Mississippi Children’s Home Services TAC Site Graduates its First Cohort of TAC Trained Clinicians

On April 2016, the Mississippi Children’s Home Services graduated its first class of TAC-trained clinicians, broadly expanding the adoption competent mental health community in the state. On April 21^st, clinicians presented their final projects, demonstrating the wealth of knowledge and skills that they had gained over the course of the TAC.

TAC Mississippi news story image 1 — Kimberly Horton and Shaquita Mallett demonstrate the use of genograms and ecomaps in better understanding the often complex network of relationships in children’s lives.

Students found the final projects to be critical to integrating all that they had learned over the course of the training. Students shared:

“The final project was a great way to show what we have learned throughout this past year in the TAC trainings. The most effective method was applying our knowledge to our own cases. I was able to look at a previously failed case and see it in a different light. I know what I would do differently and I definitely have a better understanding and eye for the issues in adoption. This will help me tremendously in my practice.”

“I felt that the final project allowed me to put everything that I learned in the workshops together and provided an avenue for me to ‘put it into practice.” Everything I learned made sense in the end and also validated for me that I was not prepared to provide adoption competent services.”

“Making the project mandatory was most beneficial in the end. I would not have volunteered for the hard work at the end, but I learned so much preparing my own project and listening to others in the group.”

As for the training as a whole, students highlighted their major learnings:

“The section on grief and loss and brain trauma were most applicable. I have worked in adoption for 15 years and learned something new each month. I looked forward to the workshops.”

TAC Mississippi new story image 2 — April 2016: Mississippi TAC Graduating Class and Trainers

“I liked receiving information about how the particular topic manifests and then also learning about a variety of treatment interventions. I liked that multimedia were incorporated into the modules.”

“I will keep this book and refer back to it for years to come.”

C.A.S.E. congratulates the TAC graduates and thanks their talented and committed trainers Jerri Strickland, LCSW and Tonya Jones, LMSW for guiding and supporting these clinicians to become adoption competent mental health professionals!