Copied from an 11/8/2010 Attachment & Trauma Network, Inc. (ATN) email update
The holidays can be stressful for healthy families. But for traumatized children and their families, the holidays present a special challenge. Family traditions and parental expectations clash with our wounded children’s fears of intimacy and anxiety over changes in schedule. Add visits from extended family who don’t “get it” and excitement over festivities and gifts and you can quickly have a recipe for disaster.
Janice Turber, attachment & trauma therapist with the Center for Attachment Resources & Enrichment, and Nancy Spoolstra, founder of ATN and experienced mom, will discuss some strategies for altering expectations and their experiences with surviving the holiday season.
When: 8:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 11th
Where: The ATN Online Classroom
How: Click here to register http://www.radzebra.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RAD&Product_Code=2010WL2&Category_Code=ATNLifeline
How much: $10 for ATN members, $25 for non-members. (Or join ATN at http://www.radzebra.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=RAD&Category_Code=MBR and get a coupon for a free webinar!)
________________________________________
Need Support Now?
Call ATN's Warm Line: 240-357-7369
All calls returned within 24 hours
Join ATN's Online Support Groups at http://www.attachtrauma.org/supportgroup.htm.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Details of Hillsborough County's National Adoption Day Celebration
What: A Celebration of National Adoption Day
When: Fri, November 19, 2010 9am – 1pm
Where: George E Edgecomb Courthouse, 801 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa, Florida
30 adoption finalizations will take place on the 6th floor of courthouse. Adoptive mom Lauren Dungy will be the keynote speaker. Activities include first new family portraits, face painting, refreshments, and the Heart Gallery exhibit. For more information, please contact Kathie Michael at Kathleen.Michael@HillsboroughKids.org.
When: Fri, November 19, 2010 9am – 1pm
Where: George E Edgecomb Courthouse, 801 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa, Florida
30 adoption finalizations will take place on the 6th floor of courthouse. Adoptive mom Lauren Dungy will be the keynote speaker. Activities include first new family portraits, face painting, refreshments, and the Heart Gallery exhibit. For more information, please contact Kathie Michael at Kathleen.Michael@HillsboroughKids.org.
Florida Presents "30 Days of Amazing Children: Explore Adoption!"
Videos, photos of children dreaming of forever families featured on www.adoptflorida.org during National Adoption Month in NovemberTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The "30 Days of Amazing Children: Explore Adoption!" initiative presenting children in foster care who dream of being adopted by forever families was unveiled today by Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon and Florida’s Chief Child Advocate Jim Kallinger.
A different "Amazing Child" available for adoption in Florida is being featured every day during National Adoption Month in November on www.adoptflorida.org. Many of the featured teens, sibling groups and children with medical needs are depicted on videos as they talk about themselves and their hopes to become part of a loving family. About 850 children are available for adoption on any given day in Florida, and more than half of them are teenagers.
"Floridians are encouraged to visit www.adoptflorida.org during November and become acquainted with children available for adoption and their dreams of belonging to a family," Secretary Sheldon said. "These are Florida's children. Their futures depend on actions that all of us can take to raise adoption awareness and recruit loving adoptive families."
Speaking at the celebration that kicked off National Adoption Month in Florida at Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park was 17-year-old Robert, whose adoption becomes official this month. Kim Johnson and her husband decided last March to adopt Robert, who spent half of his life in foster care. Kim first encountered Robert when she searched www.adoptflorida.org looking for a teen in need of a family. The Johnsons also have two biological children, ages 3 and 4.
"I'm not in foster care any more. I'm really happy. It's more than I expected," Robert said of being adopted by the Johnson family. "All the comfort and love, it's really extraordinary. You have someone to fall back on." He gets along great with his sister Sage and brother Kaden, likes doing math and playing video games, and thinks it’s cool to have a dog named Buddy.
"We had an extraordinary first meeting. It just felt so natural." Kim Johnson said. "We are so blessed to have a son like him. What an amazing great big brother. To Robert, it has meant a vision of what he wants to do in life and the stability of knowing where home is and where he can be."
