Just like all children, older youth awaiting adoption need safe and loving families to support them into adulthood, yet there is a shortage of adoptive families for older youth. This presentation will address how data driven recruitment and support of families can increase foster and adoptive family options for older youth. The presenters will share ideas from practice to include concrete intentional recruitment strategies that are grounded in the goal of permanency for older youth. Speakers will also highlight the importance of youth-driven planning, and the significance of collaborating with the youth's support team to ensure a smoother transition and a sense of empowerment throughout the adoption journey.

While this presentation primarily focuses on adoption from foster care, the speakers will highlight areas of the discussion that impact all types of adoption.

Kenisha Coon, MS - Permanency Strategic Initiative Lead, Child Welfare Information Gateway
Kimberly Bonham, LCSW - National Child Welfare Consultant, National Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids
Beca Stearns - Lived Experience Engagement Specialist, Capacity Building Center for States, and Grant Capacity Building Coordinator, Child Welfare Information Gateway

Webinar length: 84 minutes

After attending this webinar, professionals will be able to:
• Give examples of action steps and specific strategies from practice they can use to conduct data-driven intentional recruitment that is grounded in the goal of permanency for teens.
• Summarize how to locate families for older youth by exploring data on their current pool of families and engaging them about the permanency needs for older youth.
• Discover new perspectives on youth driven planning that empowers youth while engaging them in their permanency planning.

Course level: Intermediate
Cost to register: $20

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National Council For Adoption, #1804, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 04/13/2023 – 04/13/2026. Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 continuing education credits.

This webinar does not offer credit for NJ or NY social workers. For more information on receiving CE credit please visit the FAQ tab. For additional information on the instructors please visit www.bit.ly/NCFACoon, www.bit.ly/NCFABonham, and www.bit.ly/NCFAStearns.

Recorded on 12/18/23.