In This Issue:

• A New Chief Executive for AEA
• Renew Your Membership
• The Liillian Brooks Lansberry Award
• A New Way to Support AEA:  On-Line Shopping Through Giveline

Member News

• NYSCCC Conference
• Pennsylvania Post-Permanency Services
• Ohio Agency Takes Youth on College Tours
• Adoption Specific Mental Health Services in Western Pennsylvania

Letter from Rachel Pratt

I joined AEA at the beginning of March 2007, expecting a few months to settle in and learn how to better serve you, its members.  Things did not go quite as planned when— not more than a couple of weeks into my tenure—the Children’s Bureau posted its Request for Proposals for AdoptUsKids.  From that moment through the next several weeks, nearly all of my time was devoted to coordinating AEA’s proposal.  

As all of you know, for the past 4-1/2 years, AEA has been the lead organization in The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids.  As an outsider to the project, from my vantage point in New York City’s child welfare agency, I observed AdoptUsKids as it grew and changed the reality for waiting children in this country.  I was repeatedly impressed by the success of The Collaboration, and the dedication of the collaborative partners.  AdoptUsKids could only come out of a strong organization with strong members and partners and that realization was the chief reason I accepted this position.   AEA’s strength was reaffirmed during the proposal process— Barbara Holtan, Sarah Gerstenzang, Mary Kurylo, all of the others at AEA, and the six collaborative partners were the best team anyone could hope for!

Now my focus returns to my primary role at AEA—its membership.  The Adoption Exchange Association has members in 34 states, and we are now in our 25th year of service.  I’ve begun to travel to meet some of you and your staff, and hope to meet many more of you in the upcoming months and years.  So far I’ve been to Denver, CO (The Adoption Exchange), Seattle, WA (Northwest Resource Associates and Families Like Ours), and Rochester, NY (Children Awaiting Parents).  I will visit Chicago, IL at the end of June and will meet with staff from three exchanges while in Chicago (Adoption Information Center of Illinois, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, and Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange). 

Through our work together in the upcoming years, we will proudly proclaim members in all 50 states.  We must also commit to regular communication between with each other, to share promising practices and to break down barriers together so that more children can be adopted more quickly across state lines.  I am here to bring new ideas, resources, and opportunities to AEA.  And, with your energy and support, I am certain we can make AEA an even stronger partner in your work.

This newsletter is the first of AEA’s new monthly newsletters.  I welcome your feedback, suggestions for stories, and articles about your work that would be of interest to the larger group.  More generally, please e-mail, call or write to me about what you are doing inside your organization and how AEA can better serve you.  I also welcome suggestions from members about ways to mark and celebrate AEA’s 25th year.

Thank you for this opportunity.  I look forward to working with and serving all of you.

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A New Chief Executive Officer for AEA

Rachel Pratt has been named to the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer of the Adoption Exchange Association (AEA).  As CEO, Ms. Pratt’s challenge will be to better serve the organization’s members so they can help more waiting children be adopted more quickly from foster care.  Dr. Dixie van de Flier Davis, President of AEA and Executive Director of The Adoption Exchange, Inc., which is based in Denver, says of the selection of Rachel Pratt, “We are thrilled to have found a child welfare professional with a real commitment to adoption, and the skills and vision to bring AEA to the next level as a non-profit organization.”

 
Rachel Pratt came to AEA from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the public agency for foster care and adoptions in the five boroughs of New York City, where she most recently served as Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Case Management.  Prior to joining case management, Ms. Pratt served as Director of ACS’s Office of Parent Recruitment and Expedited Permanency, a department she created.  Before moving to the public sector, Rachel Pratt was a consultant in non-profit management and worked in several non-profit organizations.  She has taught Public Policy and Policy Analysis at the New York University and the New School for Social Research.  Her publications include SpeedingAdoptions: An Evaluation of the Effects of Judicial Continuity (Social Work Research, 2002), and Retaining Interest:  A Look at New York City’s Recruitment of Adoptive Parents for Waiting Children (NYC ACS, 2003), both co-authored with Trudy Festinger, D.S.W.  Rachel Pratt holds a BA in Communications from Temple University and an MS in Non-Profit Management from the New School for Social Research.

