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!

This support group is designed to support adoptive parents who face the complexities of supporting children with both attachment and developmental issues. The support group will provide education, intervention ideas, space for members to share creative successes, and opportunities to work through challenges involved in engaging systems (medical, school, community) that are not always understanding of the special needs of adopted children or those with developmental challenges. Members will be asked to share their concerns and needs when signing up for the group so that the facilitator can incorporate information specifically relevant to those attending.

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

Meeting dates: 11/14/24, 12/12/24, 1/9/24, 2/13/24, 3/13/25, 4/10/25

*Free

Parenting is hard! Being the calm person when your child is having a hard time is easy to talk about and harder to actually do. Join us and have some fun and candid conversations regarding parenting and steps we can take to address our own triggers in the heat of the moment. *as you can see by the playful title, this book does use the term sh*t throughout, so if you are bothered by the language, please feel free to join our other book club.

*Free

Transitioning and launching a child into adulthood can be challenging for everyone – even without the complexities of adoption. We know parenting young adults and beyond is a unique season of life and can present its own set of challenges. Helping your adult adoptee navigate this season of life can be tricky and just plain exhausting at times. Whether your child has recently launched or has been on their own for many years, this change of roles can be hard for parents. In this group we will offer ways to stay connected with your child, talk through changing roles, and discuss how trauma plays a part in this transition. We want to offer a place for adoptive parents in this same season of life to come together to find support and community.

*Free

Join us for some discussion centered around the complex emotional landscape of the adoption experience. We will explore viewpoints from each member of the adoption triad and have candid discussions about hope and healing in relationships.

Adoption Unfiltered authors Sara Easterly (adoptee), Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard (birth parent), and Lori Holden (adoptive parent) interview dozens of adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, social workers, therapists, and other allies—all sharing candidly about the challenges in adoption. While finding common ground in the sometimes-contentious space of adoption may seem like a lofty goal, it reveals the authors’ optimistic aim: working together with truth and transparency to move toward healing.

Have you read The Connected Child and love the things you’re reading but just don’t know how to apply them? Are you looking for parenting strategies to help you address your child’s trauma history?

TBRI® is a relational intervention with practical strategies, techniques and principles to help you and your family! While TBRI was originally created specifically for foster and adoptive parents, the intervention is now being used across a wide range of organizations and services.

very FRIDAY: January 10-February 28, 2025 (*January 10,17,24,31 & February 7,14,21,28)

8:30-11:30am PST / 10:30am-1:30pm CST

$175/person early bird through December 13th. $200/person after December 13th.

$250/person for Social Work CEU’s in Illinois through December 13th and $275 after December 13th. (24 CEU’s).

Join us for an evening of connection, community, and discussion with fellow adoptees. Facilitated by Amy Trotter, Director of Post Adoption Services and Elliot Bliss, Supervisor of Adoptee Programs. We are excited to start this new monthly group!

Here are the dates for the upcoming drop-in groups!

• January- Tuesday 14
• February – Tuesday 11
• March – Tuesday 11
• April – Tuesday 15
• May – Tuesday 13

Author and sociologist Gretchen Sisson has spent over a decade researching the experience of women in the United States who relinquished their children for domestic infant adoption. She conducted multiple in-depth interviews with over 70 first/birth mothers.  Relinquished reveals adoption to be a path of constrained choice for those for whom abortion is inaccessible, or for whom parenthood is untenable. Through careful research and thoughtful analysis, Sisson dismantles many myths about adoption that exist across the political spectrum. During this author forum, Sisson will discuss these myths and more.

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.

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.

Spence-Chapin is thrilled to partner with the experts at Your Adoption Finance Coach to provide our families with free access to experts, tools and content that can take the worry out of financing your adoption. In this webinar, we will be joined by Kelly Ellison, adoptive mother and Founder and CEO of Your Adoption Finance Coach. Kelly will provide valuable information about the Adoption Tax Credit which is available to families who adopt internationally or domestically. The adoption tax credit can greatly offset the costs of adoption. Feel free to bring your questions as we will save time for Q&A!

This webinar welcomes families who recently adopted through a Spence-Chapin program or who will be adopting internationally or domestically.

The webinar is a great way to learn more about Adoptions From The Hearts Open Adoption Program which places infants directly from the hospital.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Adoptions From The Heart is ONLY accepting applicants who are open to adopting children of all racial backgrounds and heritages. In addition, because we are an open adoption agency and are seeing an increase in the requested number of yearly visits, all prospective adoptive parents must also be open to a minimum of 2 visits a year with the childs birth parents. And while it is not a requirement, AFTH encourages open relationships through direct communication with birth parents, via text/phone and email post placement.

We look forward to connecting with you.

Fee: $15.00

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.

FREE!

Join the National Center for Enhanced Post-Adoption Support for the Adoptive and Guardianship Preparation Train the Trainer Training. The goal of the training is to equip prospective adoptive and guardianship parents with the knowledge, skills, and insight needed to provide a nurturing home for their children. This training consists of four sessions, two hours in length. A certificate will be provided upon completion of all four sessions.

Four Sessions:
Tuesday January 21^st, 2025 Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm EST
Tuesday January 28^th, 2025 Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm EST
Tuesday February 4^th, 2025 Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm EST
Tuesday February 11^th, 2025 Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm EST

Registration is required. This training is limited to ion50 participants, sign up now!

FREE!

Join us for a virtual gathering focused on empowering young individuals to take control of their financial future.

This free online event series is designed to provide parents (birth, bonus, foster, adoptive, kinship)with the tools and resources needed to guide their children toward financial independence.

Learn from financial experts, participate in interactive workshops, and connect with other parents who are passionate about helping their youth or young adult succeed. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a positive impact on the next generation!

Join us for a free webinar to explore the importance of prioritizing kinship care and learn strategies and tools for supporting kinship providers. 

Who should join?

Open to all audiences. This webinar will be especially helpful for child welfare professionals involved in recruitment, support, and retention of adoptive, foster and kinship families, as well as administrators who shape child welfare policies, procedures, and implementation.

What will I learn?

• The benefits of prioritizing kinship care and first placement with relatives and/or fictive kin
• Barriers relatives and fictive kin providers experience in the processes for first placement consideration, foster care/kinship licensing, fostering and adopting
• The impact of caregiver trauma and burnout on placement stability for relatives and fictive kin providers
• Strategies and tools for supporting kinship providers
• Hear from Ali Caliendo of Foster Kinship about her organization’s evidence-based Kinship Navigator Model and lessons learned in training, licensing, and supporting kinship providers
• Hear from Dawn Barton of South Carolina Department of Social Services about the agency’s work with this model and its efforts to prioritize kin-first placements

Fee: $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 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.

FREE!

Have questions about how to claim the adoption tax credit? Families Rising’s adoption tax credit expert, Josh Kroll, presents a webinar on the federal adoption tax credit outlining the steps to file. The focus is on filing for the 2024 tax year, but also covers applying for the credit for adoptions as far back as 2019. Josh explains what parents need to do to take advantage of the credit.