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.

This evidence-based, trauma-informed workshop helps parents recognize the signs and symptoms of prenatal substance exposure and trains them on techniques that work best with kids exposed prenatally to alcohol and drugs. Each 90 minute session is held on Zoom and includes facilitated discussion with other caregivers working with these children. We are able to offer this workshop free through the support of the Jockey Being Family®Foundation.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn to recognize the primary symptoms and secondary impacts of prenatal substance exposure.
2. Understand and learn the process and available resources for diagnosis.
3. Understand the five keys to support family success.
4. Learn a 3-step approach with strategies to support your child.
5. Apply knowledge of symptoms and strategies to address issues in children of various age levels.

Workshop Dates:
All Sessions begin at 7 pm Eastern Time Zone. 

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

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.

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.

Stronger Together: Celebrating Asian American Heritage & Mental Health

WHERE: Virtual – Register at least 1 day before the webinar you are interested in attending to receive the Zoom link to the event. Please do not share the Zoom link. Registration is required.

WHO: This event is open to all members within OCA and CAA and the general public.

ABOUT: Nikita Krishnan PhD is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Pace University. This workshop explores mental health through neuroscience, challenging the stigma; prevalent in communities where silence is mistaken for strength.

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.

Considering adopting? Want to learn about adoption programs at Spence-Chapin?

Join Spence-Chapin staff to learn about the current landscape of international and domestic adoption and the needs of children waiting for adoptive families. We’ll discuss the scope of all Spence-Chapin adoption programs including international adoption (South Africa, Colombia, Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean), and domestic adoption, as well as Spence-Chapins’ adoption services.

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

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.

Sullivan Goes to See Mama is my new children’s book designed to help children attend supported family time (aka supervised visits) and reduce stress in foster and kinship families. Through the lovable Koala, Sullivan, kids can see their own feelings and experiences reflected in a relatable, reassuring story that normalizes the experience of attending supported family time.

Written with honesty and trauma-informed care at its core, this book provides a compassionate tool for parents, caregivers, social workers, and therapists to help children process the confusing emotions that can come from spending time with their biological family while in care. This book is not just a story, it’s a bridge to improving reunification efforts and reducing behavioral challenges before, during, and after supported family time.

Free!

Fee: $15.00

In Part 2 of Eileen’s two-part training, Eileen will take participants through the steps that parents and caregivers can take to support their child or teen from a Brain First lens, by focusing on the lagging skills that need to be supported, so that their child or teen can experience more success in their relationships with others in their lives. She will teach participants what neuroscience research tells us about the brain-behavior connection, what it means for one to have a brain that works differently resulting in lagging cognitive skills, and the steps parents can take to move the focus away from the challenging behavior and instead focusing on the skill that needs accommodations and supports to grow over time.

Price: $75.00

Adoptive parents and their children aged 7-10 years old are invited to join us for an afternoon of creativity, introspection, and structured exploration of their adoption story. Through this community-building event, adoptive parents and their children will also have the unique opportunity to meet other families and create new friendships. Parents will be asked to bring special items that represent their child’s story and where they were born including photos (copies are fine). All other creative materials will be provided by Spence-Chapin.

This event takes place at the Spence-Chapin Manhattan office. Snacks and refreshments will be served and masks will be required throughout the event.

Stronger Together: Celebrating Asian American Heritage & Mental Health

WHERE: Virtual – Register at least 1 day before the webinar you are interested in attending to receive the Zoom link to the event. Please do not share the Zoom link. Registration is required.

WHO: This event is open to all members within OCA and CAA and the general public.

ABOUT: Carolyn Brazil is a master’s-level clinician in counseling and art therapy. Join us for a thought-provoking workshop examining early attachment wounds in adoption through the lens of the Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) framework.

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 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.

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.

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.

These calls are free to current members of Pact. If you do not have a current Pact membership you can join or renew at pactadopt.org.

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