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Supporting Families Formed By Adoption Through Situational Crises
Families experience death, divorce, military deployment, and other separations and losses. For children who have joined families through adoption, such changes can exacerbate the initial trauma of losses they may have suffered before joining their adoptive families. In this section, find resources to assist adoptive families facing death, divorce, or deployment.
Selecting and Working With a Therapist Skilled in Adoption | |
Series Title: | Factsheets for Families |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 251KB) Order (Free) - Add to Cart |
Year Published: | 2012 - 13 pages |
Provides members of adoptive families with information on the varieties of therapeutic approaches and professional therapists, recommendations for choosing and working with a therapist, and online resources for postadoption support and national organizations. |
Death of a family member
A Time to Grieve (PDF - 3062 KB)
Kids Peace (2004)
Offers recommendations and resources to address the needs of grieving and traumatized children.
Bereavement
Medline Plus, National Institutes of Health
Provides links to numerous research articles that highlight ways to help bereaved children and adults cope with their losses. A list of various foundations and organizations that focus on death and grief is also included.
Grief and Loss
National Association of Social Workers
Illustrates the stages of grief and the role of social workers in helping individuals deal with tragedies, provides tip sheets and various resources, and discusses common reactions to loss while analyzing myths and realities about grief.
The Child's Loss: Death, Grief and Mourning (PDF - 450 KB)
Child Trauma Academy (2002)
Developed to assist parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals working with maltreated and traumatized children. This booklet addresses some of the key emotions triggered by a traumatic death.
The Grieving Child in Care
Child Welfare League of America (2003)
Geared towards foster children, this page provides helpful tips for professionals involved with grieving children who have experienced multiple losses.
The National Center for Grieving Children and Their Families
The Dougy Center
Provides support, publications, and training locally, nationally, and internationally to individuals, professionals, and organizations seeking to assist children in grief.
Divorce
Adoption and Divorce (PDF - 41 KB)
MacLeod (2005)
Illustrates the impact of divorce on adopted people and includes a list of helpful tips for parents.
Children in Change: A Group Curriculum for Kids Ages 8-14 Who Are Experiencing Family Change. A Resource for Educators, Social Workers, Clergy and Youth Leaders (PDF - 4024 KB)
Family and Children's Service (2006)
Helps young people better understand their feelings about events they experience. This preventive educational program is designed to reduce tensions associated with stressful family changes.
Divorce After Adoption: Practical Tips for Parents
Adopting.org (2003)
Aims to give parents a starting point for planning and executing the dissolution of a marriage and discusses some myths surrounding divorce after adoption.
National Family Resiliency Center
National Family Resiliency Center
Provides comprehensive training, programs, and resources for professionals to enhance their knowledge and skills in providing support to families in transition.
Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss
Child Development Institute
Highlights some strategies to make the divorce transition less traumatic for children and families.
Deployment
Deployed Dads: Preparing Children to Cope With Separation
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (2009)
View Abstract and Document
Offers advice to fathers about strengthening emotional bonds with their children to prepare them for the physical separation of military deployment. It also contains a list of online tools to help children cope and families stay connected during deployment.
Deployments: Creating Connections
Sesame Workshops
Features videos and offers helpful tips for parents to assist them through the deployment experience.
Deployment Issues
Military Homefront
Explains a program established by Federal law to help build strong healthy military families and provides a wide range of resources to help them prepare and cope with stressful changes.
The "‘SOFAR" Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope With the Deployment and Return of a Parent in the National Guard and Other Reserve Components (PDF - 8120 KB)
Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists (2008)
Provides information for parents and professionals about how children of reservists cope with military deployment and strategies for supporting children throughout the deployment experience.
Wherever My Family Is, That's Where Home Is!: Adoption Services for Military Families (PDF - 1597 KB)
AdoptUsKids (2006)
Provides a roadmap to help caseworkers make quality and timely adoption services readily available for military families.
Child Welfare Information Gateway encourages States and localities to submit information on their postadoption initiatives for inclusion in the Information Gateway library and website to share with their peers across the country. Send information to nfcad@childwelfare.gov.