PROFESSIONALS: Building Better Care — The Role of Adoption Competency in Mental Health Systems

Building Better Care: The Role of Adoption Competency in Mental Health Systems

Webinar Overview

Children, youth, and families impacted by foster care, adoption, and kinship care often experience complex trauma, grief, loss, identity challenges, and attachment disruptions that shape their mental health and well-being. Join us for an engaging webinar exploring why adoption competency is an essential component of high-quality mental health care and how it can strengthen clinical practice. Through conversations with mental health leaders and clinicians, you’ll hear how organizations are integrating adoption competency into their systems of care, the impact it has had on providers and families, and practical examples of how adoption-competent practice enhances clinical work.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 1:00 – 2:00pm EST

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About the Presenters

Amie Ashegh LMHC, CCM, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, A Board-Certified Case Manager, and currently serves as a Quality Improvement Specialist in Behavioral Health at Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. She has extensive experience driving performance improvement initiatives, enhancing care quality, and supporting data-informed decision-making. Amie is passionate about using quality improvement strategies to strengthen behavioral health services and promote organizational excellence. Known for her clinical mindset and collaborative approach, she is committed to advancing effective, patient-centered care across the healthcare continuum.

Annie Atwood, LCSW-S, RPTTM, TBRI Practitioner, is the Clinical Director for The Sanctuary Foster Care Services, a Child Placing Agency in the Houston, Texas area serving foster children and their foster families through individual therapy, family therapy, and 24/7 crisis intervention services. She supervises a staff of nine fully licensed Clinicians who are learning a great deal from NTI. She recently completed the NTI training, and three other Clinicians are currently in a newly formed cohort – all are excited about the opportunity to learn more about the issues unique to serving our populations. In addition to being an LCSW-S, Ms. Atwood is also a Registered Play Therapist and a TBRI Practitioner.

Laurie J. Wade, LCSW, is a New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing clinical services through Associates of Psychotherapy,  specializing in adoption-competent and foster-care-competent clinical practice. She helps families address the impact of early adversity, identity development, and relational disruptions. Laurie completed the NTI Mental Health Professional training, which strengthened her assessment skills, deepened her understanding of trauma’s impact on family systems, and expanded her ability to support adoptive and foster families with practical, attachment-sensitive tools. The NTI training resources have been practice-changing in her work with adoptive and foster families.