Children's Bureau Express

Connect Online to Special Needs Adoption Professionals

Adoption professionals can connect to colleagues around the country through a special listserve maintained by the National Adoption Center (http://www.adopt.org). This forum can be used to share information about any aspect of placing foster children into permanent adoptive homes, such as:

Recruitment issues
Preparation of children and families
Interstate and interjurisdictional adoptions
Post adoption supports
Technological applications, e.g., email, Internet, video-conferences

Recent postings have included a request for post adoption support for a child with attachment disorder and a job announcement for a child and family therapist for a special needs adoption research program on fetal alcohol syndrome/drug effects. Subscribers have debated the efficacy of splitting up a sibling group of three simply because one of the children is diagnosed as RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) and is therefore "not bonding" to the adoptive family. In a discussion about the ethics of publicizing children, one worker shared a success story that resulted from featuring children on local TV.

The list is moderated by Sue Badeau, a veteran child welfare professional and Project Manager of "Adoption Technology for the New Millenium," a 3-year, federally funded project of the National Adoption Center. This project, which includes the Special Needs Adoption Professional (SNAP-Talk) listserve, will demonstrate how new technologies can be effective tools for finding families for waiting children. For more information, contact Badeau at 215-735-9988, extension 308.

To join the listserve, send an email to Badeau at: sbadeau@nacenter.adopt.org. Please indicate "SNAP-Talk Registration" as the subject and include the following information in the text:

Your Name
Title
Organization Name
Address
Phone Number
email Address

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