Staff Notes
By Tara E. Gutterman, Esq.I am pleased to announce that as of May 2002, Grace Loyd, MSW, LSW has been Adoption ARC's acting social work supervisor. Grace began her career here at ARC in February 2002. She has an undergraduate degree from University of Virginia and her Master's Degree from Temple University. Grace brings with her experience in the social work field as a foster care social worker from a local Philadelphia agency, which is incidentally where I initially met her about five years ago (by the way, I was extremely impressed with her, even back then). At ARC, Grace supervises two full-time social workers and a staff of five contract caseworkers. She reviews all of the home studies and even finds the time to mentor a BSW intern from West Chester University and a Master's Level intern from Chestnut Hill College. Grace finds great joy in seeing her clients succeed. When one of her clients, April, finally received housing after persevering with the referrals that Grace had given her, Grace had an extra big smile all day long. She believes in giving her client the tools to be self-sufficient. We are lucky to have such a committed professional as a part of our agency!
Better late than never, I am happy to make a long overdue announcement. I would like to introduce you to one of our birth parent counselors, Tene' Howard, who began in August 2002. Tene' is also a Temple graduate (No, I promise there is no favoritism here!). She received her undergraduate degree there, and then went on to do intake counseling work at Joseph J. Peters, which is an organization specifically designed to help people who have experienced sexual abuse, as well as the abusers themselves. Tene' had an opportunity to draw from her experiences early in her employment here at ARC with two teenage birth mothers (please see Tene's well- written article which includes a profile on one of these mothers). Tene' is always willing to go out and meet with clients wherever they are, and seems to connect well with many of the teen birth mothers. She works hard to ensure that they have the appropriate support systems during their pregnancy and beyond. She has a wonderful empathy for her clients.
Many of our adoptive parents have had the pleasure of meeting with Anne Rice over the past 6 months. We are fortunate enough to have Anne as a Master's Level intern with our agency. She is currently the Director of Human Resources and Social Services at a local agency, and has been conducting trainings on transracial adoption for several years. Anne has special knowledge in this area as she herself is a biracial woman who was adopted by Caucasian parents. While at ARC, Anne has offered individual and group sessions with our staff and prospective adoptive parents who are exploring transracial adoption, as well as for those who have adopted. All of the families who have met with her feel that it has been a beneficial learning experience and that she has raised some wonderful topics for family discussion.
Welcome to Erin McGloin, the newest member of our team who just began as a birth parent counselor in early February 2003! Erin received her Bachelor's Degree from Kent State University in Ohio. Before coming to ARC, Erin delivered comprehensive social services to families in the Salvation Army Shelter. There, she dealt with a host of issues including homelessness, drug abuse, mental health issues, and domestic violence. Erin also previously worked as a counselor conducting intake mental health assessments. She encountered there a wide range of clientele with various mental health issues. Erin feels this experience will allow her to help her new clients deal with such adoption-related issues as grief and loss.
OPEN ADOPTION SURVEYS:
By now, many of you have received letters from Gabe Wood, our high school volunteer, regarding your open meetings. An open meeting here at ARC takes place on or around the date of placement. During this meeting, the birth and adoptive families meet at the agency with an ARC social worker. They exchange information, within their own comfort levels, and get to know each other a little better. It is truly a privilege to be a part of this very deeply emotional experience.
Over the years, we have been curious to know what both birth and adoptive parents thought of these open meetings and how we could improve them. If you have received a survey, please mail or fax it back to us at 215-842-9881. If you have not received a survey but would like to participate, please call us to request a form or e-mail me directly at TaraLaw@aol.com. Thanks!
SUBSIDY:
As you know, over the years, I have been retained by many of the families of children with special needs for adoption subsidy funding. Many of the families now have the cash amounts in place, but are still missing medical coverage in their state. The county contends that they are not obliged to set up such medical coverage if the children are not Title IV-E eligible. After proving that the children are eligible, DHS still refuses to certify the children for unknown reasons. Well, I am at it again, having just filed a Brief to request the Department of Public Welfare to order the county to provide such coverage. I will keep you posted! Meanwhile, if anybody feels that they have a special needs child who is entitled to this funding, please call me for a consultation.
FINALIZATION STEPS:
The legal steps in adoption can be quite daunting. Most of you have expressed that when you get the call telling you that the birth parents' parental rights have been terminated, you breathe a sigh of relief. However, the next thing that immediately comes to mind is: "What now?" Good question. The supervision period must be at least six months. During this period of time, you must have 3-4 post placement visits, depending on whether you have a Pennsylvania or New Jersey child. The reports must be submitted to ARC and the final report must be in the court -specific format. The reports are then reviewed and approved by ARC's social work supervisor. At this point, I will prepare your petitions and send them to you for signatures, and to see if you need to make any corrections. During this period of time, you should ensure that you have originals of all marriage certificates and/or divorce decrees. You should also update any child abuse and criminal clearances (the court will only accept those within one year). After you send your petitions back to me, I will file them along with the specifically prepared post placement report for the court. You should usually receive a court date within 3-4 weeks of the filing, and we will send you notification of the hearing. After the hearing, you will receive an adoption decree, which means that the child is now legally recognized as your son or daughter. The new birth certificate shall arrive between 2-6 months from your court date, depending on where your child was born. After you receive the new birth certificate, you may take it to your local social security office for the number. I hope that this has cleared up some of the confusion, but if you ever have any questions, please call or email me.
REALITY TV:
Well, I was snowed in for the past few days, like the rest of the East Coasters, so I took advantage of this time to play with my son, and in between naps, to watch some television. While I was surfing through the stations, I stopped at MTV and saw that they were doing a piece on adoption. Of course, it caught my eye, and I put down the remote control. There were three very different and exciting sketches. Two of the women were adoptees who were searching for their birth families. One woman was a young biracial woman who was adopted by a White family (they showed her reunion). One was a young Caucasian woman who was an adolescent and was estranged from her adoptive family (she did not find her birth family, but by the end of program, she was going to try and reconcile again with her adoptive parents). The third portrayal was of a birth mother. She was a biracial (Asian/Caucasian) woman in her mid-twenties who was pregnant with her first child. I felt the portrayal of this woman was excellent. She was bright, articulate, and sensitive. You felt her dilemma and her pain. They usually re-run these pieces and I would encourage you to watch. I feel that it depicted adoption in a truthful and positive light.