The Inclusive Family Support Model
session type:
Virtual
duration:
2 hours
Open adoption is not merely something parents do when they exchange photos, send emails, or share a visit; rather, openness can be imagined as a lifestyle that may have its ups and downs as all family relationships will.
The Inclusive Family Support Model is a blueprint for adoptive families and practitioners working with them to maintain healthy relationships that support the adoptee. In our model, all adoptive families reside in one of four quadrants that we have named: inclusive, spirit of openness, mediated contact, and closed.
Join us to learn what open adoption is and isn’t – and it may not be what you think! For example, did you know that even if your child’s birth parents are not available to you, you can still have an open adoption?
We'll cover the difference between contact and openness and gain an understanding of the Inclusive Family Support Model. You’ll find out what really benefits adoptees, and what strengthens their relationships with their adoptive parents. And you’ll see why openness is the key to being the adoptive parent the adoptee needs you to be.
Learning
Objectives
Be able to normalize the questions, concerns and challenges around navigating openness that families face after finalizing an adoption. Attendees will be able to differentiate between perceived safety risks and actual safety risks.
Gain an understanding about the potential impact socioeconomic status, zip codes, race, physical disabilities and/or mental illness may have on openness. Shift focus from adoptive parent-centric feelings to active steps that are
Shift focus from adoptive parent-centric feelings to active steps that are adoptee-focused and aimed at strengthening the adoptee’s positive identity development.
Articulate the differences among the four quadrants of the Inclusive Family Support Model Attendees will become familiar with the terms ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief
The Team
Angela Tucker
Lori Holden
JaeRan Kim