Call for Proposals:

   Spotlight Conference 
 

Colorado Post Adoptive Resource Center (COPARC) is now taking proposal submission for the 2013 Spotlight Conference.  Proposals for a 90-minute workshop should focus on the themes of Youth Perspectives and Fostering Family and Community Connections (for families who have adopted through the child welfare system).

Workshops should address giving waiting and adopted youth a voice and/or supporting various types of family and community connections.  For a list of possible topics, please review the submission guidelines.  Submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. (MST) on Friday, February 15, 2013.  Click here for more information.

Exhibit table space is also available to provide information and resources to families. For more information, contact Lucretia Miller at [email protected].

Colleagues managing the Save the Adoption Tax Credit campaign recently created an informative fact sheet with FAQs regarding the current status of the adoption tax credit.  To reviews these FAQs, click here.  The FAQs are also posted on the COCAF website; click here to go to the COCAF website link.

The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) Youth Scholarship Fund was established to benefit foster, adoptive, and birth children of NFPA members.  Up to five scholarships are awarded annually based on available funds.  Scholarships may be awarded to current foster children and biological or adopted children of an NFPA member.

Each scholarship may be for college/university or vocational training.  2013 scholarship applications are due no later than March 15, 2013.  Click here to see the application requirements and process.

Terri Patrick, Huerfano/Las Animas Family Resource Center Project Director, adoptive parent, and friend of COCAF, has told us that they are in great need of a part-time, contract-basis counselor.   The Huerfano/Las Animas Family Resource Center is located in Walsenburg, and they need this person to work one or two days a week.  Interested parties should have an LPC, LCSW, or higher to join the team of trauma informed professionals.  Days and hours can be very flexible.  Hourly rate negotiable.  Position comes with an office, support staff, and referrals!  Please contact Terri Patrick at [email protected] or 719-738-2378 for more information.  

The Colorado Post-Adoption Resource Center (COPARC) will be forming specialized advisory councils to further several areas of their program such as:

• marketing
• support groups
• mental health provider relations
• funding
• family recruitment and retention

COPARC is looking for adoptive parents, professionals, and mental health providers who would be interested in participating in a council focused on their local community and sharing their time, experiences, ideas, and skills.  If you are interested in joining one of these advisory councils, contact Casi Preheim at 303-755-4756 or by email at [email protected].

Party on La Playa

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Las Brisas Restaurant

6787 S Clinton St, Greenwood Village, CO 80112

A Benefit for Children's Help and Assistance for Residential Treatment (CHART)

Enjoy a casual Mexican buffet, South American wines, and a silent auction. All proceeds benefit mentally ill children. Click here for more information.

Heritage Camp Annual Gala

The weekend of June 28 - June 30, 2013, Kids at Heart will have its first Camp Teen Fundango. This camp is a 3-day weekend of camping for adoptive, foster, and kinship teens ages 10-16. The weekend will be held at a primitive camp 45 minutes from Fort Collins; an off-the grid, pristine playground where kids discover both the natural world and their own innate skills and confidences. It's packed full of adventures and activities that engage the kids in skill-building, learning, reflection, and growth. Kids at Heart has partnered with EDUCO Leadership Adventures for this adventure weekend. Teens will be challenged to step outside their comfort zone, connect with new and unexpected friends, and discover their sense of self and leadership. Details are being finalized, and will be available at the Kids at Heart website. Click here to go to their website.

RTC Study Participants Needed 

You are invited to participate in a study titled Residential Treatment and Adoption: The Adoptive Parent Perspective. This study is designed to explore the experience of adoptive parents who have placed an adopted child in a residential treatment center (RTC). The aim of the study is to identify key strategies that RTC professionals can use to support and assist adoptive families as they go through the process of placing an adoptive child in residential. An outline for an adoption competent training curriculum for RTC professionals will be developed upon completion of data collection and analysis.

 Dr. Michele D. Hanna, Associate Professor at the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work, is conducting the study. In addition, Ms. Diane Mulligan of the Children's Help and Assistance for Residential Treatment (CHART) will serve as subject matter expert and a member of the research team for this project. More information about Ms. Mulligan and CHART is available online at http://www.chartrtc.org/

 Participation in this study will take approximately 3-4 hours of your time. Participation involves the following:

�  Completion of a demographic survey (5-10 minutes)

�  Participation in an in-depth interview about your experience (average 2 hours)

�  Review of the curriculum outline and completion of feedback survey (30-45 minutes)

Check us out at http://www.twitter.com/Adopt_Colorado  and follow us!  You'll get up to the minute news on classes, resources, and adoption issues. 

Support Groups

Sometimes our children provide us with challenges that we're just not quite ready to handle.  And sometimes support groups can help us find the answers we need, or at least make us feel okay about the unique challenges we're facing.  Here are a couple of support groups that might be helpful.

Therapeutic Post-Adoption Support Group

2nd Thursday of the month

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Windsor Timberline Church

360 E Crossroads Blvd

Windsor, CO

Click here for more information.

Aurora Mental Health

Adoption Support Group

2nd & 4th Mondays of the month

Aurora Mental Health

11059 E Bethany Drive

Aurora, CO 80014

Click here for more information.

The Be The Change Challenge

(For parents of challenging children)

2nd Tuesday of each month

9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

1685 29th St, Suite 1264, Boulder, CO 80301

Call 630-841-0458

Click here for more info.

2140 E 88th Ave,

Thornton, CO  80229

3rd Thursday of each month

6:00 p.m. -  8:00 p.m.

Contact:  KimNichelle Rivera 303-226-5536

ADMHN Building, 3rd floor

5500 S. Sycamore St, Littleton, CO  80120

Wednesdays

7:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m.

Contact:  Carol 

303-790-1055

NAMI Family Support Group Teleconference

2nd & 4th Tuesdays

of each month

Contact:  [email protected]

Positive Outcomes Comprehensive Post-Adoption Services

Parent Support Group

7853 E Arapahoe Ct #1400, Centennial, CO  80112

Call 303-721-6966 for more information.

www.postadoptservices.org

Louisville Parent Support Group

Second Tuesday of the month
 (10/9, 11/13, 12/11)

7:00 - 8:30

Art Underground,

 901 Front Street,

Louisville, CO 80027

$25 per session; reservations required.

Call 720-352-1743 or mail your payment to

Parent Support Group,

608 Main St, Louisville, CO 80027