TAC Convening 2025

Adoption Competency: State of Practice
A Quarter Century Reflection to Shape the Path Forward 

Tuesday, December 9, 2025 from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM EST

1801 K Street NW, Washington, DC

 

Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) logo

Event Agenda

Today’s exclusive event includes engaging presentations, panels, and discussions that invite us to learn, reflect, and help shape the path forward for adoption-competent mental health care. You’ll also get the first look at highlights from our recent national survey, and the release of exciting new data affirming the effectiveness of our flagship Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program.

Rita Soronen, President & CEO Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, U.S. and Canada
Debbie Riley, LCMFT, CEO, Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.)

David Brodzinsky, PH.D., Professor Emeritus of Clinical and Developmental Psychology at Rutgers University

Anne J. Atkinson, Ph.D., President & CEO, PolicyWorks

Moderator: Dawn Wilson, MSW, Director, Training Institute, C.A.S.E.

Panel:
• Cheryl Fisher, LPC, Vice President, Business Development at Centene
• Liz Gallaspy, LMSW, TAC Project Coordinator, Georgia State University School of Social Work
• Bonni Goodwin, Ph.D., LCSW, Assistant Professor at the Anne & Henry Zarrow School of Social Work; Coordinator of the Center for Adoption and Family Well-Being
• Jane Hereth, Ph.D., MSW, Assistant Professor, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Wendy Sue Horn, LCSW Founder and Director of EMDR Resource Center (Oregon), TAC Facilitator
• Louise K. Johnson, MS, ELAN Fellow, Senior Child Behavioral Health Advisor, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors; former Director, Division of Children, Adolescents and Their Families at S.C. Department of Mental Health

Moderator: April Dinwoodie, Founder, June in April, LLC

Panel:
• Arnold Eby, Executive Director, National Foster Parent Association (NFPA)
• Anthony Hynes, Ph.D., Training and Content Development Specialist, C.A.S.E.
• Ashley Garcia-Rivera, Policy Advisor, C.A.S.E.
• Rachel Shifaraw, Creative Content Specialist, C.A.S.E.
• Catey Yost, House Experiences Manager, Ulman Foundation, C.A.S.E. Emerging Leader

Moderator: David Brodzinsky, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Clinical and Developmental Psychology at Rutgers University

Panel:
• Hollee McGinnis, MSW, PhD, Visiting Professor, UMASS Amherst Rudd Adoption Research Program
• Kate Murray, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, Center for Child and Family Health; Clinical Faculty, Duke University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Nancy Rolock, AM, Ph.D., Henry L. Zucker Associate Professor of Social Work Practice, Associate Editor, Adoption Quarterly; Jack, Joseph & Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences; Case Western Reserve University
• Ashley Toland, DSW, LICSW, Assistant Professor, Social Work; University of West Florida
• Sara Van Geertruyden J.D., Partner, Thorn Run Partners, Washinton D.C.
• Kate McLean, Executive Director, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI)

Moderator: Rebecca Jones Gaston, Founder & Transformation Architect at RJG Consulting Group

Policy Facilitator: Uma Ahluwalia, MSW, MHA, Director, Leapp Strategies LLC
Practice Facilitator: Mary B. Wichansky, LCSW-C, Director, The National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services
Research Facilitator: Angelique Day, Ph.D., Professor, University of Washington

Rebecca Jones Gaston, Founder & Transformation Architect at RJG Consulting Group

Debbie Riley, LCMFT, CEO, Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.)

National Survey Highlights

This is a report of key summary findings from a survey sponsored by the Center for
Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) and conducted by PolicyWorks, Ltd. that sought to gain an understanding of the current views and experiences of members of adoption kinship networks related to seeking and engaging mental health services.

The survey, completed over an eleven-week period in spring/summer 2025 by 500 participants across 44 U.S. states, one U.S. territory, and 14 locations outside the U.S., engaged adoptive parents, adoptees, birth parents, adoptive siblings, birth siblings, and others. (Because many reported multiple roles the percentages exceed 100 percent.)

State of Practice Report

This report marks a milestone in a journey that spans more than a quarter century. For the
first time, we can clearly demonstrate that adoption-competent mental health care changes outcomes for families. Since 2009 we have been developing the framework of adoption competency and collecting the evidence of improved satisfaction, stronger therapeutic alliances, and better outcomes for families served by clinicians trained through our the TAC program.

This report is both a celebration and a call to action. We have built the foundation and advanced the evidence, but our work is not done. We must continue to expand access to adoption-competent services across the country, establish recognized standards of practice, validate this work as a clinical sub-specialty among funders of healthcare, and invest in continued research, ensuring every individual and family—wherever they live and whatever their story—can find the support they deserve.

 

Supplemental Research Materials

Adoption Competency: A Brief Introduction

Download

Adoption Competent Mental Health Professionals – An Overview

Download

Adoption Competency: Building an Empirical Foundation

Download

Training for Adoption Competency – Evaluation Highlights

Download

This Convening is generously sponsored by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption