SUPPORT GROUP: Adult Adoptee Support Group

Tony Hynes, a former foster youth and adoptee, was adopted by a same sex couple in the mid 1990’s. He writes about his experiences growing up as both an interracial adoptee and as a child growing up in a same sex headed household in his memoir “The Son With Two Moms.” Today, Tony is an advocate for families like his, having served on the Board of Directors for organizations that serve to highlight adoptive families from diverse upbringings, and working with individual families in both pre and post adoptive placements. A thought leader in the field of adoption, Tony has been invited to be a speaker at conferences on adoption and foster care throughout the nation, especially those involving interracial placements. Tony completed his Masters thesis in Sociology on the psychology of children within the same sex headed household in 2013, and in the fall of 2017 was awarded a full scholarship to begin his PhD studies in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County, where he has begun work on his dissertation, which focuses on social connectedness among interracial adoptees. In his time as Training Specialist at C.A.S.E, Tony has designed innovative training curriculums that help families and professionals respond to evaluation and assessment tools that encapsulate holistic pictures of adoptees and foster youth.

Rachel Shifaraw was internationally adopted from Santiago, Chile at 6 weeks of age. She has lived in Maryland ever since & currently resides in Frederick with her husband & four children. Rachel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from Trinity University in Washington, DC & an Associate of Applied Science from Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. Rachel came to C.A.S.E. with a writing contribution that was published in the Beneath The Mask Workbook & she has been passionate about working with the organization from that day forward. Rachel joined the Emerging Leaders Council in hopes of giving a voice of lived adoption experience to assist C.A.S.E. in their mission of offering adoption support. When not busy with her family or small pet care company, Rachel spends her time writing descriptive stories & hanging out with animals on the local Frederick farms.