New Jersey Adoption Resource Clearing House

FREE!

Having the opportunity to be surrounded by those who understand your family’s journey is a vital experience. There is sometimes a lack of understanding for the intersecting experiences LGBTQ+ families face. Such families require environments that honor those experiences, as well as spaces that provide opportunities to connect with individuals from similar family types.

C.A.S.E. looks forward to providing that space for your family.

Each group will meet virtually via ZOOM on the third Thursday of each month.

Meeting dates: 10/24/24, 11/21/24, 12/19/24, 1/16/25, 2/20/25, 3/20/25, 4/17/25, 5/15/25, 6/19/25, 7/17/25, 8/21/25

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. *

FREE!

Facilitated by adult adoptees Tony Hynes and Rachel Shifaraw, adoptees will share, build community, and learn from other adoptees as they explore their experiences. In acknowledging the lifelong journey of adoption, the Adult Adoptee Support Group fosters an environment where participants will be able to voice some of the challenges, triumphs, and identity work unique to adult adoptees.

The virtual group will be held the 1st Thursday of every month. This is a drop-in group and participation at every session is not required.

Dates: 6/5/25, 7/3/25, 8/7/25, 9/4/25, 10/2/25, 11/6/25, 12/4/25.

FREE!

Are you an adoptive or foster parent of teens?

This six-week virtual support group is for adoptive and foster parents of teenagers looking to make connections and build a network of support with other parents in a similar stage of life.

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

Meeting Dates: 5/20/25, 5/27/25, 6/3/25, 6/10/25, 6/24/25, 7/1/25
*No meeting on 6/17/25

Join us for an informative session learning about adoption & foster care options in Pennsylvania.

The information session can help you decide whether you are comfortable taking the next steps to become a licensed Diakon foster family. Sessions are offered without obligation; participants are not required to proceed following the presentation.

Are you a member of the LGBTQ+ community and looking to grow your family through adoption? At Spence-Chapin, we proudly support and affirm all families throughout the adoption journey. Please join us for this free webinar to learn about pathways to adoption for LGBTQ+ families through Spence-Chapin. You’ll also be hearing from Gays with Kids about community, education, inspiration and resources that are available to you as you build your family as a queer parent.

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.

** We have chosen the Go to Webinar Platform to respect that during the exploration phase, some families are not yet ready to share their hopes to adopt with others and in Go to Webinar, your names and faces will not be visible to other participants. But we are always happy to support families in building an adoption community! If you do feel ready to connect with other pre-adoptive or adoptive parents, please let us know and we can facilitate introductions for those who wish to be connected to other families. **

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 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.

Limited number of registrations!

Are you curious about how digital media is impacting your child? You’re not alone! Join this free 4-session virtual learning collaborative designed for parents and caregivers of youth.

This ECHO opportunity is open to parents & caregivers who:

• Want to learn more about the risks and benefits of social media and how it impacts youth well-being
• Learn about resources and strategies that can aid in creating healthy digital habits for the whole family
• Are interested in connecting with subject matter experts and parents nationwide

Each session is 1 hour long and includes guidance from experts, real-life discussions, and opportunities to ask questions. We’ll explore hot topics like how to manage device settings, how to spot good and bad online content, and learn how to navigate tricky conversations about media. We’ll also discuss when digital media can become a concern and share helpful tips and resources.

Sessions are held once a month on Wednesday at 11 am
Save these dates: June 18, July 16, August 20, and September 17.

Project ECHO is like a big online classroom where people from different backgrounds and geographical locations come together and learn from each other (we call it ‘all learn, all teach’). Each session will last an hour and will consist of a short presentation followed by a group discussion focused on real-life situations or questions that parents commonly have regarding youth social media use.

These 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.

This call is 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.

Summer is a time for sunshine, adventure, and family memories. But for many children in foster care, summer can also be a season of uncertainty. While others enjoy vacations and time with loved ones, thousands of children are still waiting for the stability and love of a safe home.  This summer, you can help make a difference! Whether by becoming a foster parent, supporting foster families, donating essentials, or volunteering, your kindness can bring joy and security to a child in need.  Let’s make this season not just about warm weather, but about warm hearts and creating brighter days and better futures for children in foster care.

