Journeys of Discovery: Navigating the Intersections of Adoption
2020 AKA - ANC Virtual Conference Schedule
*This content is subject to change
Friday October 23, 2020
(please note: both Eastern & Central Times listed)
Welcome 9:00 AM Eastern Time, 8:00 AM Central Time
Keynotes on Ethics
Start Time: 9:40 AM Eastern Time, 8:40 AM Central Time
*Ohio CEUs: 2 hours for social workers and counselors, Ethics
TX CEUs: 2 hours Total Ethics for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Ethics Panel – Managing grief, loss, power & identity:
A dialogue on adoption ethics (2 hours)
Moderated by: Dr. Monica Faulkner, Ph.D., LMSW, University of Texas School of Social Work
Panelists:
Adoption is a lifelong journey and ethical issues may change through the course of the journey. Decisions about what is fair, ethical and in the best interest of each member of the adoption triad are complicated by issues related to grief, loss, power and identity. In this panel discussion, we will explore issues of ethics and fairness from the perspective of each member of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth families and adoptive families.
Start Time: 11:45 AM Eastern Time, 10:45 AM Central Time
Keynote Sharon Kaplan Roszia M.S. – 1 hour
The Ethical Traps in Building Families Through Adoption and Permanency
Ohio CEUs: 1 hour for social workers and counselors, Ethics
TX CEUs: 1 hour Ethics for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
The process of disassembling relationships and the formation of new family units can be cause for celebration or an experience fraught with pain, trauma, suffering and regret that has implications intergenerationally. The constellation of birth/first parents, adopted individuals, adoptive and foster parents and relative caregivers as well as everyone’s extended families are greatly impacted for life by all professionals with whom they interact over the years. The mental health professionals, social workers, nurses, lawyers, judges and doctors involved in this process hold great power to harm or heal the individuals touched by adoption and permanency. Their training, biases, life experiences, and monetary pressures can all influence their ethical decisions. Our time together will use the seven core issues of loss, rejection, shame and guilt, grief, identity, intimacy and mastery and control to link the emotional issues with the ethical snares lying in wait for all of us. This session will examine professional guidelines; provide ethical roadmaps and point out where most ethical quagmires surface as we share this life path.
Afternoon Workshop Sessions 1.5 Hours Each
Start Time: 1:15 PM Eastern Time, 12:15 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
Workshop Session 1 – choose one
1a. Is It Just ADHD? Understanding the Adopted Child's Behavior, Dr. Elaine Schulte
*Ohio CEUs: 1.5 hours for social workers and counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
For a multitude of reasons, children adopted domestically, internationally and from foster care are at increased risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Additionally, they are more likely than children who are not adopted, to be diagnosed – correctly, or incorrectly – with ADHD. This workshop will review ADHD symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment – including a discussion of stimulant medications and evidence-based therapies for managing attention challenges. When standard treatment isn’t effective, providers typically jump to adding more medication. While this can be helpful, it’s important to consider coexisting conditions such as anxiety, depression and learning disorders. We will review each of these, and discuss how they affect attention. Finally, we will review other diagnoses – such as PTSD, RAD, and conduct disorders that can mimic attention challenges. This workshop is designed for both professionals and parents. It will be case-based and interactive, and provide plenty of opportunity for participants to ask questions.
1b. Transforming Trauma: Resilience and Healing for the Adoption Community, Lesli Johnson, LMFT
*Ohio CEUs: 1.5 hours for social workers and counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Lesli, an adoptee and adoption informed therapist and coach, will share useful ways that members of the adoption community can become resilient and heal. Her presentation includes ways to work through trauma including: talk therapy, journaling, art, finding community, yoga practice, mindfulness, EMDR, Brainspotting, and group therapy. Lesli will share professional cases as well as what she’s found helpful in her own healing. There will be an experiential EMDR resourcing exercise that the audience can participate in. Additionally there will be plenty of time for Q&A.
