Celebrating and Sustaining Families through Adoption

Virginia Crossings Hotel and Conference Center
1000 Virginia Center Parkway
Glen Allen, VA 23059

Please take the Conference Survey!

---

Conference Presentations are available below:

Click here for a printable version of the final conference agenda

• A 1-2 Integrating Family Support from Inquiry through Post-Adoption - Alicia Groh with Mary Boo and Britt Cloudsdale
• A 1-6 Attachment & The World Around Us -  Sara Buckeit and Lauren Weidner
• A 2-1 Back to Basics: The 7 Cores Issues of Adoption - Jennifer Surratt
  • Seven Core Issues handout
  • Helping Children Grieve handout
• A 2-5 Prenatal Exposure to Opioids, Alcohol & Other Substances and the Impact on the Brain - Barb Clark and Kim Stevens
  • Overlapping Behavioral Characteristics & Related Mental Health Diagnoses in Children handout
• A 2-6 Lifebooks: Priceless Keepsakes for Exploring Identity, Nurturing Attachment, and Supporting Permanency - Oma Reynolds and Shannon Shepard
• Afternoon keynote - Strategies and Tools for Successful Adoption of ALL Children - Dr. Ruth McRoy
• P-1 Recruiting and Supporting Families for Teens - AdoptUSKids - Melissa Otero, Tracy Serdjenian, Elizabeth Brescia, Alicia Groh
• P-3 Changing Our Focus: Listening to and Understanding Adoption from the Adopted Person’s Perspective - Rebecca Ricardo
• P-4 Adoption Assistance and the Federal Adoption Tax Credit - Josh Kroll
  • NACAC Tax Credit handout
  • IVE Eligibility handout
  • Renegotiation handout
  • Taxes handout
• P-6 Utilizing AREVA, Family Intake Tracking Tool & AdoptUSKids - Claudette Carter Henderson
  • Pre-Test handout
  • Post-Test handout
• Saturday workshop - Navigating The Challenges of Parenting Chesterfield - Kimberly Harrell

 

---

Keynote Speaker:

Virginia Department of Social Services is pleased to welcome Dr. Ruth McRoy to our 2nd Annual Adoption Conference. Dr. McRoy comes as our keynote speaker on two topics of utmost importance to Virginia’s efforts to sustain families through adoption: Kinship Adoption and Successful Adoption for All Children.

Dr. McRoy, PhD, is one of the most highly regarded scholars in the field of adoption and child welfare. In September 2009, Dr. McRoy became the first to receive the Donahue and DiFelice Endowed Professorship at Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. For 25 years prior to moving to Boston College, she was a faculty member of the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, where she held the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship.

Dr. McRoy is a practitioner, academician, researcher, and lecturer whose extensive body of work has focused on such topics as culturally competent service delivery, family preservation, open adoptions, post-adoption services, transracial adoptions, and older child adoptions. She has published over 100 articles and 10 books, including: “Transracial and Inracial Adoptees: The Adolescent Years” (with L. Zurcher); “Emotional Disturbance in Adopted Adolescents: Origins and Development” (with H. Grotevant and L. Zurcher); “Special Needs Adoptions: Practice Issues;” and “Openness in Adoption: Family Connections” (with H. Grotevant).

Dr. McRoy’s honors include: the St. John’s 2010 Outstanding Scholar in Adoption Award; the 2013 Children’s Bureau Adoption Excellence Award; the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Social Work’s 2014 Alumni of the Year Award; and the 2014 Child Advocate of the Year Award from the North American Council on Adoptable Children.

Kicking off this year’s conference Dr. McRoy will provide the research and the tools to support our work of retaining and building families through kinship adoption. Her first presentation will discuss the challenges and rewards of kinship adoption with a focus of providing the tools for adoption success in kinship families. “Kinship Adoption: The Dynamics and Needs in Biological Family Adoptions: Evolving Systems to Meet the Needs of Adoptees” will focus on the thousands of children in foster care today who are awaiting family reunification or adoption.  The session will discuss placement options and present the positive outcomes and challenges of placements with relatives.  Implications for both pre and post adoption supports to make these placements successful, will be provided. 