Florida is a national model on adoptions, collecting a total of more than $15 million in federal bonuses in 2009 and 2010 for increasing the adoption of children in foster care. More than 12,000 Florida children in foster care were adopted over the past three and a half years. Florida also currently is best among the states in achieving adoptions in a timely manner.
"When children in foster care are adopted by a permanent family, they feel loved, secure and positive about their future," Chief Child Advocate Kallinger said. "The many adoptive parents I have met are equally overjoyed to add these wonderful children to their families. We just need to keep spreading the adoption message."
Children in foster care who do not achieve permanency with a family before transitioning out of care at age 18 are at higher risk of being arrested, becoming teenage moms, dropping out of school and becoming homeless. Over the past three and a half years, Florida has safely reduced the number of children in foster care by nearly 11,000, or 36 percent, through adoptions, permanent guardianships and reunification with parents.
Credit for Florida's adoption successes is shared by many committed partners, including the Explore Adoption campaign, the Governor's Office of Adoption and Child Protection, DCF, Agency for Persons with Disabilities, community based care lead agencies, local adoption providers, Forever Family, Heart Galleries, One Church One Child and many others.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), a new partner, is giving free passes to state parks to all families finalizing adoptions of children in foster care during National Adoption Month. Several state parks also are hosting adoption celebrations.
"At DEP, we realize the importance of outdoor activities that families can enjoy together," said Bob Ballard, DEP Deputy Secretary for Land and Recreation. "We proudly manage 160 Florida state parks which are recognized as premier family-friendly destinations. Florida state parks not only offer unlimited outdoor recreation, but are educational and teeming with history."
Nearly 50 adoption celebrations and finalization ceremonies are being held throughout Florida this November. Find out about an event in your area at http://www.adoptflorida.org/adoptionmonth4.shtml.
While private forms of adoption can cost upwards of $30,000, adopting one of Florida's children in foster care costs little or nothing. The benefits include a monthly adoption subsidy for the family, health benefits for the child, and free college tuition at a Florida public university, community college or vocational school. The federal adoption tax credit recently was raised to $13,170 per child and is refundable, meaning eligible taxpayers can receive it regardless of whether or not they owe taxes for that year.
For more information, please visit www.adoptflorida.org.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Upcoming Attachment & Trauma Network, Inc. Webinar Focuses on Parental Rights Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
On Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, at 8:30pm, the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) www.attachtrauma.org will host a webinar entitled Parental Rights Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The presenter will be Allison B. Vrolijk, Esq. Based in Georgia, Allison is an attorney/advocate for families of children with disabilities, as well as a mother of children with special needs.
This webinar is part of the Attachment & Trauma Network's Lifeline Series, monthly 90-minute interactive online seminars that bring experts on a variety of topics, via their computers, right to the parents of traumatized children and children with attachment disorder. The only device needed to participate is a computer with an Internet connection and speakers (microphone optional).
Cost to attend the seminar is $10 for ATN members and $25 for non-members (annual membership is $35; visit www.attachtrauma.org/join.htm for membership information).
For more information on the seminar or to register, please visit http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/782507/7bb3dfb54d/1470613809/895a999abd/.
This webinar is part of the Attachment & Trauma Network's Lifeline Series, monthly 90-minute interactive online seminars that bring experts on a variety of topics, via their computers, right to the parents of traumatized children and children with attachment disorder. The only device needed to participate is a computer with an Internet connection and speakers (microphone optional).
Cost to attend the seminar is $10 for ATN members and $25 for non-members (annual membership is $35; visit www.attachtrauma.org/join.htm for membership information).
For more information on the seminar or to register, please visit http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/782507/7bb3dfb54d/1470613809/895a999abd/.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Florida's Adoption Assistance Program
While researching post adoption resources in Hillsborough County today, I came across this very helpful link: www.adoptflorida.com/assistance-program.htm.
It includes information on everything from maintenance subsidies to the federal tax credit (please make sure you check into your eligibility for this if you haven't already...it could literally decrease your amount of federal tax owed by thousands of dollars) to the college tuition exemption and more. Great resource...thanks, Florida's Adoption Information Center, for making this info. so readily accessible!