Workshop Session 2 – choose one
Start Time: 2:55 PM Eastern Time, 1:55 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
2a. From the Unknown to Known: Living in Complexity after the Search, Barbara Lynn Robertson, LMSW
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
You have received information that may lead to the discovery of biological origins. This is what you wanted! Or did you? Now, suddenly you are experiencing emotions that make no sense. “What is going on, why am I feeling this way, and what can I do about it?” In this workshop, there will be discussion about pursuing Search/reunion, the implications of complex emotions that may result, how they can serve a purpose, share tips on how to survive and thrive in this new adoption chapter in spite of the outcome.
2b. Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Youth in Foster & Adoptive Families, Karey Scheyd, MPA
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Advocates, staff and caregivers are an extremely diverse community of people with one
thing in common: the desire to love, nurture and care for children and youth. Many may
not realize that LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in foster care and are at higher risks of
rejection and harm while in care. This session will first explain key terms and concepts
that all adults need to know in order to better understand LGBTQ youth. Research on the
importance of providing affirming homes for these youth, as well as concrete tips for how
to be affirming will then be presented.
Workshop Session 3 – choose one
Start Time: 4:35 PM Eastern Time, 3:35 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
3a. Feminist Perspectives on Adoption, Kate Livingston PhD
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Is there ‘a feminist perspective’ on adoption? In what ways might feminism be useful as a framework for thinking about adoption experience, adoption policy and adoption practice? In this interactive workshop, gender studies scholar and birthmother Dr. Kate Livingston will introduce major feminist questions in the study of adoption, with a special focus on issues of motherhood, gender, sexuality, reproductive justice, and the concept of ‘nature vs. nurture’. Participants will be invited to use feminism as a ‘tool’ that can help us examine relationships of power in adoption. This session involves active learning exercises including small group discussion, individual reflection and brainstorming. No prior knowledge of feminism is required.
3b. Intersections of Unresolved Grief, Mental & Behavioral Health, and Adoption, Erin Spalding, LCSW
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Unresolved grief causes many behavioral and mental health issues, yet frequently goes unaddressed in cases of adoption. Adoption is typically viewed as a happy time, which leads others to overlook the loss that is intrinsic to this life-changing experience. This presentation will guide participants on a discovery of how to expand the conversation with children and families affected by adoption. Participants will leave the session with a broader understanding of how grief impacts children and families and insight about activities that promote healing.
EVENING PROGRAMMING – Bonus optional evening programming
1. Networking time/Meet & Greet 7:30 PM (ET) / 6:30 PM (CT)
2. Breakouts 8 PM - 9:30 PM (ET) / 7 PM - 8:30 PM (CT)
(please note: both Eastern & Central Time listed)
Welcome 9:30 AM Eastern Time, 8:30 AM Central Time
Keynote – 2 Hours
Start Time: 10:10 AM Eastern Time, 9:10 AM Central Time
Torrey E. Carroll, MA, LPC & Nikki M. Carroll, MA, LPC
Navigating the Intersections of Transracial Adoption
*OH CEUs: 2.0 hours for social workers & counselors (pending approval)
TX CEUs: 2.0 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
The decision to adopt across racial/cultural lines is a lifelong commitment to exploring matters of race, confronting racism in all its forms, and constantly developing new skills and aptitudes. Transracial Adoptions are increasing in the U.S. With the creative work by and for Transracial Adoptees, this phenomenon is shining a light on the unique challenges of raising children of color in homes different from their culture of origin.
This keynote will encourage participants to have sustained and healthy discussions about race and culture. Participants will also increase awareness about the difference between intent and impact, develop strategies for identifying and curbing micro-aggressions, and gain a deeper understanding of the responsibility of parenting transracially. This dialogue will not support a “color-blind,” but rather a “color-affirming” approach, and provide developmentally sensitive tools and resources to create a sense of hope and offer a deeper understanding of how families can support transracial adoptees as they grow through the development stages of racial awareness and identity.