Following lunch, Dr. McRoy will present, “Strategies and Tools for Successful Adoption of ALL Children.” This session will present research findings on characteristics of families who have achieved successful adoptions. Specific strategies for recruiting, retaining, and supporting families who have adopted children from foster care will be presented. Emphasis will be placed on strategies to support successful adoptions of older children, children of color, and children with special needs.

Agenda

Friday, November 2

7:00 AM – 12:00 PM          Registration
Henrico Pre-function Lobby

8:00 AM -    5:00 PM          Exhibits and Roundtable Chats
Henrico Pre-function Lobby

8:00 AM -    8:15 AM          Welcome by Carl E. Ayers, Family Services Director, VDSS
Henrico Ballroom

8:15 AM -    9:15 AM          “Supporting and Building Kinship Adoption”, Dr. Ruth McRoy
Henrico Ballroom

9:15 AM -    9:30 AM          Break
Henrico Pre-function Lobby

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM           Workshops

A.1-1. Individualizing the Adoption Case Management Experience for Families
Debbie Riley and Traci B. Jones

This workshop addresses post-adoption case management support for families. The workshop will present a case management model that is designed to be available to 100% of families in need and recognizes that adoptive families have unique needs. The model is highly individualized and responds to each family’s strengths and needs. The case managers who provide these services are highly trained to provide an adoption competent model.

Debbie B. Riley, LCMFT, is the CEO and co-founder of the Center for Adoption Support and Education.  She is a nationally and internationally recognized therapist, author, trainer and expert. Ms. Riley is the co-author of Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens and contributor to other publications. She leads two national initiatives to enhance the delivery of adoption-competent services: The Training in Adoption Competency (TAC) and the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI). Ms. Riley is an adoptive parent.

Traci Brickhouse Jones has worked in child welfare for more than nineteen years in various capacities such as case manager, social worker, social work supervisor and program manager with two local departments of social services. She received her B. S. Degree in Psychology from Old Dominion University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Norfolk State University.  She completed course work toward a doctorate degree in Social Work at Norfolk State University’s Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work with an emphasis on adoption.  She completed the LEAD program at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service and completed the Virginia Department of Social Services Leadership Academy in 2007. In 2018 she graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth Management Institute.  She served as an adjunct professor at Norfolk State University in the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work and served on the Community Advisory Council for Virginia’s Wesleyan’s Department of Social Work for the development of their Bachelor of Social Work program.  Currently, Mrs. Jones is the Adoption Program Manager for the Virginia Department of Social Services.  She retired from the Virginia Army National Guard in 2012 after twenty-three years of service.  Mrs. Jones is the proud wife of LTC William “BJ” Jones of the United States Army.

A.1-2. Integrating Family Support from Inquiry through Post-Adoption
Alicia Groh with Mary Boo and Britt Cloudsdale

This workshop will highlight the value of using an integrated approach to family support throughout the adoption journey from inquiry, home study, matching, placement, through post-adoption, including considerations for what kinds of support families may need at each stage and how to coordinate support efforts throughout the process. The presenters will share tips for implementation, engage participants in discussion about ways to make the ideas fit in their own work, and share materials on response systems and family support models.

Alicia Groh is a consultant with 20 years of experience in the child welfare field, including working with states, tribes, and non-profit organizations. She has extensive knowledge of child welfare laws, policies, and programs. Her areas of expertise include recruitment, development, and support of foster, adoptive, and kinship families, with specialization in program models and effective implementation approaches. As a consultant, she assists child welfare systems with capacity building, strategic planning, community engagement, organizational culture change, and executive coaching.

Mary Boo is the executive director of the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC). At NACAC, Mary has researched and documented effective programs to support children, youth, and families in adoption, foster care, and kinship care. In collaboration with other NACAC staff, she has designed and helped implement numerous programs including adoption support programs, capacity building efforts to help adoption and foster care support organizations, and advocacy efforts to enhance services to children, youth, and families in child welfare. Mary has researched and written about adoption and child welfare policies and practices and has actively participated in child welfare reform at the federal level.