It includes information on everything from maintenance subsidies to the federal tax credit (please make sure you check into your eligibility for this if you haven't already...it could literally decrease your amount of federal tax owed by thousands of dollars) to the college tuition exemption and more. Great resource...thanks, Florida's Adoption Information Center, for making this info. so readily accessible!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Heart Gallery Roller Derby Benefit
From Christy Gestiehr at The Heart Gallery: "The Heart Gallery is looking forward to an exciting, fun-filled evening. We hope you can join us. Please forward to your friends and family who might be interested."
Contact Christy Gestiehr with any questions at CGestiehr@childrensboard.org or at 813/204-1759.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Essay About The First Time We Met Our Son
Special to the St. Petersburg Times
In Print: Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday Journal: Thinking about adoption, they meet a little boy in foster care
My husband, Steven, stepson Sam and I were already waiting at the park early that summer evening when their car pulled up. I was both nervous and excited about meeting this little boy whose picture I had carried with me for weeks. Six years old at the time, Chandler had been in foster care on and off since he was 2 ½ years old. That picture and the background information the agencies had given us were all we knew of him.
Erin, Chandler's care manager, introduced us to him. He smiled shyly as he quietly said, "Hi." He carried a lunch box with him, and so we all sat down together underneath the picnic pavilion. When we told him we liked his cartoon character lunch box, he explained that his foster mom had packed him dinner since the timing of our visit meant he would miss eating with the other foster kids.
He had also brought some action figures. As he told us about them, he grew more comfortable. From then on he barely paused for breath as he jumped from one subject to the next, beginning nearly every sentence with, "And guess what?"
His speech wasn't very clear so we spent a good amount of time asking him to repeat things that first evening. He was so sweet and innocent, and with his shaggy hair, his long, skinny legs, big brown eyes and ear-to-ear smile I decided he was just about the cutest little boy I'd ever seen. He was a happy bundle of energy and excitement. How in the world could he still be in foster care, I wondered. I couldn't understand why people weren't lined up at the door to be his parents.
Once he finished eating we went out on the playground. We had given him a Nerf football thinking he might like to play that with us, but Chandler was far more interested in being chased up and down and all around the playground equipment.
"You can't get me!" he yelled as he laughed and ran off again, fully expecting that I would continue chasing him. And I did. Up the steps we climbed and down the slide we slid over and over. I was glad I had worn sneakers and shorts — it had been a very long time since I had run around a playground.
After a while, we all walked down to a small bridge overlooking the water. I asked Chandler if he was okay with me lifting him up so he could see the picture in the window of the building at the bridge's entrance. He said yes, but only let me hold him for a brief instant before he asked me to put him back down. We watched from the bridge for a few minutes in hopes of seeing an alligator, and then it was time to go.
As we walked back to the pavilion, the care manager invited us to follow her back to Chandler's foster home so that we could meet his foster mom. During the drive, Steven, Sam and I were all a bit apprehensive; Chandler was the first child we had been matched with and we'd never been to a foster home before.
The home was a large manufactured house at the end of a long asphalt driveway on a large plot of land in rural Hillsborough County. From outside the entrance gate, we could see horses roaming underneath the tall trees in the fenced area alongside the driveway. As we got out of the car, we heard goats in the back yard, and we could see a pool. It looked like a good environment for this energetic young boy.
Chandler and his care manager walked up the steps with us following close behind. As we reached the stoop, the front door flew open and we were suddenly surrounded.
Ranging in age from toddler to a little older than Chandler, all of the children talked at once. "Are you going to be Chandler's mom and dad?" they asked over and over again. Caught off guard, Steven and I didn't know what to say so we simply replied, "Well, we're his friends." It was like looking inside an alternate universe as I realized these kids lived in such a continual state of transition that getting new moms and dads was a normal occurrence to them.
We met the foster mom, and I was immediately grateful to this lady who had kindly opened her home to so many children. Still talking all at once, the children followed as Chandler showed us the bedroom he shared with his foster brothers. He excitedly pointed out his bed and his toys, and then also showed us which beds and toys belonged to the other boys.