Afternoon Workshop Sessions 1.25 Hours Each
Workshop Session 4 – choose one
Start Time: 12:45 PM Eastern Time, 11:45 AM Central Time (1.25 hours)
4a. The Urgency of Seeing Color in Adoption and Foster Care, April Dinwoodie
*OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
Given the history and current culture in America surrounding differences of race, class, and culture we can no longer rest on the utopian idea of a “color-blind” society. It is more important than ever before that families are hyper-vigilant about the impact of these differences on children in their care. This discussion will outline key areas of focus for parents and professionals, including the need for ongoing conversations about race and diversity, needed behavior changes, and creating a culture where professionals and families embrace the realities to protect the emotional, psychological, and physical safety of children and young people in their care. Transracially-adopted person April Dinwoodie will share her personal experiences and facilitate a robust and candid discussion surrounding the ongoing racial tensions that continue to surround us in the United States and the need to be tuned into these real-time events in order to protect and support the healthy identity development of transracially adopted persons and foster youth.
4b. Saving Our Sisters; A Nationwide Organization & Movement, Renee Gelin
TX CEUs: 1.25 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
Board President, Renee Gelin, will discuss the work of Saving Our Sisters, a grassroots network aimed at preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their biological mothers. The organization focuses on family preservation utilizing an all-volunteer network to support parents and their families by providing them with the education and resources/tools to build confidence in themselves and their parenting abilities.
Workshop Session 5 – choose one
Start Time: 2:10 PM Eastern Time, 1:10 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
5a. Let’s (Learn How to) Talk about Sex! An Adoptive/Kinship/Foster Parent’s Workshop, Holly Spencer-Trueman, Mdiv
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
It’s Ok! You’re not the only one that feels unprepared to talk to your children (however they came to you) about sex. But add in there a history of trauma and loss and you are treading a delicate landscape. As our children grow up they developmentally begin to understand things in more complex ways and their story of arrival into their family then becomes fraught with landmines of loss, grief, betrayal, trauma and LOTS of questions. Our young people need brave adults that are willing and able to take on the hard stuff beyond just the plumbing! Come, and let’s talk together about how to do this, as well as, how to address other special issues, like, adoptees creating blood family through teen pregnancy, our LGBTQ youth, the question “can one learn to have healthy sexual thoughts and feelings after sexual trauma,” pornography and more.
5b. BEHIND ME / BEFORE ME, Leslie Pate Mackinnon, LCSW, Clare Allen, MSW, Jennifer Frederickson, Carrie Thompson, LPC
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Adoption is not just an occurrence in the life of one individual. Generations reverberate from the loss of a family member. There is a cycle of inherited family trauma to which both Freud & Jung referred. And as we've conquered new vistas in understanding the brain, we have confirmed yet another characteristic of humans that gets transmitted through the DNA. Trauma is inherited just like other traits and illnesses. Participants will learn to recognize the impact of generational trauma and be introduced to ways to put an end to it.
Workshop Session 6 – choose one
Start Time: 3:35 PM Eastern Time, 2:35 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
6a. Decoding Your DNA Identity, Amanda Reno, Traci Onders
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
DNA and genealogy are powerful tools to help you fill in the missing pieces in your family tree. Tests such as Ancestry DNA and 23 and me, as well as others, are being used to help solve for unknown parentage and find birth or biological family for individuals who are adopted, donor conceived or have misattributed parentage. Join us for a review of the basics including; how to formulate a testing plan, important terminology to understand, relationship possibilities based on amount of shared DNA, how to make the most of your test results and the powerful tools available at the testing companies, and successfully communicating with DNA matches.
6b. Supporting Positive Identity Development, Amanda Schranghamer, LSW
Ohio CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
This workshop will help participants understand the importance of supporting identity development for youth who are in foster care or are adopted. Participants will become familiar with various models of identity development. This workshop will help participants consider how to support the child’s identity development with a focus on youth over-represented in the child welfare system, including those who identify as LGBTQ, youth with disabilities, and youth of color.