Britt Cloudsdale, MSW, is the coordinator of the Family Support Team at AdoptUSKids. She has 10 years of child welfare experience, with expertise in foster care and adoption. She has extensive experience training professionals and families, and developing tools and materials to assist jurisdictions in their engagement, development and support of resource families. Britt received a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a concentration in management and community practice.

A.1-3. Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue in Adoptive Parents
Bronwyn Robertson

Children who have transitioned into adoption are four times more likely to have trauma-related disorders than other children. Adoptive parents are also at increased risk of developing trauma-related conditions and symptoms due to the vicarious exposure to their children’s trauma. Studies show that vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue are prevalent among adoptive parents. This presentation will explore the impact that vicarious trauma exposure can have on adoptive parents, unique risk factors for adoptive parents in developing vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, and ways professionals can support parents who may be at risk.

Bronwyn Robertson has more than 20 years’ experience working with children, youth, and families. She is a licensed professional counselor and is a certified Adoption-Competent Therapist via the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.). She is trained in Family Trauma Therapy and certified as a Compassion Fatigue Professional via the International Association of Trauma Professionals. She specializes in integrative, mindfulness-oriented, trauma focused therapy and has lectured and published internationally on mindfulness-based psychotherapy.

A.1-4 Voices from the Virginia Department of Education Panel
Panelists: Tracy Lee, Dr. Patricia Popp, and Michael Gregory, Virginia Department of Education, Division of Special Education and Student Services
Facilitator:  Dr. Kelly Henderson, Formed Families Forward

This session features updates from leaders at the Virginia Department of Education. Panelists will address implementation of Fostering Connections Act and its educational stability requirements; special education and family engagement, including recent work on Critical Decision Points; and the Virginia Tiered Systems of Supports (VTSS) and implementation of mental wellness initiatives in school divisions.  Time will be provided for Q & A and discussion with session participants.

Patricia A. Popp, Ph.D. is the state coordinator for the education of homeless children and youth in Virginia and a clinical associate professor at the William & Mary School of Education. In addition, she serves as the Virginia Department of Education liaison to the Virginia Department of Social Services to ensure educational stability for children and youth in foster care. Prior to joining the university in 1995, Pat was a teacher for students with learning disabilities. Her research interests include students experiencing homelessness and high mobility, students with disabilities, and teacher quality.

Her publications include Students on the Move, Reading on the Go, and Effective Teaching and At-Risk/Highly Mobile Students for NCHE and West Meets East for ASCD. She has presented at international, national, and state level conferences in the areas of highly mobile and homeless students, classroom management, and teacher effectiveness. Pat is a past president of the Virginia Council for Learning Disabilities, past president of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), and past chair of the NAEHCY Education Scholarship Fund.

Michael Gregory is the School Social Work Specialist with Virginia Department of Education. Prior to this role, Michael practiced as a School Social Worker in two school divisions in Virginia and trained as a school social worker in Iowa. He has also worked with state social service divisions, early childhood education programs, and consulted with non-profit organizations. Michael has presented on topics such as addressing challenging behavior in the K-12 setting, trauma sensitive practices, functional behavior assessment, and behavior intervention planning. Michael received his Master of Social Work (MSW) from University of Iowa and completed his Bachelor of Science (BS) at George Mason University.

Tracy Lee is currently the Family Engagement Specialist/Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of Specialized Education Facilities and Family Engagement at the Virginia Department of Education. She provides leadership and technical assistance to Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) throughout the commonwealth and trains both parents and school divisions in parental rights, dispute resolution, best practices in collaboration through the special education process, as well as behavioral issues. She is also managing a grant project through the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities regarding Critical Decision Points for Families of Students with Disabilities.

She has been an elementary school teacher, preschool director, and the Family Resource Coordinator for Colonial Heights Public Schools. Additionally, she has co-authored two bestselling parenting books (1-2-3 Magic for Kids and the 1-2-3 Magic Workbook) and has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates, nationwide, discussing parenting and education related issues.

