Below is our service plan. I wanted to share it so that family and friends know what we'll be up to for the next couple months. Also, now you know why we will be bugging you to have lots of discussions and possibly read books over the next couple months. :)
Adoption Education
Strategies:
A: Attend Journeys of the Heart adoption education class
B: Read and review Family of Adoption by Joyce Maguire Pavao
C: Read and review 20 Things Adopted Children Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge
D: Continue discussing what you are reading with each other.
Outcome: Family will increase their knowledge of adoption issues their child may face.
Transracial Plan (in the event child of different ethnicity is placed in the family)
Strategies:
A: Read and review Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall
B: Research resources in the community that promote inclusion of other cultures
C: Find information about adoption support groups in the area that focus on transracial adoption. Consider joining the group.
D: Identify books related to the possible various ethnicities of child. Once ethnicity is known, read identified books.
E: Write out a transracial plan that includes activities that you will do with your child to promote his/her ethnic identity
Outcome: The couple will have a plan in place to provide for child’s ethnic identity.
Educate extended family and close friends on adoption issues
Strategies:
A: Discuss positive adoption vocabulary with family and friends
B: Discuss the importance of honoring the child’s past connections
C: Discuss ways in which to handle questions and comments from strangers
D: Provide family with books to read, such as Family
of Adoption by Joyce Maguire Pavao, or choose a personal favorite
Outcome: Family and friends will be positive and educated about adoption, enabling them to address it appropriately with the adopted child.
Educate oneself, extended family and close friends on open adoption
Strategies:
A: Please read and review Making Room in Our Hearts by Mickey
Duxbury and consider how you will promote your relationship with the
birth parents
B: Provide family and close friends with the above book and encourage
them to read it
C: Discuss the importance of honoring the child’s birth family, extended
family and past connections with family and close friends
Outcome: You, family and friends will be positive about and educated on open adoption.
Plan to honor birth parents and child’s past connections
Strategies:
A: Choose places in the home where birth family pictures can be hung or placed
B: Consider family rituals (prayers, celebrations) where the birth family and past connections can be thanked, prayed for, or acknowledged in some way
C: Make a plan for honoring the child’s past connections
Outcome: Family will have a plan to honor child’s birth family and past connections.
Attachment and Bonding
Strategies:
A: Read The Attachment Parenting Book by William Sears, M.D. &
Martha Sears, R.N.
B: Read and review Attaching in Adoption by Deborah Gray if adopting an older child or one who has been in foster care
C: Do on line research about activities that promote attachment
D: Make a plan of activities that promote attachment
Outcome: Couple will have an understanding of attachment/bonding and have a plan of activities that they will do with their child to promote both.
Prepare financially for the adoption
Strategies:
A: Create a will
B: Consider a life insurance plan
C: Contact your health insurance company and speak to them about when and how to add your new child onto the health insurance plan
D: Find out when the child will be fully covered by health insurance
Outcome: Couple will be financially prepared for the adoption of their child.
Continue to prepare the home for the safety and well-being of the child
Strategies:
A: Make the home safe as appropriate for the age of the child, including finishing up any home projects
B: Prepare the child’s room
C: Consider how you will acclimate the cats to the new baby.
And a suggestion (not mandatory):
D: Attend infant/toddler CPR and first aid training. Become certified
Outcome: Couple will have a safe and inviting environment when the child comes home.
Parenting Skills
Strategies:
A: Participate in an adoptive parenting skills/infants class. A class
specifically designed for adoptive parents is available in the Portland
area. See www.nafaonline.org Provide proof of attendance.
B:: Research pediatricians in the area; select one prior to placement of a
child
C:: Identify and explore potential resources for your family, such as play
groups, other adoptive families, and community resources
Outcome: Couple will feel competent and at ease in taking care of an infant by the time child arrives home.
Research alcohol, drug, and tobacco use during pregnancy
Strategies:
A: Read and review Adoption and Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposure; Research, Policy, and Practice; edited by Richard P. Barth, Madelyn Freundlich, and David Brodzinsky.
B: Make notes on special ways in which to care for a drug exposed baby
C: Have discussions with families who are raising or who have raised adopted children who were exposed to alcohol, drugs, or tobacco in utero
Outcome: Couple will be knowledgeable of the effects of substance abuse during pregnancy.
And finally, a suggestion (not mandatory): Create a Life Book for your adopted child
Strategies:
A: Have family members write and/or draw about their feelings for the child/adoption prior to placement
B: Add photos of your adoption journey (with captions) as they become available
C: If appropriate, include things from the birth family
D: Continue to add to the album until child comes home
Outcome: Family will have an album in place to show the child as (s)he grows up about how (s)he came to be in the family
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