Workshop Session 7 – choose one
Start Time: 5:00 PM Eastern Time, 4:00 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
7a. Equal Access to Original Birth Certificates: Fighting for Our Rights in the State of Texas, Joellen Peters, PhD, Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR) President; Sharon Cloninger, JD, STAR Board Member
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors,
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
As Texas continues the campaign to restore Original Birth Certificate access next legislative session, this presentation will highlight the current laws in Texas, as well as the history of the fight for OBC access in the State of Texas. Attendees will learn about the rationale to alter birth certificates, the psychological implications of secrecy and lack of information, and discover the problems adult adoptees have with altered birth certificates. Learn a bit about the legislative process and how and why to get involved.
7b. The Changing Racial Equity Needs of Adoptive and Kinship Families and in Child Welfare, Chelsy Alexander, LMSW
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors (pending approval),
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
This presentation will challenge service delivery organizations and families to utilize a race equity lens to address challenges that we are seeing within the child welfare system as it relates to adoption. It will consist of a PowerPoint with videos, quotes, and polls for engagement.
EVENING PROGRAMMING - Bonus optional evening programming
(This event is open to public with no conference registration required)
1. Awards Ceremony 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT: Notables connected to adoption will be acknowledged for their commmunity contributions.
The Adoption Vanguard Award (The AVA), given by AKA to members of the community who also have a personal connection to adoption will be awarded to Representative Gina Calanni of the Texas Legislature. Representative Calanni, an adoptee, is being recongnized for the carriage and furtherance of original birth certificate access legislation in the 2019 Texas legislative session. Although OBC access legislation has not yet passed in Texas, the 2019 session saw an unprecedented amount of coauthors in the Texas House due to her personal efforts and the efforts of the bill's other authors and long time supporters. Representative Calanni is a staunch and committed advocate for adoptee rights.
Each year, Adoption Network Cleveland recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the adoption or foster care field through specific accomplishments, milestones, and advocacy. In 2020, our Triad Advocate of the Year will be awarded during the Journeys of Discovery: Navigating the Intersections of Adoption Conference as part of the Awards Ceremony. Also, in celebration of the 5th Anniversary of Ohio’s adoptee records OBC legislation implementation as a result of Adoption Network Cleveland’s advocacy, bill sponsor Ohio Senator Nickie Antonio will present a proclamation.
2. "Hot Dogs at the Eiffel Tower," by Maggie Gallant, 8 PM ET/7 PM CT
(Texas CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs; LPCs, & LMFTs ) A Solo show and Q&A with the artist: "Hot Dogs at the Eiffel Tower," is the true story of an adoptee's life-long search for her birth father, ‘French Papa’. Written and performed by British comedian Maggie Gallant, the story takes the audience on an often funny, always surprising, and sometimes heartbreaking journey. Maggie performed the show at the 2019 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, receiving 5-star press reviews. The show then ran at the Hyde Park Theatre in Austin for 5 weeks. The recording is from this theatre production. Following the broadcast, Maggie will host a Q&A session and update us on developments (and new relatives found!) since the last performance. More info at Facebook.com/frenchnotfrench
(please note: both Eastern & Central Times listed)
Welcome 9:00 AM Eastern Time, 8:00 AM Central Time
- Adoption Knowledge Affiliates
- Adoption Network Cleveland
Keynotes on Ethics
Start Time: 9:40 AM Eastern Time, 8:40 AM Central Time
*Ohio CEUs: 2 hours for social workers and counselors, Ethics
TX CEUs: 2 hours Total Ethics for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Ethics Panel – Managing grief, loss, power & identity:
A dialogue on adoption ethics (2 hours)
Moderated by: Dr. Monica Faulkner, Ph.D., LMSW, University of Texas School of Social Work
Panelists:
- Patricia Martinez-Dorner, LPC
- Will Francis, LMSW & Executive Director for the National Association of Social Workers, Texas Chapter
- Tyler Pennington, Attorney, Board Certified Family Law
- Joellen Peters, PhD, Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR), Board President
- Renee Gelin, Save Our Sisters (SOS), Board President
Adoption is a lifelong journey and ethical issues may change through the course of the journey. Decisions about what is fair, ethical and in the best interest of each member of the adoption triad are complicated by issues related to grief, loss, power and identity. In this panel discussion, we will explore issues of ethics and fairness from the perspective of each member of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth families and adoptive families.
