New Jersey Adoption Resource Clearing House

Individual Ticket – October: $25.00

Please join Spence-Chapin and Certified Doula and Newborn Care Educator, Robin Douthit, LCCE, CD (DONA), CLC, MA to learn all about the basics of caring for a newborn. This Baby Care Basics Workshop is designed for families who are preparing to welcome a newborn through adoption. Spence-Chapin’s adoption competent professionals will guide you through essential newborn care, including what to expect in the early days and ways to build confidence in daily care. Participants will leave the workshop feeling better prepared for the first weeks of parenting and supported in their journey.

FREE for NAA Members

$25 Non-Members

Overview: Explore a proven model designed to support youth with complex needs as they transition from foster care to permanent families. This webinar highlights effective strategies for recruiting, developing, and sustaining families by partnering with youth who face medical, behavioral, developmental, or other challenges. Developed by seasoned adoption professionals, the model offers a structured approach to relationship-building and adjustment, helping both youth and families navigate the path to permanency with greater confidence and connection.

This webinar is best for child welfare professionals. (1) CEU is available for this webinar.

Fee: Family $100.00

AFTH wants families to make informed decisions when completing their profile keys. Dr. Erin Meyer is an internal medicine and pediatric hospitalist who works in the neonatal intensive care unit. She is also an adoptive mom and can speak from both professional and personal angles. She will be discussing the effects of drug and alcohol use on the newborn during pregnancy, as well as withdrawal symptoms and short- and long-term effects of exposure.

Join us for this FREE webinar, facilitated by our home study supervisor, to learn more about the home study process, including the purpose of the home study, when to start a home study process, what a home study entails, and how to make the most of your home study experience. A home study is required for all domestic and international adoptions, including kinship adoption of relatives from overseas. Bring your questions – we’ll save time for Q&A.

Price: 15.00 USD

When big behaviors at school lead to frequent calls home, disciplinary action, or concerns about your child’s success, it can be difficult to know what to do next. Join Harmony’s Board-Certified Advocate in Special Education, to learn practical strategies for supporting your child before problems escalate, understanding the school discipline process, and advocating for appropriate supports and services that help your child succeed at school. Whether your child has an IEP, a 504 Plan, or is struggling without formal supports, you’ll leave with tools to navigate challenging situations with confidence.

Join us to learn about our Colombia Adoption Program. Our Colombia Adoption Program is open to singles, married couples, and welcomes LGBTQ+ parents. In this webinar, we will detail the pathways to adopt from Colombia, including pathways available to individuals without Colombian Heritage as well as pathways available to individuals who hold a Colombian Cedula. We will share information about the system of child protection in Colombia and will share photos of some of the children’s homes where children reside while in protective care. We will discuss common medical and special needs of children who are awaiting adoption in Colombia. We will speak about eligibility factors for prospective adoptive parents in Colombia. Bring your questions – we’ll save time for Q&A.

Cost: $20.00

Individuals will develop skills to advocate for children, address bias and racism within family and community systems, repair harm when necessary, and commit to continued learning over time.

Interracial adoption places children in a social and psychological “space in between” where connection or disconnection is shaped by the quality of preparation, support, and community surrounding them. Parents play a critical role in either lessening or reinforcing that experience through their willingness to learn, advocate, and continue to connect with their children as they navigate the lifelong journey of adoption.

This training series is designed to support adoptive parents and caregivers in building the knowledge and skills needed to care for children across racial and cultural differences. It focuses not just on good intentions, but on developing culturally responsive, thoughtful, and accountable caregiving practices.

For adoptive, foster, and kinship caregivers AND child welfare professionals.

Join our international community helping children and families everywhere THRIVE.

This year’s conference is VIRTUAL to ensure accessibility for all our US and Canadian communities.

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.

Join us to learn about our new Costa Rica Adoption Program. Our Costa Rica Adoption Program is open to singles, married couples, and welcomes gay and lesbian parents. In this webinar, we will detail the pathways to adopt from Costa Rica. We will share information about the system of child protection in Costa Rica. We will discuss common medical and special needs of children who are awaiting adoption in Costa Rica. We will speak about eligibility factors for prospective adoptive parents in Costa Rica. Bring your questions – we’ll save time for Q&A.

** 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.**

Price: 15.00 USD

Parenting children who have experienced trauma, loss, and adversity is deeply meaningful work, but it can also place significant demands on a caregiver’s nervous system. Over time, chronic stress can lead to compassion fatigue, burnout, and blocked care which can leave parents feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or discouraged. These responses are not signs of failure; they are often signals from a nervous system that has been working hard for a very long time.

In this webinar, we will explore caregiver well-being through a trauma-informed and connection-focused lens, drawing on the understanding that behavior, both our children’s and our own, is rooted in the nervous system. Together, we will examine how ongoing stress impacts our ability to stay present, connected, and responsive, while learning practical strategies to support regulation, self-compassion, and resilience.

Our Annual Halloween Bash is here! We welcome all of our community to a morning of spooky fun at our Union Square HQ. We’ll enjoy face painting, balloon twisting, games, dancing, and a special magic show! Snacks and drinks will also be provided.

The party goes from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm on October 24th. This event is a beautiful way to connect with others in our community, make lasting memories, and have fun 

This event does fill up, so don’t wait to reserve your free spot!

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.

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.

Price: 15.00 USD

Parenting children who have experienced disruptions in their relationships with adults can bring up a variety of unique and potentially challenging experiences. We will explore different attachment styles, what events can lead to attachment injuries, and how those can show up for both children and caregivers. We will explore how to help heal attachment injuries for children through intentional parenting. There can be fear for parents when learning about how attachment injuries can impact their children, however this session will empower you to leave feeling knowledgeable about attachment and how to help your child heal.

In this free 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.