Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board, Inc.

Doubletree Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana

December 10 - 12, 2008

Day 1 Wed. Dec 10, 2008  8:30AM-5:00PM

Registration

Crescent A & B foyer              7:30-8:30AM

Welcome                                   8:30-8:45AM

Keynote                                    8:45-9:45AM

Gerald (Gary) P. Mallon, DSW

Permanency for Youth:  Unpacking the “NO!” Facilitating permanency for youth can be very challenging work.  Many teens that have been in the child welfare system have experienced multiple placements and relationships and are at a challenging crossroad between childhood and adulthood. Adults who work with the youth must help them identify caring, committed adults with whom they might want to establish a lifelong connection. The practice and professional literature speaks to the importance of permanence for youth and how continued instability increases the long-term risks for teens, which may continue well into adulthood.

Gary Mallon is Professor and Executive Director of the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City.  He is a visiting professor at the LSU School of Social Work and Tulane University School of Social Work. He and his partner are the parents of three young people through adoption.

CEU: 1 hour Clinical

                                                  9:45-10:00AM

Presentation of Advocate Award for 2008

                  “Lucy S. McGough”

Break                                      10:00-10:30AM

Session II                                10:30-12:00PM

Sharon Kaplan Roszia, MS, BSW

“The 7 Core Issues in Adoption” was a concept developed in 1982 by Deborah N. Silverstein and Sharon Roszia.  As stated in their March/April 1999 article in Adoptive Families, by raising these issues they sought to challenge traditional assumptions about adoption, specifically "the persistent notion that being adopted is not different from growing up in the family of origin."  The issues apply to all members of the adoption circle - adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents.  Each individual will experience these differently.

Sharon Kaplan Roszia has worked in the field of adoption for forty years. She directs a successful and innovative program for the Kinship Center of California. She is an advocate for preserving connections for

children and recognizing the life long implications of moving children from one family or place to another. She has also lived her work through parenting by birth, fostering and adoption.

Lunch on your own                 12:00-1:30PM

Session III                                  1:30-3:00PM

   “The 7 Core Issues in Adoption” (continued)

CEU: 3.0 hours Clinical

Break                                           3:00-3:30PM

Session IV                                   3:30-5:00PM

Panelists :  This workshop will be moderated by Richard Caffarel, LCSW, LAAB Board member and Adoption Director for Volunteers of America of North Louisiana.

Kent Gonsoulin, LAAB Board Member and birthfather in adoption and hisbirth-son, Ben Granger, will share their adoption experience with emphasis on open adoption and the importance of continuing relationships.

CEU: 1.5 hours Clinical

Day 2 Thurs. Dec. 11, 2008          8:30:500PM

Registration

Crescent A & B foyer                 7:30-8:30AM

Session V                                    8:30-10:00AM

Patricia Martinez Dorner, MA, LPC, LMFT

“Open Adoption” This presentation will define Open Adoption and provide guidance for parents and professionals in Navigating Open Adoption with emphasis on A Child’s Developmental Understanding of Open Adoption. The opening of adoptions on behalf of minor children will also be covered offering cutting edge material and engaging participants through the learning process.

Patricia Martinez Dorner has been a proponent of adoption reform for many years.  In the early 80’s she directed one of the first programs in the country acknowledging that

adoption is a lifelong process and honoring the needs of all participants.  She is the author of

How to Open an Adoption: a guide for parents

and birthparents of minors; Adoption Search: 

An Ethical Guide for Professionals; Talking to

Your Child About Adoption; and co-author of

Children of Open Adoption.  Ms. Dorner has an adoption-focused practice including counseling, search assistance, preparation and support, and the opening of adoptions involving minors.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Texas.  She is also the adoptive mother of two adult daughters who have had open adoptions.

Break                                      10:00-10:30AM

Session VI                                10:30-12:00PM

“Open Adoption” (continued)

CEU: 3.0 hours Clinical

Lunch on your own                 12:00-1:30PM

 Session VII                                1:30-3:00PM

Maris H. Blechner, M Ed, LCSW

“Promoting Positive Development and Behavior in Children and Youth after Abuse, Neglect, or Trauma” The concept of inducement is used to help adoptive families and professionals view adoptive children’s acting out behaviors in a more positive way so that the whole family can progress toward healing.