Start Time: 11:45 AM Eastern Time, 10:45 AM Central Time
Keynote Sharon Kaplan Roszia M.S. – 1 hour
The Ethical Traps in Building Families Through Adoption and Permanency
Ohio CEUs: 1 hour for social workers and counselors, Ethics
TX CEUs: 1 hour Ethics for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
The process of disassembling relationships and the formation of new family units can be cause for celebration or an experience fraught with pain, trauma, suffering and regret that has implications intergenerationally. The constellation of birth/first parents, adopted individuals, adoptive and foster parents and relative caregivers as well as everyone’s extended families are greatly impacted for life by all professionals with whom they interact over the years. The mental health professionals, social workers, nurses, lawyers, judges and doctors involved in this process hold great power to harm or heal the individuals touched by adoption and permanency. Their training, biases, life experiences, and monetary pressures can all influence their ethical decisions. Our time together will use the seven core issues of loss, rejection, shame and guilt, grief, identity, intimacy and mastery and control to link the emotional issues with the ethical snares lying in wait for all of us. This session will examine professional guidelines; provide ethical roadmaps and point out where most ethical quagmires surface as we share this life path.
Afternoon Workshop Sessions 1.5 Hours Each
Start Time: 1:15 PM Eastern Time, 12:15 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
Workshop Session 1 – choose one
1a. Is It Just ADHD? Understanding the Adopted Child's Behavior, Dr. Elaine Schulte
*Ohio CEUs: 1.5 hours for social workers and counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
For a multitude of reasons, children adopted domestically, internationally and from foster care are at increased risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Additionally, they are more likely than children who are not adopted, to be diagnosed – correctly, or incorrectly – with ADHD. This workshop will review ADHD symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment – including a discussion of stimulant medications and evidence-based therapies for managing attention challenges. When standard treatment isn’t effective, providers typically jump to adding more medication. While this can be helpful, it’s important to consider coexisting conditions such as anxiety, depression and learning disorders. We will review each of these, and discuss how they affect attention. Finally, we will review other diagnoses – such as PTSD, RAD, and conduct disorders that can mimic attention challenges. This workshop is designed for both professionals and parents. It will be case-based and interactive, and provide plenty of opportunity for participants to ask questions.
1b. Transforming Trauma: Resilience and Healing for the Adoption Community, Lesli Johnson, LMFT
*Ohio CEUs: 1.5 hours for social workers and counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Lesli, an adoptee and adoption informed therapist and coach, will share useful ways that members of the adoption community can become resilient and heal. Her presentation includes ways to work through trauma including: talk therapy, journaling, art, finding community, yoga practice, mindfulness, EMDR, Brainspotting, and group therapy. Lesli will share professional cases as well as what she’s found helpful in her own healing. There will be an experiential EMDR resourcing exercise that the audience can participate in. Additionally there will be plenty of time for Q&A.
Workshop Session 2 – choose one
Start Time: 2:55 PM Eastern Time, 1:55 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
2a. From the Unknown to Known: Living in Complexity after the Search, Barbara Lynn Robertson, LMSW
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
You have received information that may lead to the discovery of biological origins. This is what you wanted! Or did you? Now, suddenly you are experiencing emotions that make no sense. “What is going on, why am I feeling this way, and what can I do about it?” In this workshop, there will be discussion about pursuing Search/reunion, the implications of complex emotions that may result, how they can serve a purpose, share tips on how to survive and thrive in this new adoption chapter in spite of the outcome.