Ms. Pratt takes over from Barbara Holtan, who served as Executive Director of AEA from 2002 until February 2007.  Under Barbara Holtan’s leadership, AEA opened its first office, in Baltimore, MD, and simultaneously oversaw the launch of The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids.  Ms. Holtan will continue in her role as Project Director of AdoptUsKids. 

You can reach Rachel Pratt at 347-623-7753 or rpratt@adoptea.org

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Renew Your Membership in AEA

2007 is an exciting year to be a member of the Adoption Exchange Association.  The AEA Board of Directors and the committees have taken on many exciting new challenges—everything from improving the website to rewriting the Adoption Exchange Standards. 

Membership rates have increased in 2007—and so have the benefits to you and your organization.  You can join as a regular member or choose the new Premier Membership.  For the first time AEA will also make available multiple memberships for organizations that wish to involve more than one professional in all that AEA has to offer.  All membership levels include features and assistance to help you run your organizations and get more children adopted. 

AEA Membership Levels

Individual and Organization Membership

• Monthly electronic AEA newsletter sent to your home or office (printed version available if preferred)
• One copy of all new AEA and AdoptUsKids publications (new members receive copies of past publications as well)
• Members only use of Adopt Air services
• Your organization’s link on the membership page of the AEA website
• 25% discount for one (1) attendee at the AEA Conference
• Opportunities to get out the word about your organizations through articles in the AEA newsletter
• The chance to participate in the planning of the AEA conference.

Premier Membership
All of the above plus:

• Your organization’s link on the home page of the AEA website
• 50% discount for one (1) attendee at the AEA Conference and 25% discount for up to four (4) more attendees
• The opportunity to enroll first in new organizational support features as they are developed, including shared purchasing and discount subscriptions.
• The chance to be the first to test new interactive members-only features on the AEA website! 

As a member, YOU are the Adoption Exchange Association and have a voice in shaping the organization and how it serves you.  We look forward to working with you in 2007!

AEA Membership Application

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The Lillian Brooks Lansberry Award

The Lillian Brooks Lansberry Award for Excellence in Adoption was established to honor the life of this staunch adoption advocate.  The award is given to an adoption worker who each day makes extraordinary efforts to connect waiting children with families.  In addition to a plaque, each award recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship that is to be used to do something special—something that can’t be done without the award—for children in need of permanent families. 

Lillian’s spirit inspired everyone who knew her.  She devoted her life to the tireless effort to place waiting children into permanent adoptive families.  Lillian Brooks Lansberry’s vision of loving homes for all children stemmed from a 30-year career as a line worker, supervisor, trainer, and administrator.  Following her 1995 retirement from the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Lillian started LBL Associates and continued to serve children and families as a trainer and consultant.  She advocated for children by serving as a board member for several adoption-related organizations and by authoring many publications about multi-ethnic and special needs adoption.  Lillian Brooks Lansberry was a long-time member, Board Member, and Vice President of the Adoption Exchange Association.  On December 15, 1997 Lillian died unexpectedly while conducting adoption research with a colleague in Atlanta, Georgia.  Charles Lansberry, Lillian’s husband, is also a social worker and advocate for children.  He joined AEA in establishing this award in his wife’s memory. 

December 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Lillian Brooks Lansberry.  To commemorate, AEA is currently seeking contributions that will establish in perpetuity the Lillian Brooks Lansberry Award.  A generous contribution of $9,475 from Charles Lansberry this spring kicks-off the campaign.  Other organizations and individuals—both those who knew Lillian and those who didn’t but honor all she stood for and accomplished—are encouraged to contribute.  Contributions can be sent to The Lillian Brooks Lansberry Fund, c/o the Adoption Exchange Association, 8015 Corporate Drive, Suite C, Baltimore, MD  21236.

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A New Way to Support AEA:  On-Line Shopping Through Giveline

In May, AEA registered with Giveline.com.  Giveline.com is an online store created for the community-minded shopper, offering more than a million bestselling products including books, movies, music, electronics, housewares, gifts and more. Every purchase generates a substantial donation to Adoption Exchange Association – an amazing average of 16% of store sales, sometimes as high as 33%. Giveline has great products, great service, and great prices – the only difference between Giveline and other major online retailers is that every purchase earns money for our organization. Check it out today, and if you decide to buy, remember that the Adoption Exchange Association will earn funds in support of our mission!

