Center for Adoption Support and Education’s Training for Adoption Competency (TAC™) Program Expands to Support Families in Florida
Burtonsville, MD, July 26, 2021 --(PR.com)-- The Jockey Being Family Foundation (JBF) and Selfless Love Foundation (SLF) have come together to support the Center for Adoption Support and Education’s (C.A.S.E™) efforts to bring its nationally recognized Training for Adoption Competency (TAC™) program to Florida.
The TAC program is an evidence-based, postgraduate training program for licensed clinicians who work with adoptive families in a broad range of settings. TAC is accredited by the Institute for Accrediting Excellence (ICE) and is the only accredited, assessment-based certificate program on adoption competency in the country. TAC is designed to increase access to adoption competent mental health for all members of the adoption kinship network and to improve the wellbeing of children and their foster, adoptive, or guardianship families.
Through this partnership, Florida will have trained therapists working with youth to identify and formalize supportive adult relationships before youth leave the foster care system. Each year nearly 1,000 youth age out of the foster care system in Florida without achieving legal permanency through reunification, adoption, or guardianship. SLF wants to change that with its “Follow the Love” initiative focused on youth “relational permanency.”
“As we looked to launch our Follow the Love initiative, to connect teenagers aging out of the foster care system with caring adults, we knew we needed the help of the best in the field, and that’s why we chose to partner with C.A.S.E.,” said Elizabeth Wynter, Executive Director of Selfless Love Foundation. “We need to equip therapists in our state with the necessary skills to help these youth on their path to becoming successful independent members of society.”
Initial funding will allow for TAC training to be offered to a group of 25 clinicians in Florida, who serve older youth in foster care. Graduates of the TAC training program will be listed on the Directory of TAC Trained Mental Health Providers, making access to much needed adoption competent therapists in Florida easier than ever before.
“In 2009 I became acutely aware of the lack of expertise that clinicians had in supporting the foster and adoption community,” said Debbie Riley, LCMFT and CEO at C.A.S.E. “I was able to get the support of many national foundations to invest in the development of TAC. We brought together experts in the field in child welfare and adoption and those with lived experience to develop the TAC curriculum that is rich with some of the best thinking, some of the most innovative strategies and evidence-informed practices to better serve the adoption kinship network.”
JBF allocates financial resources and support to assist organizations on the front lines of the adoption process and has partnered with C.A.S.E. since 2007 to serve adoptive, foster, kinship, and guardianship families and the professionals who support them across the U.S.
“Now more than ever, mental health and the wellbeing of children couldn’t be more important, especially for adopted children and their families,” said Debra S. Waller, founder, Jockey Being Family Foundation and Chairman & CEO of Jockey International, Inc. “We’ve enjoyed a long-standing relationship with C.A.S.E. and along with Selfless Love Foundation, are excited to keep the promise of a ‘forever family’ alive for thousands of children in Florida.”
The Jockey Being Family Foundation is celebrating its 15th year in existence and has provided over $7 million in funding to non-profit partners that has directly impacted over 350,000 families. Jockey Being Family supports and strengthens adoptive families by providing funding to nonprofit organizations, enabling them to provide critical post-adoption services on both local and national levels, thereby helping adoptive families stay together, forever. The Foundation believes every child deserves to grow up with a loving family in a forever home. To learn more, visit JockeyBeingFamily.com.
The Center for Adoption Support and Education is a nationally recognized leader in mental health services for the adoption and foster care community. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to improve the lives of children who have been adopted or in foster care and their families through counseling, lifelong education, and a growing national network of trained professionals. C.A.S.E. has trained over 17,000 mental health and child welfare professionals in 31 states. With offices in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, C.A.S.E. has provided clinical services for more than 6,800 clients and their families since its founding in 1998. Visit www.adoptionsupport.org to learn more.
The TAC program is an evidence-based, postgraduate training program for licensed clinicians who work with adoptive families in a broad range of settings. TAC is accredited by the Institute for Accrediting Excellence (ICE) and is the only accredited, assessment-based certificate program on adoption competency in the country. TAC is designed to increase access to adoption competent mental health for all members of the adoption kinship network and to improve the wellbeing of children and their foster, adoptive, or guardianship families.
Through this partnership, Florida will have trained therapists working with youth to identify and formalize supportive adult relationships before youth leave the foster care system. Each year nearly 1,000 youth age out of the foster care system in Florida without achieving legal permanency through reunification, adoption, or guardianship. SLF wants to change that with its “Follow the Love” initiative focused on youth “relational permanency.”
“As we looked to launch our Follow the Love initiative, to connect teenagers aging out of the foster care system with caring adults, we knew we needed the help of the best in the field, and that’s why we chose to partner with C.A.S.E.,” said Elizabeth Wynter, Executive Director of Selfless Love Foundation. “We need to equip therapists in our state with the necessary skills to help these youth on their path to becoming successful independent members of society.”
Initial funding will allow for TAC training to be offered to a group of 25 clinicians in Florida, who serve older youth in foster care. Graduates of the TAC training program will be listed on the Directory of TAC Trained Mental Health Providers, making access to much needed adoption competent therapists in Florida easier than ever before.
“In 2009 I became acutely aware of the lack of expertise that clinicians had in supporting the foster and adoption community,” said Debbie Riley, LCMFT and CEO at C.A.S.E. “I was able to get the support of many national foundations to invest in the development of TAC. We brought together experts in the field in child welfare and adoption and those with lived experience to develop the TAC curriculum that is rich with some of the best thinking, some of the most innovative strategies and evidence-informed practices to better serve the adoption kinship network.”
JBF allocates financial resources and support to assist organizations on the front lines of the adoption process and has partnered with C.A.S.E. since 2007 to serve adoptive, foster, kinship, and guardianship families and the professionals who support them across the U.S.
“Now more than ever, mental health and the wellbeing of children couldn’t be more important, especially for adopted children and their families,” said Debra S. Waller, founder, Jockey Being Family Foundation and Chairman & CEO of Jockey International, Inc. “We’ve enjoyed a long-standing relationship with C.A.S.E. and along with Selfless Love Foundation, are excited to keep the promise of a ‘forever family’ alive for thousands of children in Florida.”
The Jockey Being Family Foundation is celebrating its 15th year in existence and has provided over $7 million in funding to non-profit partners that has directly impacted over 350,000 families. Jockey Being Family supports and strengthens adoptive families by providing funding to nonprofit organizations, enabling them to provide critical post-adoption services on both local and national levels, thereby helping adoptive families stay together, forever. The Foundation believes every child deserves to grow up with a loving family in a forever home. To learn more, visit JockeyBeingFamily.com.
The Center for Adoption Support and Education is a nationally recognized leader in mental health services for the adoption and foster care community. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to improve the lives of children who have been adopted or in foster care and their families through counseling, lifelong education, and a growing national network of trained professionals. C.A.S.E. has trained over 17,000 mental health and child welfare professionals in 31 states. With offices in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, C.A.S.E. has provided clinical services for more than 6,800 clients and their families since its founding in 1998. Visit www.adoptionsupport.org to learn more.
Contact
Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.)
Jennifer Jankowski
301-238-4789
adoptionsupport.org
caseadopt@adoptionsupport.org
Jennifer Jankowski
301-238-4789
adoptionsupport.org
caseadopt@adoptionsupport.org
Contact
Multimedia
Categories