Bringing Adoption Competency to the Illinois West 40 School District

40 West School District

Bringing Adoption Competency to the Illinois West 40 School District

 

A Model to Follow:  Creating safe, inclusive, and healing-centered school environments

Authors:

Education Implementation Specialists
Cortney Jordan, MA, LGPC
Jane Dugan-Burdette, MA, MFT

 

Our School-Based Mental Health Training Team was on the road again with a visit to West 40 School District in Illinois. We co-presented with ICARE4 Adoptive and Foster Families on key concepts related to adoption, foster care, and kinship competency to a group of more than 40 dedicated school professionals.

The attendees engaged in thoughtful conversation to expand their trauma-informed lens and learned new strategies to better support students impacted by foster care and adoption. The session focused on the importance of recognizing ambiguous loss, disenfranchised grief, and how these experiences can affect students’ academic and emotional well-being.

West 40’s commitment to deepening their understanding of this unique student population speaks volumes about the district’s dedication to creating safe, inclusive, and healing-centered school environments. We are so grateful for their enthusiasm, participation, and thoughtful questions throughout the presentation.

We look forward to continued partnerships with West 40 and other districts across the country who are committed to equipping their school communities with adoption-competent, trauma-informed support.

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