Parent & Child Enrichment Series
This series provides an opportunity for adoptive families to meet one another and benefit by sharing their experiences.

Families with Elementary School Children (ages 6-10)
Parent Sessions : Parents meet for a series of seminars led by Adoptive Families Program staff. The seminars address how to handle questions about the adoption experience and birth family, how to help the adopted child cope effectively with loss and sibling issues and how parents can successfully work with teachers and school systems on adoption-related issues.

Children Sessions : The children meet in small groups led by Program staff. The groups are activity based and interactive. They allow children to discuss a variety of adoption-related issues with peers who have similar experiences.

Support Groups : Following the series, parents may elect to continue to meet as a support group facilitated by an Adoptive Families Program staff member.

Families with Pre-Adolescent/Adolescent Children (ages 11-17)
Physical changes, expanded cognitive abilities, internal drives and societal and family expectations all converge during adolescence. Each adopted adolescent must incorporate all of these elements as well as the mysteries of their past into their emerging identity.

Parent Sessions : In these seminars led by Adoptive Families Program staff, parents learn how to encourage independence without cutting their adolescents adrift and how to assist their adolescents by exploring strengths and gifts as well as losses associated with adoption.

Teen Sessions : The teen group runs concurrently with the parent group. Led by Program staff, the teens meet to discuss questions and issues relating to adoption.

To find our more about these educational offerings, please call 847-733-4300.