2b. Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Youth in Foster & Adoptive Families, Karey Scheyd, MPA
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Advocates, staff and caregivers are an extremely diverse community of people with one
thing in common: the desire to love, nurture and care for children and youth. Many may
not realize that LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in foster care and are at higher risks of
rejection and harm while in care. This session will first explain key terms and concepts
that all adults need to know in order to better understand LGBTQ youth. Research on the
importance of providing affirming homes for these youth, as well as concrete tips for how
to be affirming will then be presented.
Workshop Session 3 – choose one
Start Time: 4:35 PM Eastern Time, 3:35 PM Central Time (1.5 hours)
3a. Feminist Perspectives on Adoption, Kate Livingston PhD
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Is there ‘a feminist perspective’ on adoption? In what ways might feminism be useful as a framework for thinking about adoption experience, adoption policy and adoption practice? In this interactive workshop, gender studies scholar and birthmother Dr. Kate Livingston will introduce major feminist questions in the study of adoption, with a special focus on issues of motherhood, gender, sexuality, reproductive justice, and the concept of ‘nature vs. nurture’. Participants will be invited to use feminism as a ‘tool’ that can help us examine relationships of power in adoption. This session involves active learning exercises including small group discussion, individual reflection and brainstorming. No prior knowledge of feminism is required.
3b. Intersections of Unresolved Grief, Mental & Behavioral Health, and Adoption, Erin Spalding, LCSW
*OH CEUs: 1.5 Total for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Unresolved grief causes many behavioral and mental health issues, yet frequently goes unaddressed in cases of adoption. Adoption is typically viewed as a happy time, which leads others to overlook the loss that is intrinsic to this life-changing experience. This presentation will guide participants on a discovery of how to expand the conversation with children and families affected by adoption. Participants will leave the session with a broader understanding of how grief impacts children and families and insight about activities that promote healing.
EVENING PROGRAMMING – Bonus optional evening programming
1. Networking time/Meet & Greet 7:30 PM (ET) / 6:30 PM (CT)
2. Breakouts 8 PM - 9:30 PM (ET) / 7 PM - 8:30 PM (CT)
- Male Adoptee Workshop, Rich Uhrlaub, M.Ed. This workshop offers a safe opportunity for a diverse group of men impacted by relinquishment, adoption and foster care to be heard and supported by peers who are walking the same journey. Topics often gravitate toward identity, intimacy, anger, birth and adoptive family relationships, managing emotions and addictive behaviors, and career and finances. Join us!
- Waiting, Creating, and Finding Family: Past, Present, and Fiction - Suzanne Gilbert, Author (TX CEUs: 1.5 for LMSWs, LPCs and LMFTs) This presentation will be a mix of Gilbert’s personal discoveries on the rewarding journey of search & reunion, as well as a slightly more academic overview of adoptee archetypes from psychology, literary criticism, and philosophy that she’s gained from reading hundreds of fiction and non-fiction works involving adoption/fostering, search, and reunion.
(please note: both Eastern & Central Time listed)
Welcome 9:30 AM Eastern Time, 8:30 AM Central Time
- Adoption Knowledge Affiliates
- Adoption Network Cleveland
Keynote – 2 Hours
Start Time: 10:10 AM Eastern Time, 9:10 AM Central Time
Torrey E. Carroll, MA, LPC & Nikki M. Carroll, MA, LPC
Navigating the Intersections of Transracial Adoption
*OH CEUs: 2.0 hours for social workers & counselors (pending approval)
TX CEUs: 2.0 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
The decision to adopt across racial/cultural lines is a lifelong commitment to exploring matters of race, confronting racism in all its forms, and constantly developing new skills and aptitudes. Transracial Adoptions are increasing in the U.S. With the creative work by and for Transracial Adoptees, this phenomenon is shining a light on the unique challenges of raising children of color in homes different from their culture of origin.
