Register Now! Use coupon code IDENTITY at checkout to receive your FREE registration.

CEUs for this webinar are also available, learn more.

Thursday, September 22, 2022 | 1:00PM – 2:30PM EST 

Extended Access Available Sep. 23 – Oct. 23, 2022

Mental health needs are at an all time high in our youth. Let’s face it, it’s a complicated time to be growing up. Children of color and those identifying as LGBTQ+ are at particular risk, especially those who have been in foster care or are adopted. We’ll discuss how a child’s developing identity and wellbeing are connected and how protective it is when parents can support this development. We’ll cover ways that bring you closer together, and help children feel more powerful and proud, to counteract the shame, depression and loss that children who are in foster care or adopted often experience. We’ll talk candidly about how to embrace the unique developing identities of children even when they don’t match their family’s. Parents will come away with daily tools, increased compassion and lots more confidence.

Presenter:

Laura Ornelas, LCSW, has more than 25 years of experience in the field of adoption and foster care. She is currently the Director of the National Demonstration Clinic for Adoption Competence here at C.A.S.E.  Laura spent the first decade of her work immersed in child placement and adoption, and has worked with children of all ages, specializing in the birth-to-5 population – as well as with widely diverse families, with a focus on relative caregivers and Latino family systems. Laura served as the Regional Director of Mental Health Services for Kinship Center (CA) for eight years, during which she designed and oversaw specialty mental health clinics for children who had been adopted and/or were being raised by relative caregivers. Having studied with the leaders in attachment- and trauma-informed care, she created a powerful clinical model rooted in relationship-based, experiential healing.  Laura is a seasoned trainer to professionals and parents, and an author of Effectively Addressing Mental Health Issues in Permanency-Focused Child Welfare Practice (Child Welfare Journal) and Attachment Through the Senses (Fostering Families Today).