Click the button below to begin shopping!

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The AEA promotes and supports interactive relationships among Adoption Exchanges and stakeholders to:

• Stimulate innovative solutions
• Eliminate interjurisdictional barriers
• Advocate
• Educate
• Actively share information, resources, and effective practices for the benefit of waiting children and families.

MEMBER NEWS

NYSCCC Conference

The New York State Citizens’ Coalition for Children, Inc. held its annual conference on May 10th through 12th in Albany, New York.  Says Executive Director Judith Ashton, “based on the written evaluations and the wonderful feedback we received at the conference, "Adoption 2007: Making Dreams Come True" was a great success.”  Ms. Ashton shared with us an email she received after the conference from an adoptive parent in Catskill, NY. Just a quick note of thanks for putting together such a wonderful event. Some days I feel quite isolated from the "real world" of healthy children, normal relationships, and, just when I need it the most, a conference comes up that reaffirms what I believe and live. Suddenly I feel real again. Whole again. And I come home (just in time for Mother's Day) strong, filled with "real" possibilities and know, beyond any doubt, that we will be just fine.

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Pennsylvania Post-Permanency Services

To better serve families, SWAN—Pennsylvania’s public/private partnership of more than seventy agencies— began an ambitious effort to provide post-permanency services.  SWAN now offers post-permanency services to all families who have adopted, whether or not they adopted a child from the child welfare system and to kinship and permanent legal custodianship families who step forward to provide permanency to a foster child.  Pennsylvania families self-refer for SWAN post-permanency services by calling the SWAN Helpline.  The Helpline personnel ask questions, gather information from the family, and assist with referrals.  Three post-permanency services are offered: Case Advocacy; Support Group, and; Respite. 

 Since 2003, more than 1,600 families have received SWAN post-permanency services.  In spring of 2006, SWAN conducted a survey of these families to determine the effectiveness.  SWAN learned that 84% of the families surveyed said that post-permanency services were helpful and 88% reported a positive experience.  Other responses included: 65% were somewhat or much more in control of their family; 86% felt supported throughout the post-permanency process; and 95% would recommend the services to others. Many families indicated positive changes in their families including: improved child behavior, better family communication, improved parent-child relationship, changes in the child’s personality, better child self-esteem, and education of parents.

Case Advocacy ensures that families receive access to services designed to meet their needs after they have made a permanent commitment to a child.  Services are strength-based and emphasize collaboration.  Case Advocacy is comprised of two phases, case assessment and case management.  When a family is referred for Case Advocacy, SWAN completes the case assessment, which includes a family support plan.  After the assessment and family support plan are completed, the family may access services. Case management services offered to a family may include coordinating services with other systems, such as the mental health system; counseling both individual and family; and advocacy services for the family.  Case Advocacy may be as intensive as necessary in order to keep the family intact and prevent disruption of the adoption.  The SWAN affiliate agency advocates on behalf of the family to ensure ongoing permanency in families, identify strengths and needs, establish a family support plan for service delivery, coordinate the provision of specific services to meet the needs of the family, and facilitate collaboration between the systems serving the family.

Support Groups help build relationships, form a community of mentoring, provide education and offer socialization and recreational activities for families and/or their children.  Support groups provide families with the opportunity to share with others the difficulties and successes of adoption. Groups are designed to meet the needs of the community in which they are held. 

Respite provides families with planned breaks to support a consistent level of parenting.  Respite may allow the family to get some needed time alone and then return to caring for their child rejuvenated and revived.  Respite may be either inside or outside the family home and is designed to ensure that eligible families are supported by: developing resources to alleviate the pressures of parenting children with special needs; utilizing competent resources to provide a continuum of care for the children; and ensuring the flexibility to meeting the needs of parents and their children.