Maris Blechner is a birth and adoptive parent, an educator, a social worker, and for more than twenty one years the Executive Director of Family Focus Adoption Services in New York, a multi-service, high energy level agency that she helped found. She is a faculty member of the Hunter College School of Social Work, and an internationally recognized speaker and trainer on adoption and child welfare issues.

Break                                       3:00-3:30PM

Session VIII                                  3:30-5:00PM

“Promoting Positive Development in Children and Youth after Abuse, Neglect, or Trauma”

(continued)

CEU: 3.0 hours Clinical

Day 3 Friday Dec. 12, 2008  8:30AM-12:00PM

Registration

Crescent A & B foyer                   7:30-8:30AM                                                                                                    

Session IX                                    8:30-10:00AM

Closing Session

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao,EdD,LCSW, LMFT

 “Ethics in Whose Eyes?” A look at the prism of adoption and how adults and professionals think they are acting ethically, but may not be taking the child into consideration.

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, is the Founder and CEO of Center for Family Connections, Inc.  She is an adjunct faculty member in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a consultant to various public and private child welfare agencies, family court judges and families. She has done extensive training, both nationally and internationally. She has received numerous awards, but states that her most valuable credential is that she has experienced life as an adopted person and has love and great respect for both her birth and adoptive families.

Break                                      10:00-10:30AM

Session X                                10:30-12:00 Noon

“Ethics in Whose Eyes?”( continued)

CEU: 3.0 hours Ethics

Adjourn

Registration Form

Name_________________________________

Agency_______________________________

Address ______________________________

City                            State                 Zip_____

Phone #    (         )_______________________

Fax #        (         )_______________________ 

E-Mail  ______________________________

Adoptive Parent _____  Professional _______

Adoptee____Birthparent_______Other______

Mail to: Molly Womack/LAAB

              205 Elephant Walk Blvd.

             Carencro, LA 70520

For registration information contact

Molly Womack (337) 896-5571

For other conference information contact:

Linda Woods (504) 443-1012, or email:

linrwoods@aol.com

For office use only:

Check #_______     Date Rec.________

Registration: Tuesday 12/09/2008

Second floor foyer of hotel 5:00-7:00PM

And prior to the General Session each day

Lodging: The Doubletree Hotel, site of the conference, has reserved a block of rooms on Dec. 9-12, 2008. The sleeping room rate is $99.00 per night. For reservations in the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board block,

call the Doubletree Hotel by Nov. 9, 2008 at

504-581-1300. Overnight parking is $28.00.

Day parking nearby is $8.00.

The Doubletree Hotel New Orleans on Canal Street offers full service at a premier downtown New Orleans location overlooking the Mississippi River and the city's major business and entertainment districts. Located directly across the street from Harrah's Casino, the hotel is within walking distance to Bourbon Street, the historic French Quarter, Aquarium of the Americas, Morial Convention Center, Entergy IMAX® Theatre, and the hundreds of shops, upscale retail establishments, restaurants and clubs of Jackson Brewery and the Riverwalk.

Directions From East: Exit Central Business District. Exit Canal St. turn right onto Canal -13 blocks. Right on Tchoupitoulas. Hotel on left.

(1) From West:Exit Poydras/Claiborne South and right turn on Canal-13 blocks.

(2) From West:exit Central Business District. Exit Slidell. Exit Poydras St. straight 3 blocks. Left on S. Peters St. hotel 3rd bldg on left.

 Continuing Education Units

14.5 hours provided for social workers.      Certificates of Attendance issued by OCS.  NASW-LA certificates available upon request with $5 check payable to NASW-LA.

                   A LAAB  Adoption Conference

“Adoption Gumbo”

Dec. 10-12, 2008

The Doubletree Hotel

                           300 Canal Street

New Orleans, La 70130

                            504-581-1300

Crescent A & B 16^th Floor

Sponsored by:  The Louisiana                              Adoption Advisory Board, Inc.

Funding Provided through grants from the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at Hunter College of Social Work, a service of the Children’s Bureau ,The Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund, The Dave Thomas Foundation and ExxonMobil Corporation.