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Libby Campbell passed away on July 5, 2008 after a battle with cancer.
Libby was an advocate for adoption rights and she worked with us
here at CFFC when we did our birthparent groups. She was a kind and
loving person and she will be missed by everyone.
The memorial
service for Libby Campbell is Sat Aug. 16th at 11am at the First Parish
Church in Sudbury on Rte 27 Concord Rd. There will be a reception
following the service at the Parish that will go until 1pm. Libby's
husband, children and brother will be speaking during the service and
Rev. Katie Lee Crane will be performing the service.
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SAVE THE DATE
7th Annual
Courage and Curiosity Celebration
November 13th, 2008
6-10pm
Hotel Marlowe
Cambridge, MA
CURRENTLY ACCEPTING
AUCTION DONATIONS!
Please contact: KatherineW@kinnect.org
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*TRAININGS*
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4th International ACTION Conference
February 23rd-25th, 2009
Hotel Marlowe
Cambridge, Massachusetts
ACTION February 2009
Click Here
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Monthly F.a.C.T. trainings starting in September!
September 24, 2008
9am-12pm
Talking to Children about Difficult Information
In this training, we will discuss how to reframe the truth, while helping children to manage this difficult story of their lives. For many children adopted both internationally and through our child welfare system, there is a history of some abuse or neglect that may have lead to their current circumstances. To understand how to talk about these hard subjects and even to talk about what adoption is to children who were adopted as infants, is more difficult than one would assume. This is very important for workers, foster parents and adoptive parents.
This year we have a lot of great NEW topics! Click Here for a list of this years FaCT Trainings.
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Suggested Reading
Topic IV:
Open Adoption
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Gritter, James L.
The Spirit of Open Adoption. A candid, intensely personal, highly readable account of the experiences of one agency that switched from closed to open adoptions.
Melina, Lois R. & Roszia, Sharon K.
The Open Adoption Experience.
An authoritative and reassuring guide to the issues and concerns of adoptive and birth families through all stages of the open adoption relationship.
Musser, Sandy.
To Prison With Love.
This book is not only Sandy Musser's true story of her indictment nut is part of a historical record of the adoption reform movement. Most importantly it represents a turning point in the struggle to open adoption records.
Pavao, Dr. Joyce Maguire
The Family of Adoption
Through stories of work with children and families, she shows us that
adoptive parents, as well as teachers,therapists, and all who work
with children must come to understand these developmental stages as normal-challenging, but normal. The Family of Adoption is a timely and powerful argument for the right kind of "openness" within adoptive
families.
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Adoption Therapy
Post Graduate Course
The Post Graduate Course on Adoption Therapy at Hunter Graduate School of Social Work (Created by Professor Gary Mallon and Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao) will begin it's third year this fall.
There is a new addition to the course:
On Fridays there will be a track for Mental Health Professionals/Therapists.
On Friday evening and Saturday (as in the two previous years) there will be the year-long post graduate course on Adoption and Child Welfare
www.nrcfcppp.org/adoptiontherapy has not been updated, yet, but keep checking it for changes that will be posted within the next few weeks.
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Quote of the Month:
If you're a pilot and you're wondering if you should de-ice your airplane in cold weather. Be optimistic -- BUT de-ice your plane!
Optimism is a wonderful tool COUPLED WITH BALANCED THINKING.
SO REMEMBER--
Waiting for your ship to come in is ok, BUT you might want to swim out and meet it! :-) |
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CLOPS: Clinical and Operations Maganagement Team
Relaxing at ARC 2008
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Summer 2008
End of Summer.
Tropical Storms.
Often that is what it feels like at home about now.
Kids are slowly building anxiety about return to school and return from camp or vacation or summer programs. A low pressure front is pushing into the family.
I have often fooled myself by saying the summers are slower at CFFC . . . families are away and kids are busy with camps and programs, but in the recent years, we have three times as many referrals in the summer months!
It may have something to do with how much structure is needed to make a child feel safe. Kids (and teens), who have suffered trauma in their past need to know what is going to happen and when and need some pretty strong 'containers' for their anxiety and summer is a loose time. There is far less structure in the summer at most homes.
So think about finding ways to lovingly and carefully put some structures into place to guide children through the end of summer and back into the very structured school year.
Meanwhile, we are busy at CFFC.
The ARC this year was one of the best ever!