For more information, contact Lorrie Deck, the Director of SWAN at lodeck@state.pa.us

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Ohio Agency Takes Youth on College Tours

National statistics show that, although 70% of 17-year-olds in foster care express a desire to attend college, only 54% graduate from high school and only 2% earn a college degree. Pinkie Thomas—newly-elected AEA Board Member and Director of Ohio Family Care Association—decided to change those grim statistics within in the Ohio foster care system.

That desire to make positive change for young people led Ms. Thomas to bus a group of 16 Ohio teenagers on a series of college tours. Tours were staffed by members of the Ohio Family Care Association and financed through Franklin County Children Services.

College tours were held on March 31, April 9, April 10 and April 13, with the teenagers visiting two colleges each day for eight colleges total—Kentucky State, Central State, University of Toledo, Bowling Green University, Hocking College, Ohio University, Mount Vernon Nazarene, and Kent State University. 

Lisa Dickson, Co-Chair of Former Kids in Care, writes of the experience:

I am a former foster child and current youth advocate. When I started college after being emancipated at age sixteen, I was on my own. I didn’t visit several colleges to see which one would take me – rather, I was happily surprised that the admissions counselor at the University of Kentucky was helpful and accommodating.

As an alumna of foster care and a youth advocate, I have attended forums and listened to the voices of current Ohio foster youth. Two sisters shared their experiences with very different social workers; while one sister had a social worker willing to take her on college tours, the other sister had requested this assistance – and her social worker had refused.

College tours are a wonderful way to demonstrate that college is accessible to people in and from foster care. I applaud Pinkie Thomas for her foresight and dedication.

For more information on Ohio’s college tour program, contact Pinkie Thomas, Director of Ohio Family Care Association at Pinkie@OFCAonline.org

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Adoption Specific Mental Health Services in Western Pennsylvania

Three Rivers Adoption Council (TRAC) is excited to introduce its new mental health unit, Connections, designed to provide adoption-specific mental health services.  TRAC also welcomes Caroline Archer and Christine Gordon on June 6-7 for a two day conference about Adoption Specific Mental Health Services. The first day is open to anyone who would like to learn more about their theories and principals.  The second day is designed specifically for professionals and will allow for one-on-one dialogue with Archer and Gordon.  There are still spaces available for this conference and AEA member organizations are invited to attend. 

Connections combines TRAC’s Child Preparation and Post Permanency Support departments, with the new Adoption Specific Mental Health service.  Connections employs credentialed therapists to provide services to clients.  Says TRAC Executive Director Jacqueline Wilson, “Pennsylvania’s SWAN has done a great deal to further the cause of Adoption Specific Mental Health Services through its Post-Permanency services.  TRAC will continue to refer families through the SWAN help line for these services.  But the ability to accept medical assistance and private insurances allows TRAC greater flexibility to provide services to families during placement before finalization.”  Connections will initially provide services to Pennsylvania adoptive and foster families and children who are awaiting permanence.  Eventually, Connections will provide services to adult adoptees. 

Dr. John McParlane will lead this department and oversee the development of the Adoption Specific Mental Health Services.  Dr. McParlane, a psychologist, was in private practice working with children with attachment issues before accepting the Director of Clinical Services position at TRAC.  “My vision,” explains Dr. McParlane, “is to bring child and family services into the 21st century in terms of recent advances in our understanding of human development, and to empower families to be agents and architects of their own development by providing support, education and advocacy.”

For those who live either their lives in the world of adoption, the concept of Adoption Specific Mental Health services is not new.  But it is often overlooked by conventional mental health professionals.  Connections’ Adoption Specific Mental Health Services focus on the family as a whole.  The work that is done will help the families understand their child’s behaviors and the early traumas that have impacted him or her.  Bringing openness and acceptance into the adoptive family about a child’s early relationships can also further the bonds of this new family.  Families with a better understanding of their child’s needs and past will be more able to provide the necessary care and long term commitment that will result in a successful adoption.  The Connections’ therapists will also help the family develop supports—through group therapy, support groups, and trained mentor families—so that there is always somewhere to turn. 

For more information about TRAC’s new program, contact TRAC Executive Director, Jacqueline Wilson at jwilson@3riversadopt.org.  To learn more about the June conference, visit www.3riversadopt.org/speakers_series.asp.

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