New Jersey Adoption Resource Clearing House

FREE!

The virtual group will be held the 3rd Monday of the month from April 21, 2025 – March 16, 2026.

Meeting Dates: 5/19/2025, 6/16/2025, 7/21/2025, 8/18/2025, 9/15/2025, 10/20/2025, 11/17/2025, 12/15/2025, 1/19/2026, 2/16/2026, 3/16/2026

The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is excited to launch the Lunch Break – Parent Support Group for adoptive, foster, and kinship parents and caregivers! *

Topics covered include relationship building, grief and loss, birth family relationships, coping skills and self-care, and so much more.

In this monthly group we will engage in thought provoking, honest conversations, receive support and guidance, and leave better equipped with expanded knowledge, skills, and confidence – knowing you are not alone. We look forward to seeing you there!

This is a drop-in group and participation at every session is not required. *

A 6-Week *Virtual Group beginning:

Saturday, December 6th at 10:00 AM

Fee: $50 per session

*Virtual link for this group will be provided upon registration.

Need help with career advice, navigating resources, or just want to connect? This space is here for you!

When?

Starting December, join us every 2^nd Thursday of the month from 6 PM-7PM (EST}

Where?

Virtually on zoom! Zoom link will be shared

Who Should Attend?

• Experienced foster care or are currently in foster care
• Been adopted
• Been impacted by the criminal justice system
• Experienced human trafficking
• Had an incarcerated parent during their childhood

Why attend?

• Get answers to your questions
• Receive guidance and support
• Connect with someone who understands your journey

This is voluntary and unpaid. It is designed to support and empower eligible youth in achieving their goals

8:00-9:00 AM Arizona Time

Do you live in Arizona and are considering adopting an infant? Learn about Spence-Chapin’s Domestic Adoption Program for Arizona families! This free webinar is the first step for families interested in applying to Spence-Chapin as all webinar attendees will receive a Domestic Adoption Program application. Our team will share details the application process, open adoption, demographics of the children in need of adoption, the matching process, options counseling for birth parents, and more!

Bring your questions! The meeting will include ample opportunity to have your questions answered.

Spence-Chapin’s Domestic Adoption Program is open to residents of Arizona, New York, and New Jersey. Please register for a webinar event that corresponds with the state where you live by visiting our Events Calendar.

If you are unable to register for this webinar, please contact us to learn about other upcoming event opportunities or discuss additional pathways to grow your family through domestic infant adoption.

Do you live in New York or New Jersey and are considering adopting an infant? Learn about Spence-Chapin’s Domestic Adoption Program for New York and New Jersey families! This free webinar is the first step for families interested in applying to Spence-Chapin as all webinar attendees will receive a Domestic Adoption Program application. Our team will share details the application process, open adoption, demographics of the children in need of adoption, the matching process, options counseling for birth parents, and more!

Bring your questions! The meeting will include ample opportunity to have your questions answered.

Spence-Chapin’s Domestic Adoption Program is open to residents of Arizona, New York, and New Jersey. Please register for a webinar event that corresponds with the state where you live by visiting our Events Calendar.

If you are unable to register for this webinar, please contact us to learn about other upcoming event opportunities or discuss additional pathways to grow your family through domestic infant adoption.

This is a free event open to adults of color who were adopted or are former foster youth. Space will be provided for participants to explore and share experiences around international adoption, foster care, transracial/interracial adoption, search and reunion, birth/first family and other topics of interest to the group.

Join Pact’s Executive Director and fellow adoptive parent, Beth Hall, to find community and talk about transracial adoption, race and identity issues that may be coming up for you or members of your family. The focus for these calls is transracial adoption.

These free calls are open only to current members of Pact. If you have not purchased a Pact membership (or your membership is not current) you can join at pactadopt.org.

Free, monthly virtual support calls provide a safe space for BIPOC adoptive, foster and kinship parents of BIPOC teens and young adults.

Join Raquel Vivanco, Director of the Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative (APCC) and fellow adoptive parent, to find community and talk about parenting adopted and foster teens and young adults of color, including challenges, and helpful strategies. We will discuss how relationships shift as our young ones grow in their journey and how we can support ourselves and our loved ones.

This call is for people of color who are parenting adopted/foster teens and young adults of color.  Please be respectful of their space.