An amazing array of presenters spoke about myths, fairy tales, fables, comics and movies and how they help and hinder understanding in the family and field of adoption. Our attendees came from California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, New York, Rhode Island, Texas and beyond. We worked hard, talked about hard issues and concepts and then we played in lovely Provincetown. Folks went on whale watches, jazz cruises, dune buggy tours of the artists cottages on the dunes, gallery hopping, shopping and fabulous restaurants galore, not to mention the beaches both bay and ocean side, and the ponds and rivers. Next year is the 24th annual and we will meet from July 12 to 15th . . . Save the dates!
We are gearing up for our big Fun Raiser . . . the Courage and Curiosity Auction and Awards. Save Thursday, November 13th for that event at the Hotel Marlowe. We are still taking auction items so if you have a favorite shop or restaurant that wants to give a gift certifcate, airline tickets, sports tickets etc., please contact LarisaK@kinnect.org and she will take care of them for you!
And also at the Marlowe is our Fourth International Conference on Post Adoption Issues - we have begun to receive many proposals from potential presenters and we are looking forward to hosting our colleagues from around the world and around the states.
Dr. Dublin continues to learn more about the world and we are seeking his Therapy Dog training place so that he can begin to work regularly . . . He needs a 'jacket' to do that. His second job, of course, is as a movie star and when Surrogates comes out, you will see our Dr. Dub with Bruce Willis in a scene! Pawtographs anyone?
Enjoy the remainder of your summer and remember that you make the difference to us here at Center For Family Connections. Thanks for caring about the children and families that we serve.
Sincerely,
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao
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ARC 2008 was a HUGE Success!
Here are some words from attendees that summarize the four wonderful days.
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Hope
Appreciate
Curious
Motivating
Confused
Integration
Look through your eyes
Magic
Communication
Real
Pandora
Aurora borealis
Possibilities
Believe
Enlightened
Shared pain
Connections
Courage
Archetype
Family
Sight and insight
Revelation
Overwhelmed
Growing
Journeys
Community
New ideas
Never ending story
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Thank you to all of our AMAZING participants and presenters!
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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It could be a flower. It could be a work of art or even a incredible jump shot..
Take time to truly see the things that inspire you.
There is beauty, however you define it, in the world around you.
Fact: In a poll taken it said....
Those who regularly took notice of something beautiful were 12 percent more likely to say they were
satisfied with their lives.
-- Rev. Run |
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Adolescence Can Sting Adopted Kids |
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Adolescents are expected to chafe at adult oversight, act impulsively and brood about the meaning of life.
But adolescents who were adopted in infancy are almost twice as likely as their non-adopted peers to end up in counseling for those kinds of behaviors, a fact that leaves many adoptive parents wondering: Do adopted children really have more adjustment problems in adolescence? Or do adoptive parents, hypervigilant as they famously are, overreact to the conventional struggles of young adulthood and refer their children to mental health professionals more often than need be?
. . . "Identity issues are pretty intense for adopted kids, but for kids
adopted transnationally there is an added identity issue," said Joyce
Maguire Pavao, founder and chief executive of the Center for Family
Connections, an educational and counseling center in Cambridge, Mass.,
that specializes in adoption. "It's another level of feeling
'different.' "
. . .
Click Here for full article
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Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow
is looking for qualified families to join
our supportive, intergenerational
community.
At Treehouse, adoptive and other qualified families are supported by caring elders, other families, and staff. With a shared vision of community living that celebrates intergenerational connections, Treehouse community members of all ages are building rich and meaningful relationships with one another. Treehouse provides affordable housing, built-in community support systems, and activities for community members of all ages - while focusing particularly on healing children who have experienced trauma and loss.
Treehouse offers lovely, affordable rental homes for foster-adoptive families and elders (age 55+) in a small town setting. Treehouse includes a Community Center, a library, a community garden, and many activities for children, families and elders.
Dedicated to promoting permanency for children who have been in foster care, Treehouse puts the words "it takes a village to raise a child" into action.
For more information, please contact:
Kerry Homstead, Community Facilitator, at (413) 527- 7966 or
Deserie Shaver, Property Manager, at (413) 527-0836
Qualified families include:
· Those who have adopted or are in the process of adopting
children from foster care
· Those who are fostering or are ready to foster a child with
a goal of adoption
· Guardianship and kinship families
Please see our Flyer below!
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CALL WASHINGTON!
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Ask your Senators to act NOW to reauthorize the Adoption Incentive Program and help support adoption and relative guardianship.
Today, more than 127,000 children and young people in foster care are waiting to leave the system - for good - to join permanent families. Every day without a permanent family feels like a lifetime to a child.
The bipartisan Adoption Incentives Program has helped nearly 450,000 children leave the uncertainty of foster care to join adoptive families - but unless Congress acts now, it will expire on September 30, 2008. The House acted unanimously to reauthorize the Adoption Incentives Program in late June and included provisions to provide relative guardianship as an additional way for children to exit foster care for permanent families. Please join us in urging the Senate to act before August recess begins.
