Press Release-Center for Adoption Support and Education™ (C.A.S.E.) receives contract from the Maryland Department of Human Services to provide free services to post-adoptive families throughout the State of Maryland

BURTONSVILLE, MD – Through this new contract from the Maryland Department of Human Services, the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is offering free individual and family therapy, support groups, webinars, and other educational opportunities to post-adoptive families throughout the state of Maryland. The non-profit organization will also be opening a new office in the Carroll/Frederick County area to better serve Maryland post-adoptive families later this fall.

C.A.S.E.’s highly skilled therapists have been trained under their own accredited, nationally recognized Training for Adoption Competency (TAC™) program and have the skills, insight, and experience to help families navigate the unique challenges they face. TAC is accredited by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence and rated by the California evidenced-based clearing house for Child Welfare. It is a comprehensive, evidence-based training designed exclusively for licensed mental health professionals providing clinical knowledge and skills needed to effectively serve the adoption kinship network.

This expertise equips them with special knowledge and experience in treating children and families with a history of trauma, including abuse and neglect. C.A.S.E understands that families formed through adoption and foster care face unique challenges. Accessing adoption competent support and preservation services after adoption is critical and can assist families with a broad range of issues.

“We created C.A.S.E. 24 years ago knowing that families formed through adoption and foster care face unique challenges and need qualified, adoption competent mental health and family support services,” said Debbie Riley, LCMFT and CEO at C.A.S.E. “The support of this work by the Maryland Department of Human Services will lay the foundation for ongoing, accessible and adoption competent supports to ensure adoptive families thrive. We are honored to embark on this impactful partnership with them.”

SSA Administration at the Maryland Department of Human Services said, “The Department of Human Services is pleased to partner with the Center for Adoption Support and Education to provide post adoptive services to families who have finalized adoptions throughout the state. C.A.S.E. training programs and clinical services align with the purpose of DHS and are well suited to strengthening families and youth as they grow together.”

The contract is open to any Maryland family who have adopted publicly, privately, or internationally whose child is 18 years or younger. For more information on how to access these services, or to refer a family, please contact Tamara Burke, LPC, LCPC, MA, Director of Clinical Program Administration at the Center for Adoption Support and Education at burke@adoptionsupport.org or 301-476-4316.

The Center for Adoption Support and Education is a nationally recognized leader in mental health services for the adoption and foster care community. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to improve the lives of children who have been adopted or in foster care and their families through counseling, lifelong education, and a growing national network of trained professionals. C.A.S.E. has trained over 17,000 mental health and child welfare professionals in 31 states. With offices in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, C.A.S.E. has provided clinical services for more than 6,800 clients and their families since its founding in 1998. Visit www.adoptionsupport.org to learn more.