Kelly Henderson, Ph.D., is Executive Director of Formed Families Forward, a northern Virginia non-profit family organization that offers free training and support to foster, adoptive and kinship care families raising children and youth with special needs. Formed Families Forward operates a Community Parent Resource Center, funded by US Office of Special Education Programs. FFF is a family partner to the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support project.

A special educator by profession, Kelly is a former public school teacher of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and has worked in national special education policy and federal research settings. Kelly is also adjunct faculty of special education at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Kelly's family is formed in part through public foster care and adoption. Her three sons have a range of disabilities and special needs. Kelly trains and consults with adoptive, foster and kinship families and agency personnel on special education-related needs of children and youth. She serves on a number of non-profit boards and public agency advisory bodies.

A.1-5. Mentoring the Brain: You and Your Child’s
Patrick Neff

Trust-based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) involves three main principles: Empowering Connecting and Correcting. Empowering Principles involve teaching and empowering children to recognize their own triggers and to regulate their own emotions. One of the tools used to accomplish this is brain mentoring. In this program participants will learn how to use this tool both to empower children ad to self-regulate as caregivers.

Children from hard places often can be triggered and become dysregulated very quickly without their caregivers knowing the reasons. Caregivers can then become surprised by their own reactions to their children’s behaviors. Brain mentoring is an excellent tool which can teach you not only how to mentor your own brain, but how to teach the children in your care this same strategy. Learning new positive patterns of behavior is achievable for all ages, making it possible to have harmony in your home and family.

Patrick Neff has served Patrick Henry Family Services since 2014 and is the Director of Safe Families for Children and Homes of Hope. He is also the Regional Network Leader and Coach for Safe Families sites overseeing seven states. With the help of his amazing team they are redefining how we see and respond to the crisis of child abuse, prevention, and family preservation. Patrick is also a certified life and family coach serving with the John Maxwell team. He recently became certified as a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRIÒ) practitioner from Texas Christian University.

A.1-6    Attachment & The World Around Us: How to help families navigate unhealthy attachment and sensory processing challenges
Henrico Pre-Function

Join Sara Buckheit and Lauren Weidner from the Children's Home Society of Virginia for a roundtable chat to dive deeper into two areas of development often affected when a child has experienced ACEs. They will break down styles of attachment and how to undo and re-do attachment tasks to remedy unhealthy attachments. They will also take a look at how our sensory systems develop and what happens when things go wrong. Attendees should come away with increased awareness of what behaviors might indicate issues in attachment and sensory processing and how they can help.

Sara Buckheit is a licensed clinical social worker, a TBRI practitioner and a Certified Trauma Specialist. In her time in the field she has worked as a medical social worker, a therapist for children who have experienced trauma and in serving challenged youth in private practice. Sara started with CHS helping families complete home studies to adopt children from Virginia’s foster care system and now manages their Post Adoption Program to support those families on their lifelong adoptive journey.

Lauren Weidner, MSW, is the Training and Community Engagement Manager for the Children’s Home Society of Virginia.

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM        Workshops

A.2-1  Back to Basics: The 7 Cores Issues of Adoption
Jennifer Surratt, LCSW

Do you ever wonder with your clients or kids— “is this typical or is this adoption related”? Many parents and professionals are unaware of the things that “adoptees wish their adoptive parents/professionals knew” and they don’t know how to help adoptees manage adoption related issues over their lifetime. This workshop will introduce these 7 core issues, identify how they may show up for triad members over the lifetime and what we can do as parents and professionals to help manage these issues when they come up.

Jennifer Surratt is the Director of Programs for C2Adopt. She is a graduate of the VCU School of Social Work and is a licensed clinical social worker. Jennifer has worked in child welfare for 20 years and her clinical areas of expertise include attachment, trauma, and adoption. Jennifer is passionate about engagement at community and policy levels for the advancement of trauma informed and adoption competent practices in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A.2-2 Connections Matter: Communication and Relationships with Birth Family
Debbie B. Riley

Maintaining connections with birth family is important but complex.  Adoptive parents’ attitudes regarding birth parents significantly influence children’s self-concept and identity. This workshop explores how adoptive parents can share birth family history with their children, including addressing difficult information; honor birth parents in both open and closed adoptions; handle the benefits and potential challenges involved in open adoption; and how to successfully navigate the common challenges involved in search and reunion, especially in the age of social media. 