Senators on the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nation's foster care system, will play a key role in promoting safe, permanent families for our most vulnerable children.
CALL: 1-888-686-8191
Urge the Senate to reauthorize and improve the Adoption Incentives Act and support adoption and relative guardianship
Simply follow the prompts, enter your ZIP code, and you will be connected directly to the offices of your Senator.
PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD BY forwarding this flyer to your friends, family, colleagues and networks and encouraging others to take action today.
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Program of Academic Exchange |
Dear Friends,
We bring to your attention this invitation to join a community-based endeavor to build bridges between people of different cultures. PAX, a fellow non-profit organization, has asked that we share this opportunity with you:
Around the world, Americans are known for their generosity and friendliness. That's the spirit on which the PAX program of international student exchange is built. We invite you to share in this tradition by hosting a young high school student for a few weeks, a semester or even a 10 month school year.
Welcome a Student
PAX boys and girls, aged 15 to 18, hail from more than 30 countries. Their greatest wish is to spend a year living as a "son" or "daughter" in an American family while attending the local high school. There are still a number of unplaced students arriving soon who are anxiously wondering who will host them this coming year. Could your family welcome them to the United States? All you need is a place for them to call home, a seat at your table and a bed to sleep in.
PAX Gives Back
We believe that inviting a foreign student to live with you is the best gift anyone can give. It spreads good will and understanding. Making the world more connected is a cause close to our hearts. When you support our cause by welcoming a PAX "son" or "daughter" into your family, PAX will support a cause close to your heart with a $100 gift to (name of charity recipient is a member of). In recognizing your kindness, we hope to further the efforts of this worthy organization.
Don't Let This Opportunity Pass You By
This year's young "ambassadors" arrive soon and need host families by early August. Why not open your home and heart to one of these lovely teens for a school year and show him or her what "real" Americans are like? Not able to host a student for a full 10 months? Not a problem. You can share the fun for 5 months or even 6 - 8 weeks. Temporary homes for incoming students are always welcome.
Our national office is open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (EST) with special late hours until 9:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We're working hard to match each and every one of our unplaced students with a great host family. Call (800) 555-6211 and ask for Annie or email anniek@pax.org. We'll be happy to speak with you. We also invite you to visit our website for more information and to view a sampling of student profiles at www.pax.org
PAX - Program of Academic Exchange is a non-profit educational organization that promotes and arranges international student exchange to foster the positive development of the world's young people and to support international peace, friendship and cross-cultural understanding.
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Neglect Leads to Neglect - Adoption is a Privilege not a Right
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By James R. Marsh on July 17, 2008 10:47 AM
These words, spoken by federal District Court (and former NY Family Court) Judge Richard M. Berman, ushered in the 11 year sentence he levied on impostor Judith Leekin for adoption fraud. You might remember Leekin from last year's news as the woman who lied to adopt 11 disabled children while raking in more than $1 million in government adoption subsidies.
Berman castigated Leekin for engaging in "a heartless, dangerous money-driven scheme" when she used fake names and lies about the children to defraud social service agencies in New York City and New York state. Berman added, "One cannot be allowed to perpetrate fraud to subvert our adoption system for financial gain." He exceeded by nearly three years the maximum term that Leekin's lawyer and prosecutors proposed when she pleaded guilty on May 20.
Prosecutors say Leekin (one of her many aliases) lived lavishly while forcing the adopted children to sleep on the floor of a storage room next to a garage and banning them from entering the house except to use the bathroom or kitchen.
Attorney Howard M. Talenfeld, speaking on behalf of 10 of the children, told the judge that none of the children could testify because they were too damaged by the abuse.
"It seems to me that adoption is a privilege, not a right," Judge Berman said, "and there should be conditions of accountability and safety and honest intention attached to that privilege, and it would also be useful, in my opinion, if there were active monitoring by responsible agencies."
Berman also noted that Leekin had been abused as a child. "Neglect leads to neglect," he said. "Adoption is a privilege, not a right."
Finally someone who did the right thing. Unlike most of the Cowards in Adoption, Judge Berman deserves a shiny gold star for giving Leekin what she, and so many more, deserve; a nice long sojourn in a federal prison.
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 Please contact us with any questions or comments. Center For Family Connections 350 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02141 p. 617.547.0909 f. 617.497.5952 cffc@kinnect.org Office Hours: Monday- Thursday: 9am-8pm Friday: 9am-5pm
Sincerely,
The CFFC Team
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