It was a short visit. As we prepared to leave, all of the children wanted to hug us and we obliged. We told Chandler how much we enjoyed meeting him and one of the older girls excitedly said to him, "I know they're going to be your mom and dad."
I knew we were going to be, too.
Michelle Schumacher is a marketing freelancer and foster adoption advocate who blogs about foster adoption at fosteradoptions.blogspot.com.
In Print: Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday Journal: Thinking about adoption, they meet a little boy in foster care
My husband, Steven, stepson Sam and I were already waiting at the park early that summer evening when their car pulled up. I was both nervous and excited about meeting this little boy whose picture I had carried with me for weeks. Six years old at the time, Chandler had been in foster care on and off since he was 2 ½ years old. That picture and the background information the agencies had given us were all we knew of him.
Erin, Chandler's care manager, introduced us to him. He smiled shyly as he quietly said, "Hi." He carried a lunch box with him, and so we all sat down together underneath the picnic pavilion. When we told him we liked his cartoon character lunch box, he explained that his foster mom had packed him dinner since the timing of our visit meant he would miss eating with the other foster kids.
He had also brought some action figures. As he told us about them, he grew more comfortable. From then on he barely paused for breath as he jumped from one subject to the next, beginning nearly every sentence with, "And guess what?"
His speech wasn't very clear so we spent a good amount of time asking him to repeat things that first evening. He was so sweet and innocent, and with his shaggy hair, his long, skinny legs, big brown eyes and ear-to-ear smile I decided he was just about the cutest little boy I'd ever seen. He was a happy bundle of energy and excitement. How in the world could he still be in foster care, I wondered. I couldn't understand why people weren't lined up at the door to be his parents.
Once he finished eating we went out on the playground. We had given him a Nerf football thinking he might like to play that with us, but Chandler was far more interested in being chased up and down and all around the playground equipment.
"You can't get me!" he yelled as he laughed and ran off again, fully expecting that I would continue chasing him. And I did. Up the steps we climbed and down the slide we slid over and over. I was glad I had worn sneakers and shorts — it had been a very long time since I had run around a playground.
After a while, we all walked down to a small bridge overlooking the water. I asked Chandler if he was okay with me lifting him up so he could see the picture in the window of the building at the bridge's entrance. He said yes, but only let me hold him for a brief instant before he asked me to put him back down. We watched from the bridge for a few minutes in hopes of seeing an alligator, and then it was time to go.
As we walked back to the pavilion, the care manager invited us to follow her back to Chandler's foster home so that we could meet his foster mom. During the drive, Steven, Sam and I were all a bit apprehensive; Chandler was the first child we had been matched with and we'd never been to a foster home before.
The home was a large manufactured house at the end of a long asphalt driveway on a large plot of land in rural Hillsborough County. From outside the entrance gate, we could see horses roaming underneath the tall trees in the fenced area alongside the driveway. As we got out of the car, we heard goats in the back yard, and we could see a pool. It looked like a good environment for this energetic young boy.
Chandler and his care manager walked up the steps with us following close behind. As we reached the stoop, the front door flew open and we were suddenly surrounded.
Ranging in age from toddler to a little older than Chandler, all of the children talked at once. "Are you going to be Chandler's mom and dad?" they asked over and over again. Caught off guard, Steven and I didn't know what to say so we simply replied, "Well, we're his friends." It was like looking inside an alternate universe as I realized these kids lived in such a continual state of transition that getting new moms and dads was a normal occurrence to them.
We met the foster mom, and I was immediately grateful to this lady who had kindly opened her home to so many children. Still talking all at once, the children followed as Chandler showed us the bedroom he shared with his foster brothers. He excitedly pointed out his bed and his toys, and then also showed us which beds and toys belonged to the other boys.
It was a short visit. As we prepared to leave, all of the children wanted to hug us and we obliged. We told Chandler how much we enjoyed meeting him and one of the older girls excitedly said to him, "I know they're going to be your mom and dad."
I knew we were going to be, too.
Michelle Schumacher is a marketing freelancer and foster adoption advocate who blogs about foster adoption at fosteradoptions.blogspot.com.
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