November is National Adoption Month
Spaulding for Children believes that there is no such thing as an unadoptable child. This year Spaulding helped place nearly three dozen youth in families through their adoption services. Could you be one of them? Click here (or on the button below) to learn more.
Please Join us Nov. 11for 'Things We Are Thankful For'
We invite everyone to commemorate November as National Adoption Month at “Things We Are Thankful For,” a special event on Monday, Nov. 11 at Spaulding for Children’s headquarters in Southfield. The public program will celebrate new families created through adoption in 2019, showcase children who are awaiting adoption, and discuss advances to help children who’ve suffered traumatic events in childhood. Scroll down for complete details.
When: Monday, Nov. 11 from 6-8 p.m.
Where: Spaulding for Children, 16250 Northland Drive, Suite 107, Southfield, Michigan.
Some of the Details:
* Parents can learn from Spaulding’s Project Director for the Quality Improvement Center for Adoption and Guardianship Support and Preservation about how to build awareness of ways trauma can influence behavior and school performance in a brief training from 6:45-7:30 p.m.
* Enjoy live entertainment and an exhibition of visual art from Southfield University High School Academy.
* A buffet dinner is available from 6 - 7:30 p.m.
* Visit the Michigan Heart Gallery, a traveling photographic exhibit of photos of some of the approximately 300 children under the age of 18 who are currently in Michigan’s foster care system waiting for their Forever Family.
Who:The event is free and open to the public of all communities. All who are interested in celebrating adoption are welcome.
Two outstanding examples of adoption-themed art created by Taylor Marberry, 10th grade, on the left; and Chelsea Mitchell, 12th grade, on the right.
A Spaulding Profile Melinda Lis, MSW
Many who have worked with Melinda Lis, MSW, report she brings together the inquisitive nature and analytical mind of the scientist with the heartfelt compassion and selfless dedication to others of the social worker. Devoted professionally to the welfare of children, Ms. Lis and her husband also have put the approach into practice in their own home as adoptive parents.
Ms. Lis began her work with Spaulding for Children in 2013 as the Director of the National Resource Center for Adoption. Through her office, she led the work to integrate policy and practice in order to help States, Tribes and Territories develop, expand, strengthen and improve the quality and effectiveness of adoption services provided to children in the child welfare system. The focus was to develop and provide new informational and professional resources to drive systemic change that would result in the successful adoption of waiting, abused, and neglected children.
Today the Vice President of The Academy for Family Support and Preservation at Spaulding, Ms. Lis recently served as Project Director of the National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption/Guardianship Support and Preservation (QIC-AG) housed at Spaulding. In that role, she helped develop, test and implement evidence-based interventions and promising practices that serve to achieve long-term, stable permanence in adoptive and guardianship homes, as well as for children and families after adoption or guardianship has been finalized. What’s more, the work has helped educators, physicians, and others better understand children who have suffered separation, loss and trauma.
You can help your adopted and foster children by reaching out to their pediatric health care providers and teachers with detailed information to help make them aware of the unique challenges these children face.
Created by QIC-AG, the National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption & Guardianship Support and Preservation, the two brochures show how health care providers and teachers what they need to know. Please print them out and share. Everyone can help if they know how.
Seven Core Issues in Adoption
Since the early 1980s, adoption experts have recognized seven lifelong issues experienced by adopted children (as well as birth and adoptive parents). These include loss, rejection, guilt and shame, grief, identity, intimacy, and mastery/control. Be mindful of these issues as you communicate with your teenager. Source: www.childwelfare.gov
Spaulding Recognized as 'Angel in Adoption'
This month, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) will recognize Spaulding for Children and its work on behalf of children and families at its 2019 Angels in Adoption Gala. The CCAI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 2001 by advocates of children in the U.S. and around the world in need of families, celebrates the extraordinary efforts of individuals, couples, and organizations who work tirelessly to advocate for children in need of a family. Spaulding President and CEO, Cristina Peixoto, will accept the award on behalf of the Spaulding team in Washington D.C.
Please keep us posted about news you'd like to share with our colleagues. We'd also like to know your thoughts about our newsletter. Email our Editor, Cheryl Gist: cgist@spaulding.org. Thank you!