Debbie B. Riley, LCMFT, is the CEO and co-founder of the Center for Adoption Support and Education.  She is a nationally and internationally recognized therapist, author, trainer and expert. Ms. Riley is the co-author of Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens and contributor to other publications. She leads two national initiatives to enhance the delivery of adoption-competent services: The Training in Adoption Competency (TAC) and the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI). Ms. Riley is an adoptive parent.

A.2-3  Trust-based Relational Intervention: Introduction and Overview for Professionals
Janice Stinson, LPC

TBRI® is a holistic approach that is multi-disciplinary, flexible, attachment-centered, and challenging. It is an evidence-based, trauma-informed intervention that is specifically designed for children who come from hard places. Professionals of all types, who support the family and child caring for high-risk children, multiply their effectiveness when they have a framework by which to insure holistic care for maximum benefit to the child and family. Social workers, therapists, support specialists, educators, occupational therapists and professional parents: come and coordinate for success!

Janice Stinson is a Licensed Professional Counselor of 17 years. She has provided counseling to individuals and families in a residential treatment center, outpatient setting, and currently provides consolation, training, and counsel to parents of youth in the community and congregate living. Becoming a TBRI® practitioners has transformed her practice to better equip caregivers of kids from hard places, especially those in foster and adoptive homes.

A.2-4   Big Data and What it Means for Adoptive Families: How Family-Match is a Game Changer for Virginia’s Children and Families
Whitney Zatzkin and Thea Ramirez

This is a unique opportunity for professionals and families to learn about the Family-Match Pilot in Virginia and to take a closer look how data science can be applied to promote better outcomes for children and families from placement to post adoption. Learn how big data and predictive modeling can improve placement outcomes for our nation’s foster kids and explore how technology is being implemented to ensure more children waiting to be adopted succeed in their adoption placements.

Whitney Bowman-Zatzkin, MPA, MSR, is a passionate community architect obsessed with connecting the dots of community care to provoke change for the greater good. Whitney is the Virginia Director for the Family-Match Program. Prior to joining Adoption-Share, Whitney ran state-level advocacy efforts, collaborating with policy leaders to conduct research and enact policy changes around health education and workforce team design. She also led the Great Challenges at TEDMED, expanding the online community to more than 300,000 people.

Thea Ramirez is the Founder and Chief Sharer for the national program, Adoption-Share, Inc.

A.2-5   Prenatal Exposure to Opioids, Alcohol & Other Substances and the Impact on the Brain
Barb Clark and Kim Stevens, NACAC

Many children coming into care and joining adoptive families were prenatally exposed to drugs and/or alcohol; with the current opioid epidemic, those numbers are increasing.  We will explore risk factors; look at the connection between brain impairment and behaviors, including the impact of trauma; and present reframing and other strategies for professionals and parents to better support children who were prenatally exposed to substances. 

Barb Clark and her husband are the parents of four adopted children, the oldest of which is diagnosed with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Barb works at the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) coordinating a program to train parent leaders to provide post adoption support in their communities and providing post-adoption support to MN families. She also provides training and consulting with schools, agencies and families to improve the education and lives of young people who were prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol.

Kim Stevens is Program Manager at NACAC, Kim directs efforts to expand post-adoption services. She is a collaborative partner in two federal curriculum development projects and takes a lead on legislative advocacy efforts. She has been at NACAC, first as a board member and president, then as staff, for over 20 years. Kim was recognized as an Angel in Adoption in 2017.

Kim provides training and consultation on child welfare, foster care, adoption, positive youth development, advocacy and leadership, trauma and recovery, and youth permanency issues, both nationally and internationally. She and her husband have six children, four of whom were adopted from the public foster care system.