Learn about Spence-Chapin’s innovative host-to-adopt program that prioritizes adoption for children from Colombia, ages 10-13 years old. For families who are open to older child adoption, this pathway provides both you and the child an opportunity to get to know each other and commence the bonding process during a five-week hosting period in your home. Hosting will occur during the summer of 2026 and host families need to complete a home study with Spence-Chapin prior to being matched with a child for hosting, so now is the right time to learn more and get underway with your home study!

This program is open exclusively to families residing in New York, New Jersey and Arizona so that our local social work team can fully support you and the child during the hosting period.

7:00-8:00pm EST | 5:00-6:00 AZ

Fee: $20.00

Part 1: New Year,

New Reflections

Holidays are often a time of joy and celebration for adoptive families. However, for adoptees, these same occasions can also bring a mix of emotions, including reminders of the losses they’ve experienced.

In this four-part series, Tony Hynes, Ph.D., who joined his family through adoption, will explore the unique emotional landscape holidays can create for adopted individuals.

These free support groups provide safe space where LGBTQ+ adoptive and foster parents of children of color can find community and talk about their parenting joys and challenges, intersections with our own queer identities and helpful strategies.

Registration closes at 4 pm PT on the day of the event

FREE!

Voices of Adoption (V.O.A.) is a virtual space for adopted people 18+ world-wide to join in conversation, meet peers and talk about the topics that are important to them. Hosted by Jessica M. Luciere, transracial adoptee born in Bogota, Colombia, and Manager of Community Engagement at Spence-Chapin, V.O.A. welcomes adopted people of all backgrounds to experience community amongst other adoptees.

Discover what family-building looks like today for LGBTQ+ parents and parents-to-be. This dynamic conversation brings together leaders in advocacy and adoption to explore inclusive paths to parenthood and the power of community connection.

Adult Adoptee and Survivors of Foster Care Gathering. You are not alone—and your story matters. Join fellow adoptees and survivors of foster care for a welcoming evening of connection, reflection, and restoration in a space created just for you.

Join Pact’s Executive Director and fellow adoptive parent, Beth Hall, to find community and talk about parenting adopted and foster teens and young adults of color, including challenges, helpful strategies and how to support yourself and your loved ones.

This call is free and open to current Pact members only. If you have not purchased a Pact membership (or your membership is not current) you can join at pactadopt.org.

Cost: $39 (includes 2 CEs)

Early Childhood Court, an adapted approach modeled after Safe Babies Court Teams, is a collaborative approach among community partners to ensure trauma and FASD-informed care, child well-being, and achieving permanency more quickly. Safe Babies, a program of ZERO TO THREE™, helps states and communities strengthen child welfare and early childhood systems to support healthy development. Using the Safe Babies approach, the program works at multiple levels—child and family, community, and state—to promote early childhood well-being and long-term system improvements. Rooted in the court system, it also fosters collaboration across agencies to better serve families. This approach is especially valuable for supporting young children and families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Fee: $30.80 per person for current Pact members; $38.50 per person for non-members. Join Pact HERE

Become comfortable talking with adopted children about all the complexities of adoption—the sorrows as well as the joys. Learn how to start and continue age-appropriate conversations about adoption, first families, and loss. Explore how children experience adoption; why the words we use matter; and how to anticipate and answer the questions adopted children have–whether they ask them or not. For parents, caregivers, and professionals.

Registrants can join Talking with Children About Adoption, Part Two: Find Your Brave Voice on February 11 at no additional cost.

Free monthly virtual support calls provide a safe space for adoptive parents of color to connect and share their experiences.

This is a group intended to meet the needs of people of color who have built their families through domestic adoption, kinship adoption, international adoption, foster care, same race and transracial/interracial adoption.

This programming is for adoptive parents of color.  Please be respectful of their space.

Our International Team is excited to host this webinar and to share information about adopting from South Africa. Spence-Chapin is proud to have the longest history of any US-based agency of facilitating adoption from South Africa and we work with adoptive families living across the entire United States. The South Africa program welcomes adoptive applicants regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. In this webinar we will discuss common medical and developmental needs of children who are currently living in South Africa and waiting for their forever families. We will provide an overview the adoption process. We look forward to answering any questions you may have about adoption in general and specific questions about adoption from South Africa.