Post by flossyinoz on Jul 11, 2007 15:46:19 GMT 10
admin said:
The education groups were really good and all the couples seemed very nice. It seemed that we were from all over the state.
There was a rather large folder called Infant Adoption Training Manual on the first day with information and homework in. ;D Yes we had to do homework.
We had an adoptive mother speak and a birth mother speak, it was really wonderful hearing from both women.
We had to form into small or large groups for certain activites.
We were give a day list which told us what our day would be like.
We were told not to contact our adoption agency area for 10 days - this is due to it taking that long for the reports of who went to the groups to get to the area they are meant to get to, as some departments and people only work on certain days, such as Mondays and Thursdays, which seem to be the case for the southern region.
These are our lists.
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Day 1 - Monday
Infant Adoption Education Group - 7th May 2007
1. Welcome
2. Icebreaker/Fear list
3 Motivation & Commitment
Needs of children
Encouraging participants to think about their own motivation
Myths
4. Coffee/Tea Break
5. Motivation & Commitement (continued)
Commitment
Motivations & Expectations that can be problematic
6. Guest Speaker - Adoptive Mother
Reflections/Comments
7. Lunch
8. How We Learn To Parent
How do we learn to parent?
The way a family influences
The concept of parent tapes
Geno gram
9. Grief & Loss
Concepts of grief & loss
Grief diagram
Losses in adoption
10. Coffee/Tea Break
11. Guest Speaker - Birth Mother
Reflections/Comments
12. Loss & Grief (continued)
13. Overview Of The Day
Evaluation
Homework
Next Week
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Day 2 - Monday
Infant Adoption Education Group - 14/05/07
1. Welcome
- Reflections on last week
2. Identity
- Components of identity
- Differences between biological & adoptive parenting
(including heredity vs environmental differences)
Guest Dpeaker - psychologist - child development/lifecycle & identity issues in adoption
3. Lunch
4. Questions, Fear List, Homework
genograms, time pies eco maps
5. Adoptive Persons Experiences
6. Strategies To Help A Child Maintain Roots
7. Cultural Issues
Guest speakers - From ICAS - Inter-Country Adoption Service
8. Coffee/Tea Break
9. Relinquishment Process For Birth Parents
10. Contact (access)
Fears/Anxieties
Purpose of contact
How does it work?
11. Issues In Helping A Child Maintain Knowledge
12. Where To From Here?
Assessment process
Regional contact
Placement process
13. Questions & Fears Not Previously Addressed
This is what Kim reported from her Adoption Seminar in May in Melbourne.
Ours was on 9/10 July in Shepparton, hosted by another region. so though most of the program was the same, there were subtle differences.
We did not get an agenda, but waht we discussed is pretty similar to what Kim describes. We also did not get a folder upfront, we got hand outs after and during a topic. We did get homework, but then we did not discuss it, they must have run out of time.
We saw two videos, one about a birth mother who has very extensive contact with her birth child and its family and one of an 80 year old lady who was a foundling and adopted as a baby with nothing known about her identity and her quest for answers and finally a stroke of good luck how she found relatives.
We also had two live talks, an adoptive parent couple and a birth mother who had relinquished a child 28 years ago and now has contact with him.
We were 12 couples from all over the state. Atmosphere was really nice, the social workers did a good job presenting, nevertheless at the end of 2 full days of classroom and group excercises you are "nakered".
We were not handed application packs but were told to contact our regions.
Today I have contacted our region and was told the only thing we have to provide on top of the permanent care application is the genogram which Kim had explained in another post. So I have been drawing on Powerpoint (can also be handwritten), buit will still ahve to find out lots of names, birth dates etc. got to ask my and DH mums.
And now back to the waiting stage.....
One thing shocked me a bit though , one question was if the social workers could say how long it takes to get a baby. Of course it is not first come first serve, but matching, but then came the examples one couple gave up after 5 years, others took at least a couple of years, the adoptive parents we heard, took 2 years for example. And once you are approaching late 40ies your chances don't look good unless you have something unique to offer. We were all urged also to consider permanent care.
And apparently in all regions there are now loads of applications and the adoption seminars for the remainder of the year are fully booked.
Flossyinoz