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By Kylie Golden, LCPC, Lead Clinical Supervisor and Adoption Competent Therapist

Adoption can be a loving new beginning, but it also includes loss, and adoptees may express grief in many ways throughout their lives. In this blog, Kylie shares that supporting adoption grief as adoptive parents means making space for complexity by validating feelings, staying emotionally attuned, and separating their own emotions from their child’s needs. Through openness, honest communication, and honoring birth/first family connections, families can help adoptees feel fully seen, supported, and whole.

C.A.S.E. is excited to announce that we have received funding from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to support the addition of a new TAC (Training for Adoption Competency) site in 2026. If you are an organization in a state that doesn’t currently have a TAC partner and you are committed to expanding access to and availability of adoption competent mental health professionals to support foster, adoptive, birth, and kinship families, we encourage you to apply. 

By Lauren Lynch, Adoptive Mom, C.A.S.E. Training Coordinator

In this series, we will explore Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency by Sharon Kaplan Roszia and Allison Davis Maxon, which expands on the foundational framework developed by Sharon Kaplan Roszia and Deborah Silverstein.

These seven interconnected issues of Loss, Rejection, Shame & Guilt, Grief, Identity, Intimacy, and Mastery & Control offer language for experiences that are often felt but not always named. Together, they help us better understand the impact of separation, transition, and permanency across one’s lifelong development.

Throughout this series, you will hear from a range of voices within the adoption constellation including adoptees, first/birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoption-competent professionals. Each perspective adds depth and nuance, reminding us that no single story defines adoption. By centering lived experience alongside clinical insight, we aim to deepen understanding, reduce stigma, and support all members of the constellation with honesty and compassion.

We begin where every adoption and permanency story begins: with loss.

By Cortney Jordan, MA, LGPC, Educational and Training Implementation Specialist

February 2-6, 2026 is National School Counseling Week, which focuses on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. In this blog, Cortney draws from her experience as a former Professional School Counselor and current Educational and Training Implementation Specialist at C.A.S.E. to highlight the vital role counselors play in "Amplifying Student Success," especially for students connected to adoption, foster care, and kinship care. Cortney shares how school counselors provide stability, advocacy, and emotional support for students facing placement changes, educational disruptions, and challenges to belonging. Through intentional connection, academic guidance, and collaboration with families and community partners, counselors help students build resilience, envision their futures, and feel truly seen and supported.

Our newest C.A.S.E. Academy Course, “The First/Birthmother: Making Meaning of Her Place in Adoption,” elevates the lived experiences of first/birth mothers as essential to adoption-competent practice. Through expert instruction and powerful personal narratives, this three-session training invites advanced professionals to move beyond assumptions and better understand the lifelong emotional, relational, and loss impacts of adoption from a first/birth mother’s point of view. Participants gain practical insights they can consider when supporting birthparents, adopted individuals, and adoptive families—grounded in research and shaped by real stories that too often go unheard and unsupported.

We are excited to share reflections and highlights from this Course, and we encourage advanced professionals to keep an eye out for additional C.A.S.E. Academy Courses coming this spring!

Adoption: A Story of Loss, Love, and Relationships

By Emily Kwiatkowski, C.A.S.E. Emerging Leader

In this blog, Emily reflects on adoption as a story shaped by both profound love and deep loss, emphasizing the importance of recognizing birth parents’ love even in difficult circumstances. Drawing from her professional experience working with families in foster care and her lived experience as an adoptee, she highlights how preserving birth family memories and stories helps children feel their full history is honored. Emily reminds readers that adoption is not about replacing one love with another, but about holding space for multiple relationships, loyalties, and truths to coexist.

By Ashley Garcia-Rivera, Policy Advisor

Mental Health Access Is the

Missing Link

In this blog, Ashley explains that love and belonging after foster care or adoption are not automatic, but are built over time with access to informed, adoption-competent mental health care. She highlights how grief and identity questions often resurface during key developmental stages, especially adolescence, and how families face major barriers when services are unavailable or lack the necessary understanding of trauma, attachment, and loss. Ashley emphasizes that lasting healing requires coordinated, cross-system support so families are not left navigating these challenges alone.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 | 12:00-1:00pm EST

What does the latest national research reveal about the mental health needs of adoptive, foster, and kinship families—and what works to support them?

Join Debbie B. Riley, LCMFT, CEO of the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), for a free, public webinar unpacking two groundbreaking reports after a quarter century of evidence building.

We’ll dive into findings from:


• A national survey of 500 participants across 44 states and one U.S. territory
• An effectiveness study of C.A.S.E.’s flagship Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program

Whether you’re a clinician, policymaker, researcher, person with lived experience, or community advocate, this is your chance to connect with what’s working and shaping the future of adoption-competent mental health care.

WHEN: Saturday, April 11, 2026

WHERE: National Housing Center, Washington, DC

COME CELEBRATE WITH US to recognize our C.A.S.E. Star Awards and to benefit the adoptive, foster, and kinship families we serve. Enjoy cocktails, entertainment, dinner, a DJ and dancing, and our exciting auctions!

Sponsorships and tickets are NOW AVAILABLE!

Emptying the Nest: The Art of Launching Differently

Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 1:00-2:30pm EST

As we envision the future for our children, we often hold hopes and dreams about what their transition into adulthood will look like. However, it’s important to acknowledge that the world we live in has undergone significant changes. Recent research indicates that young adults are now taking longer to embark on their independent journeys, and in some cases, they may even return home for an extended period after their initial departure.

For parents, the process of emptying the nest has become increasingly challenging, particularly when dealing with the added complexity of a history of trauma. It requires a collective effort from all family members to support our children as they navigate their path toward independence. These various factors coming together can sometimes lead both parents and their children to question whether achieving true adulthood is attainable.

This interactive webinar aims to delve into the art of emptying the nest, addressing the complex needs that may arise along the way, and providing guidance on where to find the necessary support.

Presented by Leslie Hales, LCSW, PIP, Credentialed Course Instructor and Field Liaison at University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Social Work.

Use coupon code NEST at checkout to receive your FREE registration. There is a $15 charge per registrant after the first 600 registrants have used the coupon code.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026 | 7:00-8:00pm EST

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, from 7:00PM – 8:00PM EST join us on Instagram LIVE! where Dr. Tony Hynes, C.A.S.E. Training and Content Development Specialist, will be talking with award winning author Sara Easterly as she discusses her engrossing memoir Searching for Mom, a “disarmingly honest” mother-daughter story.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 | 7:00-8:30pm EST

$20 (1.5 CEs available)

Holidays are often a time of joy and celebration for adoptive families. However, for adoptees, these same occasions can also bring a mix of emotions, including reminders of the losses they’ve experienced.

Hosted by Tony Hynes, Ph.D., C.A.S.E.'s Training and Content Development Specialist, participants in this webinar will gain insight into common themes adoptees experience around holidays, such as feelings of disconnection from their adoptive families, longing for birth families, and a sense of not fully belonging in either world. Societal expectations around holiday celebrations often shape how adoptees feel they should respond, adding layers of guilt, shame, or isolation to what may already be a complicated emotional experience.

By better understanding the holiday experiences of adoptees, we can offer deeper, more empathetic support to them and their families throughout the year.

Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), Provider #1972, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education.