Please join us for an information session to help you decide whether you are comfortable taking the next steps to become a licensed Diakon foster family. Sessions are offered without obligation; participants are not required to proceed following the presentation.

Spence-Chapin’s Birth Parent Support Group is a virtual meet-up for individuals who made an adoption plan (with Spence-Chapin or elsewhere) and are in any stage in their placement journey. This group is a safe place to get support and know that you are not alone. Topics will include coping with feelings of grief and loss, sharing challenges and successes with open and closed adoption, and improving communication with friends and family around your adoption plan.

There is no cost to attend.

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 call is free to current members of Pact. If you do not have a current Pact membership, please join or renew at pactadopt.org.

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

A collective of people adopted from China working together to organize the first closed* conference for our community.

Chinese adoptee collective presents “CONTEXT,” the first closed* conference for people adopted from China

• Who: Adults (18 yo+) who identify as people adopted from China
• When: June 27-29, 2025
• Where: In-person at Asian arts initiative, 1219 Vine St, Chinatown, Philadelphia, PA 19107
• How: 100% grassroots volunteer and community organized. Learn more about our virtual fundraiser to help offset conference costs here.
• Cost: pay what you can/no one turned away for lack of funds (pwyc/notaflof), our registration form will have a sliding scale for attendees**

We invite you to share your insights and experience. Whether you’ve worked in the adoption field for decades or you’d like to share constructive applications from your lived experience story for adoption professionals, we want to hear from you! We are seeking speakers who will elevate diverse perspectives and address emerging topics and recent research. Most conference attendees are adoption professionals including social workers and clinicians, executive directors, agency staff, and attorneys.

Author’s Forum*

I Would Meet You Anywhere
Author: Susan Ito
Finding and meeting her birth mother in her twenties was only the beginning of adoptee Susan Ito’s search for answers. In her memoir, she grapples with her own reproductive choices, the legacy of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, her mixed-race identity, and the true meaning of family. I Would Meet You Anywhere is the stirring culmination of Ito’s determination to know and tell her own story. We will discuss the complex experience of adoption throughout an adoptee’s lifespan.

Target audience: All triad members and professionals Author’s Forum
*Author’s Forum: Read an important book by an adoptee author or research expert, then attend a live interactive discussion with the author to learn more about their insights into the adoption experience and system.

In this support call first/birth parents will be able to connect, listen and share their experiences of adoption, both private and through the child welfare system. Space will also be provided for participants to explore and share experiences around open adoptions, closed adoptions, recent reunions, same-race adoption, transracial adoption, termination of parental rights, and other topics as decided by the group.
Please remember that this group is for birth/first parents who are related by birth to a child placed in adoption or foster care.

FREE!

Join us for a free webinar to learn about Safe Infant Sleep tips from Birth to 12 Months presented by the SIDS Center of New Jersey.

Participants will learn about the evidence-based safe sleep recommendations based on the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines to reduce the risk of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

We will also discuss various baby products that are on the market, recalls, and free resources to help increase your knowledge and educate others.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation from SCNJ, as well as electronic resources that are also available in physical copies by request.

A week-long Educational Sports Camp for Children with Visual Impairments.  Summer 2025 Dates: August 19 – 21st. Registration is open!  Go to the registration tab to sign up today!

Camp Abilities New Jersey at the Field of Dreams is a three-day educational sports camp for children and adolescents who are blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind. The camp is arranged to offer individualized instruction to each participant, which often differs from camps specifically tailored to individuals with visual impairments.

Our counselors are physical education, adapted physical education, orientation and mobility, special education undergraduate and graduate students from across the state of NJ. Since our first summer in 2023, we have trained more than 30 future teachers in the area of sport and recreation for children with sensory impairments.

This is a monthly event through Tuesday, August 19.

Please join us to learn more about contemporary domestic infant open adoption and the work we do here at Open Arms! This free 90-minute information session is where the entire domestic adoption process is discussed at length. We cover the most commonly asked questions, including wait time, fees, laws, statistics regarding race/ethnicity of babies, substance exposures, mental health risk factors, etc. and any additional questions not covered can also be answered at this time. Open Arms is a non-profit adoption program licensed in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.