Spring Adoption Party
Sunday, May 18, 2008
1:00 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Hockomock YMCA, 300 Elmwood St., North Attleboro, MA (Directions)
For more information, please call MARE at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or 1-800-882-1176. Please RSVP by Friday, May 9th. For online registration click on families or social workers.
All prospective adoptive parents, both new and experienced, are welcome to join us to learn more about adopting a child from foster care. Information will be available on specific waiting children, and families will also have an opportunity to meet children awaiting adoption and their social workers. Fun family events are planned, including outdoor games (weather permitting), arts and crafts, a cheerleading demonstration, children’s entertainment, and refreshments.
 

The Heart Gallery 2008
May 5 – June 2 – Worcester City Clerk’s Office & Shrewsbury Public Library
June 2 – June 30 – Berkshire Mall, Lanesborough & Yankee Candle, South Deerfield
June 30 – July 28 – Eastfield Mall, Springfield & Springfield Public Library
July 28 – August 25 – Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Worcester
August 25 – September 22 – Burlington Mall, Burlington
October 20 – November 10 - The Mall at Chestnut Hill
November 10 – November 24 – South Station, Boston
November 24 - December 29 - Children’s Museum, Boston
The Heart Gallery is a portrait exhibit to raise awareness about Massachusetts children available for adoption. For more information about the Heart Gallery or to find out how you can help, please contact MARE at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or 1-800-882-1176.
 

You are invited to an opening of the Heart Gallery
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
6:30 p.m.
Worcester City Hall, 455 Main Street, Worcester, MA.
The Heart Gallery is a photographic display of portraits of children in foster care, who are in need of adoption. This event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Social Services & the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange.
 

Latino Foster Care & Adoption Information Event
Saturday, May 31, 2008
11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
ROCA, 101 Park Street, Chelsea, MA.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact the MARE at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678).
Venga para aprender cómo ser una familia de crianza (foster) o de adopción en Massachusetts.
 

Single Parent Matching Night
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Casey Family Services, 18 Palmer Street, Lowell, MA
To RSVP or for more information, please contact Tracy Scatterday at MARE at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or 1-800-882-1176 or email her at tracys@mareinc.org by June 11th.
For single prospective adoptive parents with approved homestudies and social workers. Network with social workers and single prospective adoptive parents. Hear from an experienced single adoptive parent. Observe presentations of children who are appropriate for single parent homes.

Communities for People-Adoption Program MAPP Training
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 (Eight consecutive Wednesdays)
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Twin City Plaza, 22 McGrath HighwaySuite 202 Somerville, MA
Please call Jennifer Traficanti at 617-628-0451 x522 or email her at jtraficanti@communities-for-people.org.
MAPP training for adults interested in adoption.
 

Helping Parents Learn Parenting Skills to Redirect Challenging Behaviors by Dr. Amy Lew, LMHC, LMFT
Friday, May 9, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Boston University Corporate Education Center, 72 Tyng Rd. Tyngsboro, MA
For more information, please call at 978-283-2727 or email at cpi@communityprograminnovations.com, or visit their website at www.communityprograminnovations.com.
$109.00 per person, per workshop, plus an additional $10.00 for Psychologists. Lunch on your own. Register early--workshops fill quickly! Your cancelled check is your receipt. You will not receive confirmation in the mail. If you are unable to attend, you are welcome to send a substitute. No refunds will be given. Credits toward workshops within the same training season will be given only if written cancellation is received 5 business days prior to the workshop. No phone cancellations will be accepted.
 

Promoting Resilience in Children
Friday, May 9, 2008
8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Leventhal Sidman Jewish Community Center Auditorium, 333 Nahanton Street, Newton, MA
For more information or to register, please contact Sara Beth Levine at 617-558-6537 or email her at sarabeth@jbbbs.org.
Neuro-Cognitive Challenges to Social Connections presented by Dan Rosenn, MD. Strong at the Broken Places: Resilent Survivors presented by Lynn Sanford, LICSW.
 

