Description

This virtual training is designed for Massachusetts pre-adoptive families in process (taking MAPP, working on the home study, waiting for a match) who are considering being placed with a child or children of a race/ethnicity different than their own. Families who have recently taken placement in a transracial adoption are also invited. This is a multi-faceted, interactive training experience and registrants are asked to complete each of the following components:

Prior to the training participants are required to complete the Transracial Adoption Self-assessment and Readiness Inventory which will help them to assess where they are in the journey of transracial parenting (approximately 20 minutes).

The 3-hour training is divided into two 90-minute sessions of interactive learning. After the first session participants receive resources to explore (videos, activities, podcasts, brief articles, and chapters) in order to prepare for the second session.

The training is focused on three transracial parenting competencies:

1. Racial Awareness

2. Multicultural Planning

3. Survival Skills

In each competence participants will be presented with information about the realities and challenges of transracial parenting, will be invited to explore their feelings and beliefs around issues of race in adoption, will be provided with resources available, and will be encouraged to explore their openness to make significant adjustments in order to parent a child of a different race/ethnicity. In the second session, key points in each competency will be reviewed, participants will be invited to share their learning experiences and discoveries and to complete a post-training evaluation.

Dates

Cost

This training is free of charge for Massachusetts pre-adoptive families in process. It is offered by the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) in collaboration with the MPLD program of AdoptUSKids.

The facilitator of the training is Ricardo L. Franco. Ricardo is the Director of Family Services with MARE. Ricardo is a licensed bilingual social worker and NTI certificated Adoption Child Welfare Professional. He also has a doctorate in Religion, Culture and Personality from Boston University, and is a fellow in the Minority Professional Leadership Program through AdoptUSKids. Prior to joining MARE in 2010, Ricardo worked extensively as a pastor with multicultural communities in the USA and abroad.