The purpose of this expanded version of the Toolkit is to empower individuals with disabilities and their family
and professional caregivers by providing information to more effectively advocate for persons with complex
severe behavioral health conditions (which we formerly referred to as “dual diagnosis”) for treatments, supports,
services and the conditions that promote mental wellness. Individuals with diagnoses of developmental
disabilities and behavioral health disorders face multiple challenges in their daily lives. Some of these
challenges relate to the behavioral health conditions themselves. Other barriers include the shortage of qualified
medical and non-medical behavioral health providers and the failure to give mental health and behavioral
disorders the same attention as with medical disorders. Individuals of all ages with intellectual and
developmental disabilities and behavioral health challenges, therefore, face the barriers of limited access to
needed services, lack of equality and problems with obtaining and affording care.
NJ Kinship Connections – Spring 2024
Hospital Adoption Education Act of 2023” (H.R. 1475)
Hospital Adoption Education Act of 2023” (H.R. 1475)
The majority of ob-gyn nursing staff are uninformed or misinformed when it comes to adoption, and how to provide ethical, compassionate care to expectant, birth, and adoptive parents. H.R. 1475 directs the development of programs to close the gap in adoption education and standardize healthcare practice to ensure that the well-being and rights of everyone involved in an adoption situation are protected and respected. Lead Sponsors: Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Rep. Don Davis
“Health care workers often play a key role in helping individuals with an unintended pregnancy, yet too often these health care workers don’t know how to provide accurate, non-directive information about adoption. We’re grateful to Rep. Smucker and Rep. Davis for their leadership on this bipartisan effort to ensure that health care workers have the ability to support expectant parents to understand and make a decision about adoption,” said Ryan Hanlon, President & CEO of the National Council for Adoption. For more information visit: https://adoptioncouncil.org/advocacy/
Adoption Courts Act” (H.R. 6700)
Adoption Courts Act” (H.R. 6700)
This new proposed legislation would require the Children’s Bureau to collect and maintain information regarding all private adoptions, and for other purposes. Lead Sponsor: Rep. Doug Lamborn. “This legislation will ensure policymakers have accurate and useful information about adoptions in the United States,” said Ryan Hanlon, president and CEO of National Council For Adoption. “The federal government already reports on the number of intercountry adoptions and foster care adoptions; it’s time we add private domestic adoption as well.”
To view the Bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6700/text?s=1
Voluntary Limited Accreditation for Adoption Services” (S.3551).
Voluntary Limited Accreditation for Adoption Services” (S.3551).
This proposed legislation would modify the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to provide a limited accreditation option for performing certain adoption services. Lead Sponsors. Sen. Roger Wicker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Accreditation helps ensure compliance with adoption standards and helps adoption agencies attract families seeking to adopt. The lack of a limited accreditation option has caused led many smaller adoption agencies to lose business or go out of business relinquish their accreditation due to existing requirements to meet standards that do not apply to them, and this bill would help provide more options for adoption for the American people. To view the
Bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3551/text?s https://adoptioncouncil.org/advocacy/
Building Resilience: Supporting Grandfamilies’ Mental Health & Wellness, 2023
Building Resilience: Supporting Grandfamilies’ Mental Health & Wellness, 2023
The latest report from Generations United on grandparents raising grandchildren and relatives. Information includes how grandparents’ challenges effect mental health, various findings, services, supports and more.
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Support Children and Families in Foster Care
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Support Children and Families in Foster Care
Today, it was announced by the White House that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final regulation that will allow states to simplify the licensing process for kinship caregivers to become foster care providers and require that states provide these kinship caregivers with the same financial support that any other foster family would receive. To view the Fact Sheet please see:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/27/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-support-children-and-families-in-foster-care/
Legal and Custody Help for Grandparents Raising Grandkids
If you’re a grandparent raising grandchildren, there are many practical issues to consider—including legal, financial, and caregiving support. Learn what help is available for parenting the second time around.
Exploring Medication for Adopted Children: Mental Health and Behavioral Treatment Options
Exploring Medication for Adopted Children: Mental Health and Behavioral Treatment Options
Published by the Adoption Advocate, July 2023, Issue Number 173
The adoption community has made great progress in understanding the impact of trauma on children’s mental health and emotional well-being. As more adoptive parents seek healing for their children through mental health services, they are part of an overall rise in the general population of children and adolescents whose mental health and behavioral treatment plans involve medication. In this issue of the Adoption Advocate, child psychiatrist Joshua Sparrow outlines common concerns and considerations for psychotropic medications, when to worry, tips for observing, describing, and understanding your child’s behavior, and how to develop a team approach for parents, children, doctors, and teachers.
Adoption Advocate Prenatal Stress, Preverbal Trauma, and Developmental Trajectories: The Importance of the Attachment Relationship
Adoption Advocate
Prenatal Stress, Preverbal Trauma, and
Developmental Trajectories: The Importance of
the Attachment Relationship
The impact of prenatal stress and preverbal trauma on developmental trajectories is
both a topic of education and area of treatment focus in my clinical
practice. As a specialist in infant and early childhood development, as well as trauma
and attachment disorders, I often work with children who present with a variety of
surfacelevel symptoms that are, at their core, the effects of prenatal, preverbal,
or developmental trauma. I often discuss with parents the potential longterm
ramifications, and the hope and healing that arly intervention can bring.
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