Post-Adoption
Resources
Seattle/Tacoma
Metro Area
*This list was created by our intern it is a great place to start.
Support Groups
Parent
support groups offer a community to encourage, share, network, and learn from
other parents who have similar experiences. Use the Child Welfare Information
Gateway’s National Foster Care and Adoptive Directory to search for groups in
your area.
Join
Adopt US Kids’ community of online support groups and connect with other
parents, families, and child welfare professionals.
Children’s Home Society of Washington (http://www.childrenshomesociety.org/Our_Services/Family_Support/Family_Resource_Centers.html)
Children’s
Home Society of Washington’s family resource and support centers help families
build on their strengths, find support networks and services, and promote the
well-being of the entire family.
Adoptive
Friends and Families of Greater Seattle’s goal is to build friendships and
families through adoption. They are a non-profit support and educational group
that includes both families touched by adoption and families waiting to adopt.
They embrace all ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds as well as all
types of adoptions.
Since
1983, the Program for Early Parent Support has helped parents connect and grow
as they begin their journey into parenthood. PEPS parent support programs
educate, inform and create community. We've become a vital resource for new
mothers and new fathers in the Puget Sound region, with parent groups serving
thousands of families annually.
Respite Care
Respite
care is short-term care of a child in order to give the regular caregiver an
opportunity to rest and recharge. Using the ARCH National Respite Network, you
can search for respite opportunities in your community.
Create
Respite Care in Your Community
If
there is not already established respite care in your community, here are some
online resources for starting your own:
·
Creating
and Sustaining Effective Respite Services: Lessons from the Field (http://adoptuskids.org/_assets/files/AUSK/respite-program/creating-and-sustaining-effective-respite-services.pdf)
·
Taking
a Break: Creating Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Respite in Your Community (http://www.adoptuskids.org/_assets/files/NRCRRFAP/resources/taking-a-break-respite-guide.pdf)
Training/Information
Seminars
Adoptive
Families provide interactive webinars (and recordings on past webinars) on their
website on all aspects of adoption and parenting and have been serving families
for over 30 years.
Adoption
Learning Partners, founded by The Cradle, seeks to improve adoption outcomes
for all members of the adoption circle by providing a vibrant, innovative,
educational resource on the Internet. Online courses about the adoption tax
credit, attachment, life books, and talking about adoption with children are
offered.
Counseling
Services
Northwest Family
Life provides education programs, advocacy, counseling and treatment for people
whose lives are impacted by domestic violence. Their hope is that their clients
will find healing wherever they are on their journey through Northwest Family
Life’s counseling, advocacy, domestic violence treatment,
or education programs. atment, or education
programs.
Attachment and Trauma Specialists is an organization
dedicated to the development and promotion of healthy family relationships. Their
professional staff are all licensed social workers and trained
psychotherapists. They each have additional, extensive training in diagnosing
and treating children, youth, and adults with Reactive Attachment Disorder
(RAD); other difficulties on the continuum of bonding and attachment; and
issues of trauma, adoption, and complicated grief.
Medical
The Center
for Adoption Medicine at the University of Washington Pediatric Care Center
provides specialty care for fostered and adopted children, as well as ongoing
general pediatric care.
General
Search
the resources on Child Welfare Information Gateway to find information and
resources on topics such as helping your child work through trauma and loss,
general and specific information on parenting after adoption, and lists of
training opportunities for adoptive parents.
Adoption
Referral & Information Service works to connect families seeking adoption
with the right resources, information, and professionals. They also help
families created through adoption to be as successful as possible. Pre and post
adoption resources available including book lists, event calendar, and
counseling referrals.
Tapestry
specializes in adoption. They understand the adoption process, are
knowledgeable about the literature, and they are committed to making it easier
for families to find appropriate resources. Tapestry is about organizing
information and making it more accessible because they believe that informed
choices lead to successful family outcomes.
This
blog offers information regarding adoption issues and special needs related
topics.
Adoptive Families, the award-winning national adoption magazine,
is the leading adoption information source for families before, during, and
after adoption.