This keynote will encourage participants to have sustained and healthy discussions about race and culture. Participants will also increase awareness about the difference between intent and impact, develop strategies for identifying and curbing micro-aggressions, and gain a deeper understanding of the responsibility of parenting transracially. This dialogue will not support a “color-blind,” but rather a “color-affirming” approach, and provide developmentally sensitive tools and resources to create a sense of hope and offer a deeper understanding of how families can support transracial adoptees as they grow through the development stages of racial awareness and identity.
Afternoon Workshop Sessions 1.25 Hours Each
Workshop Session 4 – choose one
Start Time: 12:45 PM Eastern Time, 11:45 AM Central Time (1.25 hours)
4a. The Urgency of Seeing Color in Adoption and Foster Care, April Dinwoodie
*OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
Given the history and current culture in America surrounding differences of race, class, and culture we can no longer rest on the utopian idea of a “color-blind” society. It is more important than ever before that families are hyper-vigilant about the impact of these differences on children in their care. This discussion will outline key areas of focus for parents and professionals, including the need for ongoing conversations about race and diversity, needed behavior changes, and creating a culture where professionals and families embrace the realities to protect the emotional, psychological, and physical safety of children and young people in their care. Transracially-adopted person April Dinwoodie will share her personal experiences and facilitate a robust and candid discussion surrounding the ongoing racial tensions that continue to surround us in the United States and the need to be tuned into these real-time events in order to protect and support the healthy identity development of transracially adopted persons and foster youth.
4b. Saving Our Sisters; A Nationwide Organization & Movement, Renee Gelin
TX CEUs: 1.25 hrs LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
Board President, Renee Gelin, will discuss the work of Saving Our Sisters, a grassroots network aimed at preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their biological mothers. The organization focuses on family preservation utilizing an all-volunteer network to support parents and their families by providing them with the education and resources/tools to build confidence in themselves and their parenting abilities.
Workshop Session 5 – choose one
Start Time: 2:10 PM Eastern Time, 1:10 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
5a. Let’s (Learn How to) Talk about Sex! An Adoptive/Kinship/Foster Parent’s Workshop, Holly Spencer-Trueman, Mdiv
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
It’s Ok! You’re not the only one that feels unprepared to talk to your children (however they came to you) about sex. But add in there a history of trauma and loss and you are treading a delicate landscape. As our children grow up they developmentally begin to understand things in more complex ways and their story of arrival into their family then becomes fraught with landmines of loss, grief, betrayal, trauma and LOTS of questions. Our young people need brave adults that are willing and able to take on the hard stuff beyond just the plumbing! Come, and let’s talk together about how to do this, as well as, how to address other special issues, like, adoptees creating blood family through teen pregnancy, our LGBTQ youth, the question “can one learn to have healthy sexual thoughts and feelings after sexual trauma,” pornography and more.
5b. BEHIND ME / BEFORE ME, Leslie Pate Mackinnon, LCSW, Clare Allen, MSW, Jennifer Frederickson, Carrie Thompson, LPC
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Adoption is not just an occurrence in the life of one individual. Generations reverberate from the loss of a family member. There is a cycle of inherited family trauma to which both Freud & Jung referred. And as we've conquered new vistas in understanding the brain, we have confirmed yet another characteristic of humans that gets transmitted through the DNA. Trauma is inherited just like other traits and illnesses. Participants will learn to recognize the impact of generational trauma and be introduced to ways to put an end to it.
Workshop Session 6 – choose one
Start Time: 3:35 PM Eastern Time, 2:35 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
6a. Decoding Your DNA Identity, Amanda Reno, Traci Onders
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, & LMFTs
DNA and genealogy are powerful tools to help you fill in the missing pieces in your family tree. Tests such as Ancestry DNA and 23 and me, as well as others, are being used to help solve for unknown parentage and find birth or biological family for individuals who are adopted, donor conceived or have misattributed parentage. Join us for a review of the basics including; how to formulate a testing plan, important terminology to understand, relationship possibilities based on amount of shared DNA, how to make the most of your test results and the powerful tools available at the testing companies, and successfully communicating with DNA matches.
