NTI Partners

NTI

The work of the NTI would not be possible without our cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services. The Federal Project Officer is June Dorn, Adoption Specialist.

A number of partners comprise the NTI Core Team, responsible for strategic planning, development of the curriculum and web-based training, selection of pilot sites, quality assurance and evaluation.

Core Partners:

  • Susan Livingston Smith, LCSW, a Professor Emerita of the School of Social Work at Illinois State University and nationally known expert on child welfare and adoption is collaborating on curricula development. Smith has co-authored four books on adoption, Promoting Successful Adoptions: Practice with Troubled Families (1999), After Adoption: The Needs of Adopted Youth (2003), Siblings in Adoption and Foster Care: Traumatic Separations and Honored Connections (2009), and Facilitating Adoptions from Care (2014). She taught a course in the Post-Adoption Certificate program at Portland State University for many years and authored a module in C.A.S.E.’s TAC curriculum. Email Susan
  • Carol J. Bishop, MA, LMFT, co-founder of Kinship Center, California (https://Kinshipcenter.org) is collaborating on curricula development. She has worked in adoption and foster care for more than 40 years. Bishop currently has oversight for Kinship Center’s programs in child placement, kinship care, wraparound, children’s mental health and the Education Institute. She has participated in development of curricula for parents and professionals, notably ACT – An Adoption and Permanency Curriculum for Child Welfare and Mental Health Professionals, the companion parent training, Pathways to Permanency II, and co-authored a module in C.A.S.E.’s TAC curriculum. Bishop is a recipient of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Angels in Adoption Award, 2006. Email Carol
  • PolicyWorks, Ltd.
    Anne Atkinson, President and founder (ajatkinson@policyworksltd.org) of the Virginia-based program evaluation and policy research firm will conduct scans of adoption competency training programs to inform curriculum development and jurisdictional scans for pilot site selection. She also contributes to the development of informational products. Visit PolicyWorks, Ltd. website
  • University of Maryland, School of Social Work, Institute for Innovation and Implementation
    The University’s Institute, a major training and implementation center with nationally recognized expertise in child mental health and child welfare, will deliver the web-based curriculum and provide related technical assistance, as well as evaluate the training initiative.
My colleagues and I at the University Of Maryland School Of Social Work are delighted that the Children’s Bureau has recognized the need for a more competent mental health workforce to assist adoptive families. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Debbie Riley and C.A.S.E., the nation’s leader in the development and delivery of competency-based adoption training.
RICHARD BARTH, PH.D., M.S.W.

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

University of Maryland’s Key Staff Include:

  • Marlene Matarese, Director, Training & Technical Assistance Center, Principal Investigator Email Marlene

Web-based Conversion

Evaluation/Research

  • Tony Bonadio, Research Assistant Professor and Team Lead for Evaluation Email Tony
  • Rochon Steward, Research Associate and Cost Study Lead Email Rochon
  • Charlotte Bright, Associate Dean for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Evaluation and System Study Lead Email Charlotte

NTI has also teamed up with a number of organizations and consultants to enhance curricula development, assure cultural relevance of material, and assist with dissemination of training:

Additional Partners:

National Indian Child Welfare Association consults on cultural responsiveness and provides linkages within tribal child welfare and mental health providers and training programs

National Association of State Adoption Programs provides linkage with state adoption program managers and consults on training development and implementation

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption provides linkages with Wendy’s Wonderful Kids state programs and assistance with disseminating the training

Rudd Adoption Research Program provides linkages with adoption research scholars and opportunities for dissemination.

Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, Grant #90CO1121.
The contents of this website do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the funder, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. NTI also provides strategies and tools that parents and caregivers can use to support their child’s healing and strengthening of attachment. NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for parents/caregivers.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. This understanding can assist school social workers, school counselors, and educators to understand youth behavior in the context of the child’s early experiences and provide strategies to support the child, youth and family.

NTI has a new training adaption for educators: School-based Mental Health Professionals Training. Schools and school districts can get free resources to support the well-being of K-12 students!

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior as well as the connection between early adverse experiences and current functioning and physical and emotional health.

NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for medical professionals.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. This knowledge will help inform permanency placement decisions.

NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for court officials.

The Training for Child Welfare Professionals will assist CASA and GAL volunteers and staff to understand the impact of trauma, loss and grief, breaks in attachment, identity formation, on children and youth as well as the specific challenges experienced by transracial/transcultural families
Social workers interact with individuals and families who have experienced adoption in many different settings. NTI provides a foundational understanding on the unique and core issues of adoption to better meet the needs of children, youth and families in foster, adoptive, guardianship and kinship relationships.

Children and youth experiencing foster care and adoption are over-represented in RTCs and are often misdiagnosed or prescribed psychotropic medications for symptoms that relate to trauma experiences and unresolved loss and grief. NTI training will prepare staff to understand and address the issues relating to loss, grief, trauma, breaks in attachment, identity formation, etc.

Children and youth experiencing foster care and adoption are often misdiagnosed or over-prescribed psychotropic medications when their symptoms relate to trauma experiences and unresolved loss and grief. NTI will prepare staff to understand and address the issues relating to loss, grief, trauma, breaks in attachment, identity formation, etc... that children in foster care, adoption or guardianship may be experiencing. NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curriculum that uses shared language and provides understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families. NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curriculum that uses shared language and provides understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

Adoption is a lifelong journey and the core issues of adoption can impact the family through developmental stages from childhood into adulthood.  NTI provides training to increase the knowledge, values and skills critical to understanding and supporting families post adoption to enhance family stability and well-being.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster and adoptive families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. NTI provides strategies for addressing the loss and grief issues inherent in adoption (for all members of the triad) and how important is it to prepare families for developmental challenges ahead.

NTI provides staff across the child welfare continuum with free training that focuses on understanding the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior. NTI provides effective strategies for working with children, youth, and parents to address the challenges that often lead to placement changes in foster care and disruption or dissolution in adoption.

NTI provides free online training that is consistent with FFPSA requirements for a skilled, competent, trauma-informed workforce and addresses several CFSR indicators. Because it is web-based, NTI is accessible to staff throughout your jurisdiction on-demand.

NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curricula that uses shared language and provides shared understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

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