What Difference Does it Make if Your Client is a Woman or a Man?: Treating Depression, Anxiety Disorders, & Trauma by Dr. Elizabeth Hess
Friday, May 30, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Boston University Corporate Education Center, 72 Tyng Rd. Tyngsboro, MA
For more information, please call at 978-283-2727 or email at cpi@communityprograminnovations.com, or visit their website at www.communityprograminnovations.com.
$109.00 per person, per workshop, plus an additional $10.00 for Psychologists. Lunch on your own. Register early--workshops fill quickly! Your cancelled check is your receipt. You will not receive confirmation in the mail. If you are unable to attend, you are welcome to send a substitute. No refunds will be given. Credits toward workshops within the same training season will be given only if written cancellation is received 5 business days prior to the workshop. No phone cancellations will be accepted.
 

Parenting Traumatized Children Conference & Retreat
June 26-28, 2008
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Franciscan Center, Andover, MA
For more information please contact Lorraine Schneider at 240-446-9657 or email her at lorraine@radzebra.org or visit the Attachment and Trauma Network's website at www.radzebra.org.
Join us in June for our most relaxing, and educational, conference yet. The Franciscan Center in Andover (just outside of Boston) will offer us a uniquely peaceful location for parents and professionals to meet and rejuvenate as we learn more about traumatized children. New this year: "Feelin' Good Friday" - an entire afternoon of sessions on ways to nurture and rejuvenate yourself! This will be our most parent-friendly conference yet, with lodging and meal options within the registration fee. The conference registration is $425, and that's an all-inclusive price (three meals per day from Wednesday evening-Saturday noon.)
 

23rd Annual ARCheology Summer Intensives - The Narrative Essence of Adoption and Complex Blended Families
Sunday, July 6 - Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Provincetown Theater, Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA
To register or for more information, please contact Center For Family Connections at 617-547-0909, email them at cffc@kinnect.org or visit their website at www.kinnect.org.
Presented by: Adoption Resource Center (ARC) and Center For Family Connections (CFFC). The Narrative Essence of Adoption: Every myth, bible story and fairy tale has a bit of an adoption theme; many books and movies do as well! This years ARC Summer Intensives will look at the aspects of adoption that build a story and will use narrative therapy, digital stories, and movies to discuss the many emotional and psychological elements that can make adoption a challenge and a joy for all involved. Pre-registration required. Space is limited.

Adoptive Family Mixer
Mondays
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Together in Motion, 1 Broadway, Arlington, MA
For more information, please call Erik or Katherine at 781-643-1377 or visit their website at www.togetherinmotion.com.
Together in Motion offers a sunny play area with a padded floor filled with soft play blocks, stairs and slides, modules, balls, tunnels, and other age appropriate equipment for children up to six years old. There is a separate lounge area filled with comfortable seating and tables for snacks or building block play. The entry fee for the adoptive family mixer is a discounted rate of $5 per child.
 

Pathways to Permanency through the Trauma Center
Trauma Center in Brookline, MA
Rona Sandberg, LICSW, Clinical Coordinator at 617-232-1303 ext.223 or visit www.traumacenter.org.
The Pathways to Permanency Program strives to strengthen and support families in providing foster and adoptive children with a nurturing and stable home environment. The program offers services that include caregiver support, psycho-education, and consultation. These services are provided by clinicians with extensive experience working with childhood trauma and foster care and adoption related issues.
 

Adoptive Families Together Parent Group (a program of MSPCC)
Ongoing
Varies
For more information and group locations, please call AFT at 617-587-1500, email Nora O’Farell at nofarrell@mspcc.org or visit their website at http://www.mspcc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=progs_adopt_AdoptiveFamiliesTogether.
 

The Transition to Adoptive Parenthood Project (TAPP), Abbie Goldberg, Ph.D., Department of Psychology Clark University
The Transition to Adoptive Parenthood Project is aimed at exploring the transition to adoptive parenthood in a diverse group of families. They are asking you to help them understand your experiences as you prepare to become, and then become, parents. For example, What things make this transition easier or harder? What are your feelings about the adoption process? What are the expected and unexpected challenges and joys that you face? Your participation is very much needed and appreciated. Couples who participate in this project will be interviewed individually either in person or by phone during the preadoption period, and then again three months after the adoption. As a token of appreciation, you will be paid for your participation in this project.
Please contact Abbie Goldberg through her website at www.clarku.edu/faculty/goldberg for more information.