Elana Schuster, MSW, LICSW is a graduate of the Center for Adoption Support and Education’s Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program. She is the program lead for Permanency & Adoptive Family Support at Fraser Minneapolis. Elana has experience providing individual and family therapy, mental health day treatment and support groups for children that are adopted. She has participated in intensive training via the Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate program and Trauma-Informed Child Parent Psychotherapy (TI-CPP) Model.

Elana approaches adoption from a lens that it’s a lifelong process, intertwined with both joys and challenges. She believes in family-centered, strength based practice that acknowledges that best practice often includes engaging multiple parts of the adoption constellation surrounding a child – even if that’s a little messy. The entire family system is the client, not just the child. Elana’s professional, community-based and personal experience as a transracial adoptee anchors her conviction to advocate for family stability and permanent connections for young children across the permanency spectrum.