The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing support and education to everyone in the adoption
community.
Please join us in a celebration to support the Center for Adoption Support and Education on Monday January 23rd.
Through the FUNdraising program at the California Pizza Kitchen 20% of your entire check is donated to C.A.S.E. if you present the flyer below. This flyer will be good all day January 23rd, so stop by for lunch, dinner or happy hour.
C.A.S.E. staff and volunteers, along with LEAP partner agencies will be there through the day to say hello to those of you who can make it. All proceeds of this event will go to support future classes of the Leadership Empowerment and Action Program, C.A.S.E.'s youth development program which serves middle school youth. The program provides skill building and leadership development activities while creating a safe environment to discuss challenges and rewards of adoption. With initial funding provided by The Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation, LEAP is a collaboration between C.A.S.E., Interages, VisArts, Brainfood, ArtStream, Montgomery County Recreation Department, Child Welfare Services, The Collaboration Council, and several additional partners.
We hope to see you on the 23rd! Don't forget to print and bring the attached flyer which is required for C.A.S.E. to receive the donation. Thanks!
Please remember C.A.S.E. this holiday season. Help C.A.S.E. piece together the puzzle of adoption:
We need your support to empower families to handle the complexities of adoption:
My teenage son is angry and withdrawn. He says his friends don’t understand how it feels to be adopted. What can I say to him?
The kids at school tease me because I’m a different race from my parents. How can I make them stop?
As my daughter is growing older she’s asking really difficult questions about adoption. How can I answer her?
Your contribution helps resolve issues just like these. In 2011, 48% of eligible families received services for free or at a reduced cost.
Your contribution can help:
$50 helps provide a reduced cost counseling session for a family in need.
$150 provides two families with bundles of Wise Up! Powerbook, S.A.F.E. at school, & Beneath the Mask publications.
$250 helps provide Online Webinars for 10 parents
Your support makes a difference. Thank you to all our generous contributors, you create the foundation for C.A.S.E.’s work.
Thank You Freddie Mac!
C.A.S.E. would like to thank the Freddie Mac Foundation for all they have done to support our efforts in partnering with C.A.S.E. They have touched lives through the Wednesdays Child program, our annual KAN Conference and our efforts in Adoption Competency.
They’ve been a monumental part of what we’ve done, and we’d like to present a personal thank you from our staff and those we serve in the video below. For 20 years of amazing work and all the great support you’ve provided to C.A.S.E. we say, Thank you Freddie Mac!
Message from CEO: Calling All Adoptive Parents and Adopted Persons: Please take our survey on what does "Adoption Competency" mean?
According to adoptive parents, one of the greatest post-adoption support needs is mental health services provided by someone who knows adoption. The Center for Adoption Support and Education is looking for adoptive parents to help define, in their terms, what adoption competency means-to better assess the term consistently reported by adoptive parents and professionals alike. In 2008, we began an important project funded by the Freddie Mac Foundation, The Dave Thomas Foundation , Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Services, Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice and the Kellogg Foundation to 1) define what "adoption competency" in mental health services really means, 2) to identify the specific adoption competencies that therapists should have if they are going to provide support services to adoptive families, and 3) to develop a post graduate training curriculum for therapists based on the competencies, and to train mental health professionals to be adoption competent in their clinical practices. With the expertise of a National Advisory Board and key adoption researchers and practitioners, we have achieved the aforementioned goals and now are ready to replicate the project nationally.
In the early development of this work, we were fortunate to have the input of adoptive parents. At this time, we would really appreciate your feedback. Over the years, I have been honored to travel across the country to train professionals and parents. I heard the desperate need for qualified adoption competent providers and the wish that C.A.S.E could come into your communities. One day, maybe we will have the resources to do that, but for now, we must find a way to build the capacity of the mental health providers to have the requisite knowledge to support you and your children. I would be deeply grateful if you would kindly take a few minutes to complete this survey, and also pass it on to other adoptive families you may know. Your input is essential to the success of this initiative. Your feedback can impact the allocation of resources and direct policy, as well help to ensure that everyone who needs adoption competent services has access to them. To complete this survey, please visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/98NLFDP.
Thank you so much for your help!
C.A.S.E. CEO Debbie Riley, County Executive Isiah Leggett, Sandy Mayhall, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Dara Landenburger, Senator Benjamin Cardin, Zoe Crawford, Secretary Brenda Donald, and Delegate Jolene Ivey.
The Leadership Empowerment and Action Program (LEAP)
is a youth development and leadership empowerment program for middle school youth in Montgomery County who are in foster care or adopted. The program meets most Saturdays and creates a community for the youth and their families that is safe and conducive to normalizing and discussing foster care and adoption. Additionally, youth participate in a variety of activities including therapeutic recreation, dance, cooking, photography, visits to assisted living facilities, and field trips. This project is a collaboration between C.A.S.E., Interages, Through the Kitchen Door, VisArts, and several additional partners and contributors. It is made possible through a TeamUp grant from The Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation. For more information, please contact Allison Stearns at stearns@adoptionsupport.org.
Be
part of cutting-edge research. Transracial
Adoptive Families needed for National Study being conducted
by the University of Maryland and and C.A.S.E. Find
out how
W.I.S.E. Up! For Children in Foster Care