A. 2-6     Lifebooks: Priceless Keepsakes for Exploring Identity, Nurturing Attachment, and Supporting Permanency
Henrico Pre-Function

Join Oma McReynolds and Shannon Shepherd of DePaul Family Services for a roundtable discussion on Lifebooks. They will review a variety of methods and help attendees create a sample Lifebook page. Discussions about how to handle tough topics and resistance during Lifebook work with youth and parents.

Oma McReynolds and Shannon Shepherd are both caseworkers an supervisors assisting adoptive families through the Post Adoption Support Services grant. Oma has been workin in children welfare for over 20 years and has experience as a kinship caregiver and foster parent. Shannon has 18 years experience in child welfare an was herself a former foster youth who was adopted as an adult.

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM           Lunch
The Glen Restaurant

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM             “Strategies and Tools for Successful Adoption of ALL Children”
Dr. Ruth McRoy
Henrico Ballroom

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM             Break
Henrico Pre-function Lobby

3:00 PM – 4:15 PM             Workshops

P-1. Recruiting and Supporting Families for Teens
Melissa Otero and co-presenters Tracy Serdjenian, Director of Capacity Building and Engagement, AdoptUSKids, and Alicia Groh, Consultant, AdoptUSKids, Capacity-Building and Engagement Team

This workshop will share strategies and resources for recruiting, developing, and supporting adoptive families for teens in foster care. Presenters will highlight several ideas agencies can use, including ways to leverage free AdoptUSKids resources such as family finding tools in the national photo-listing, the National Adoption Recruitment Campaign materials, and information on developing speakers bureaus to raise awareness about the need of  families for teens. They will also share approaches for preparing and supporting both families and teens for adoption.

Melissa Otero has nearly 20-years of advertising, marketing, public relations, and media experience and is currently the Marketing and Communications Director for AdoptUSKids. Coming from the Ad Council in Washington D.C., Melissa has directed high-profile national social marketing media campaigns for leading private and public organizations such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Ready campaign), and the U.S. Forest Service (Smokey Bear campaign). Melissa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Alicia Groh is a consultant with 20 years of experience in the child welfare field, including working with states, tribes, and non-profit organizations. She has extensive knowledge of child welfare laws, policies, and programs. Her areas of expertise include recruitment, development, and support of foster, adoptive, and kinship families, with specialization in program models and effective implementation approaches. As a consultant, she assists child welfare systems with capacity building, strategic planning, community engagement, organizational culture change, and executive coaching.

P-2. Ensuring Educational Success for Children/Youth in Adoptive, Foster & Kinship Families
Dr. Kelly Henderson, Formed Families Forward

Families and professionals are invited to this session focused on practical strategies for improving educational outcomes for students in adoptive, foster and kinship homes. We will review options for securing access to educational support services including accommodations and other support via Section 504 and special education via the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Proven strategies for improving parent/caregiver engagement in important education decision-making and for resolving school/family conflicts will be shared. Time for Q & A and discussion with session participants.

Kelly Henderson, Ph.D., is Executive Director of Formed Families Forward, a northern Virginia non-profit family organization that offers free training and support to foster, adoptive and kinship care families raising children and youth with special needs. Formed Families Forward operates a Community Parent Resource Center, funded by US Office of Special Education Programs. FFF is a family partner to the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support project.

A special educator by profession, Kelly is a former public school teacher of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and has worked in national special education policy and federal research settings. Kelly is also adjunct faculty of special education at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Kelly's family is formed in part through public foster care and adoption. Her three sons have a range of disabilities and special needs. Kelly trains and consults with adoptive, foster and kinship families and agency personnel on special education-related needs of children and youth. She serves on a number of non-profit boards and public agency advisory bodies.

P-3. Changing Our Focus: Listening to and Understanding Adoption from the Adopted Person’s Perspective  
Rebecca Ricardo, LCSW   

Through the use of story-telling, video clips and discussion this workshop will explore the ways we can shift our focus from looking at adoption only through a parent’s viewpoint to considering how it looks and feels to the child and then the adult. The presenter will offer information on how this may change your practice and/or your interactions with your child. For people attending who are adopted, this workshop may provide added insight into their own journey of adoption.

