: No Longer an Option What families need, what agencies are obliged to provide, and creative ways to do it. Ken Watson 12. Permanency Planning for Adolescents Ways to identify permanent families and prepare adolescents for adoption or other lifelong family connection. Includes a video of young adults speaking for themselves. Lauren Frey Massachusetts Families for Kids 13. Conditional Surrenders: The Pros and Cons What are the issues to consider? What does case law say? What are the benefits to children and families? Margaret Burt 14. Implementing ASFA: How Are We Doing? A discussion of the federal review of children and family services and New York's Program Improvement Plan to fully implement the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Junius Scott & Carolyn Baker, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; Larry Brown, NYS Office of Children & Family Services 15. Essential Issues in Older Child Adoption Understanding the message behind children's behavior. The impact of inducement, transference, abandonment, and other adoption phenomena. Helene Gershowitz, Family Focus Adoption Services |
Adoption 2002 Linking Promises to
Possibilities
Saturday, May 12, 2002
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• Workshop Period 4 • 8:30-9:50 a.m. 16. Surviving the Trauma A guide to understanding the impact of neglect, abuse, loss and separation on adopted and foster children. Dee Paddock 17. When Children Had Names Not Labels Are we over-diagnosing and over-medicating? What was parenting like in the days before complex diagnoses and specialized medications? What is the middle ground? Barbara Tremitiere, One Another Adoption Program 18. Lifetime Resources for Adopted Children with Special Needs Respite care, service coordination, financial support, and a variety of specialized services are available for special needs adopted children. Where to find and how to access the services, now and when they are adults. Melissa Hall, Arise Child & Family Service, Inc. 19. Disruption Is Never Okay Kids never disrupt or dissolve an adoption. Only parents can make that choice. Why it is never the solution, even in desperate times. Helene Gershowitz, Family Focus Adoption Services 20. Blended Families: Raising Birth and Adopted Children Together What are the special issues in families with both birth and adopted children? How to recognize and meet sometimes competing needs. Sue Badeau • Workshop Period 5 • 10:05-11:25 a.m. 21. Anxiously Awaiting Attachment New understandings in how attachment really develops and new ways to create healing connections. In adoptive and foster families. Dee Paddock 22. Parenting in Large Families What are the benefits and challenges of large adoptive families? When to say, "No," to another child. Barbara Tremitiere, One Another Adoption Program 23. Supporting Family Reunification through Successful Visits Children who visit frequently with their parents have the best chance of going home., and foster parents are a key to successful visits. How can foster parents best support the visits? What are the challenges? Jere Wrightsman, Center for Development of Human Services |
24. Can Muslims Adopt? An understanding of the Quran's teachings on adoption can aid in recruitment efforts and increase sensitivity to religious and cultural differences. Abdul-Rahmaan Muhammad, The Village for Families and Children, CT 25. Preparing Children to Talk about Their Adoption Helping children explain themselves and their history. Techniques to help children handle questions from peers, at school, in the community. Maris Blechner, Family Focus Adoption Services • Workshop Period 6 • 11:40-1:00 p.m. 26. Parenting Outside the Comfort Zone Proactive parenting for adoptive and foster families dealing with challenging children. A survival workshop for stressful times. Dee Paddock 27. The Impact of Search and Reunion on the Adoptive Family What are the effects of search and reunion on adoptive parents, siblings, other family members? What it's like to meet your adopted child's birth parents. Barbara Tremitiere, One Another Adoption Program 28. It Hurts When They Leave: Stages of Foster Parent Grief How grief, separation, and loss affect foster parents when children leave. The need to acknowledge and process the feelings. Carol Wheat, Little Flower Children's Services 29. School Issues for Adopted and Foster Children What, when, whom to tell. What to do about insensitive assignments and other issues that come up in the school life of the child. Sue Badeau 30. The Art and Science of the Voluntary Surrender A new look at the "hows" and "whys" of voluntary surrenders of children in foster care. Respectful, meaningful birth parent surrenders without time-consuming traumatic, costly court terminations. Maris Blechner, Family Focus Adoption Services To the Salvation Army of
Syracuse To the National Resource
Center for Foster Care
and Permanency Planning To the NYS Office of
Children and Family
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