In addition to the resources on this
site, AFTER provides four types of direct assistance; supportive
services, therapeutic services, advocacy and education. Click on
the links to the left or scroll down to learn more.
All AFTER services are designed to
help families grow throughout the adoption lifecycle. We work to
preserve the family as they explore the resources that they may
need. If a child has been placed in residential care we work to
assist the family towards the child's return.
Whenever practical we assist the
family to use existing community resources to meet their needs. We
also provide training and support to those resources to increase
their understanding of the special nature of adoption dynamics. We
offer our services in a flexible manner, with bilingual
capability.
The adoptive parents are always the
decision-makers in whatever plan or services we may develop or
provide.
AFTER
support staff, the "Peer Counselors", are experienced adoptive
parents who greet you on the phone, answer your email, monitor the
discussion boards, produce the newsletter and join in the chat
rooms. They offer neighborly advice from the perspective of
someone who understands an adoptive parent's situation, concerns
and often difficult feelings. If a situation or problem needs
professional input they will refer on to our social work or
clinical staff. The Peer Counselors are fully involved in the
development of AFTER's policies and procedures, and represent the
needs of adoptive families to our management and Steering
Committee.
Support groups for adoptive parents are led by
experienced adoptive parents. Common issues discussed in
these groups include: dealing with learning problems,
acting-out behaviors, peer difficulties and attachment problems in
adopted children. Groups are currently being held in San
Jose, Palo Alto, and Gilroy, and Half Moon Bay in conjunction with
FAIR. Groups will also be meeting in Santa Cruz and
Monterey. All groups are free of charge. Check the
calendar for
upcoming group schedules
Help
to adoptive families includes: phone support by adoptive
parents; referral to community resources, including clinicians
trained by AFTER in adoption issues; an adoption library, with
books, video tapes and audio tapes, open on a daily basis; the
AFTER website offering links to many other resources; classes and
seminars for adoptive parents; financial resource information;
adoption support groups for adults; adolescent groups; social
worker assessment for families in crisis; wrap-around services for
families of children at risk for out-of-home placement and
children returning from out-of-home placements.
Social
workers are available to help families in crisis by coordinating
services such as in-home help for children, therapy by clinicians
specializing in adoptions, respite services, school liaison help,
adolescent groups and other services as needed. Emphasis is
on keeping the family together or re-unifying the family if the
child is out of the home.
Consultation
is provided on financial resources available to adoptive families
and how resources can be used. Includes information on applying
for and accessing Adoption Assistance Program funds and
information on tax savings. For particularly difficult situations
we can provide access to a national expert who provides free legal
advice.
FAIR's Warmline has been a valued adoption community
resource for many years. Peer counselors, social workers and
volunteers provide telephone counseling and referral to many
community resources accessible to the counties being served.
Services on the AFTER referral list are often those which employ
people experienced with or trained in adoption issues.
Classes are currently held in 5 locations:
Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Mountain View and Belmont.
Topics include Transracial Adoptions, Parenting Drug-exposed
Children, Stress Reduction, Navigating the School System,
Parenting Tools and many others. Classes are held primarily
during the evening hours, with some half-day and all-day seminars.
They are free of charge. You can sign up on this web site
under “Events
Calendar.”
Training is held for selected licensed clinicians and
agency social workers in issues related to adoption. These
48-hour courses prepare therapists and social workers to expand
their practices to include specialized services to families who
have adopted children. Referral to these therapists is made
through the AFTER office.