Rebecca L. Ricardo, LCSW is the current Executive Director for C2Adopt. She has over 27 years of professional experience working as a social worker in adoptive family preservation, home study assessments, options counseling, waiting child adoption, international adoption and providing training on a wide range of topics related to adoption, trauma and attachment. She has facilitated a Birth Parent and Adult Adoptee Support Group since 1991. She has a personal connection as an adoptee and birth parent.

P-4. Adoption Assistance and the Federal Adoption Tax Credit
Josh Kroll

This session will help participants learn about how children are eligible for adoption assistance, give tools about how to effectively negotiate an adoption assistance rate, and other issues related to adoption assistance. The session will also include an overview of the federal adoption tax credit.

Josh Kroll has been helping adoptive parent and professionals in the US and Canada with adoption assistance for 20 years. During his time at NACAC, Josh has helped over 20,000 families and professionals with adoption assistance and adoption tax credit issues and questions. Josh was a 20212 Angel in Adoption and has served as an advisor for the National Foster Parent Association.

P.5. Beneath the Mask: Adoption through the Eyes of Adolescents
Debbie B. Riley, LCMFT

Participants will explore how the typical or “normal” developmental tasks of adolescences are intensified by adoption, particularly in transracial adoptive families. Participants will gain an understanding of how adoption influences separation from parents, identify formation and decisions related to sexuality. Ms. Riley will address in detail the “six spots where teens get stuck,” referencing in her signature book, Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens. Potentially mild and serious emotional and behavioral issues at home and at school will be addressed.

Debbie Riley, LCMFT, is the CEO and co-founder of the Center for Adoption Support and Education.  She is a nationally and internationally recognized therapist, author, trainer and expert. Ms. Riley is the co-author of Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens and contributor to other publications. She leads two national initiatives to enhance the delivery of adoption-competent services: The Training in Adoption Competency (TAC) and the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI). Ms. Riley is an adoptive parent.

P.6  Utilizing AREVA, Family Intake Tracking Tool & AcoptUSKids
Henrico Pre-Function

Join Claudette Carter Henderson for an in-depth discussion about the tools that can help you connect families to waiting children.

Claudette Carter Henderson is the Adoption Specialist/AREVA Coordinator for the VDSS and is a former local department of social services director with over 12 years of human services experience. She receive her BA, cum laude in Business Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University and earned a MS with honors in Applied Psychology, I/O Psychology form the University of Baltimore. Claudette also has a Certificate of Completion from DSS Commonwealth Management Institute, VCU.

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM “A Framework for Adoption Supports and Services across the Commonwealth”  by Sharon Vandivere, Senior Research Consultant, Child Trends

Sharon Vandivere, M.P.P., is a child welfare research expert with a focus on foster care ad adoption. A skilled project manager, she led the design and implementation of numerous evaluation plans. As the Principle Investigator she analyzed data from the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) and produced the first nationally representative findings on the population of adopted children. Ms. Vandivere has analyzed and consulted on child welfare administrative data system in numerous states. Most recently, Child Trends has undergone a study on the needs of families through the post-adoption experience here in Virginia.

5:00 PM – 5:15 PM Closing Remarks, Traci B. Jones

5:15 PM - 7:00 PM Networking Reception

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM Celebrating Adoption…Jonny Cecka’s DJ Dance Party

Please visit our exhibitors throughout the day in the Henrico Prefunction Lobby.

Saturday, November 3

Breakfast on your Own

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM          Youth Activities

8:45 AM - 11:15 AM           Parent Respite Options…
                                       Peer to Peer Support group
                                       Yoga and Meditation Class
                                       Man Cave (Men Only)
                                       Empowered Adoptive Parents: Tips and Tools for Navigating Adoptive Parenthood, Kimberly Harrell, M.Ed., LPC, NCC, ACS

11:45 AM -12:45 PM          Lunch & Closing