6b. Supporting Positive Identity Development, Amanda Schranghamer, LSW
Ohio CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
This workshop will help participants understand the importance of supporting identity development for youth who are in foster care or are adopted. Participants will become familiar with various models of identity development. This workshop will help participants consider how to support the child’s identity development with a focus on youth over-represented in the child welfare system, including those who identify as LGBTQ, youth with disabilities, and youth of color.
Workshop Session 7 – choose one
Start Time: 5:00 PM Eastern Time, 4:00 PM Central Time (1.25 hours)
7a. Equal Access to Original Birth Certificates: Fighting for Our Rights in the State of Texas, Joellen Peters, PhD, Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR) President; Sharon Cloninger, JD, STAR Board Member
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors,
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
As Texas continues the campaign to restore Original Birth Certificate access next legislative session, this presentation will highlight the current laws in Texas, as well as the history of the fight for OBC access in the State of Texas. Attendees will learn about the rationale to alter birth certificates, the psychological implications of secrecy and lack of information, and discover the problems adult adoptees have with altered birth certificates. Learn a bit about the legislative process and how and why to get involved.
7b. The Changing Racial Equity Needs of Adoptive and Kinship Families and in Child Welfare, Chelsy Alexander, LMSW
OH CEUs: 1.25 hours for social workers & counselors (pending approval),
TX CEUs: 1.25 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
This presentation will challenge service delivery organizations and families to utilize a race equity lens to address challenges that we are seeing within the child welfare system as it relates to adoption. It will consist of a PowerPoint with videos, quotes, and polls for engagement.
EVENING PROGRAMMING - Bonus optional evening programming
(This event is open to public with no conference registration required)
1. Awards Ceremony 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT: Notables connected to adoption will be acknowledged for their commmunity contributions.
The Adoption Vanguard Award (The AVA), given by AKA to members of the community who also have a personal connection to adoption will be awarded to Representative Gina Calanni of the Texas Legislature. Representative Calanni, an adoptee, is being recongnized for the carriage and furtherance of original birth certificate access legislation in the 2019 Texas legislative session. Although OBC access legislation has not yet passed in Texas, the 2019 session saw an unprecedented amount of coauthors in the Texas House due to her personal efforts and the efforts of the bill's other authors and long time supporters. Representative Calanni is a staunch and committed advocate for adoptee rights.
Each year, Adoption Network Cleveland recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the adoption or foster care field through specific accomplishments, milestones, and advocacy. In 2020, our Triad Advocate of the Year will be awarded during the Journeys of Discovery: Navigating the Intersections of Adoption Conference as part of the Awards Ceremony. Also, in celebration of the 5th Anniversary of Ohio’s adoptee records OBC legislation implementation as a result of Adoption Network Cleveland’s advocacy, bill sponsor Ohio Senator Nickie Antonio will present a proclamation.
2. "Hot Dogs at the Eiffel Tower," by Maggie Gallant, 8 PM ET/7 PM CT
(Texas CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs; LPCs, & LMFTs ) A Solo show and Q&A with the artist: "Hot Dogs at the Eiffel Tower," is the true story of an adoptee's life-long search for her birth father, ‘French Papa’. Written and performed by British comedian Maggie Gallant, the story takes the audience on an often funny, always surprising, and sometimes heartbreaking journey. Maggie performed the show at the 2019 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, receiving 5-star press reviews. The show then ran at the Hyde Park Theatre in Austin for 5 weeks. The recording is from this theatre production. Following the broadcast, Maggie will host a Q&A session and update us on developments (and new relatives found!) since the last performance. More info at Facebook.com/frenchnotfrench
