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Conference 2018

NEW WORLDS OF ADOPTION 2018

The Future of Adoption: Moving Beyond Safety
to Well-Being


Friday, April 13, 2018  |   9AM - 5PM


KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Gary Mallon, Ph.D.

Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare,
Executive Director of the National Center for Child Welfare Excellence,
Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College.


PANEL CHAIR

April Dinwoodie

Creator, Adoptment and the Born in June, Raised in April Podcast


Although the three goals of the child welfare system include safety, permanency, and well-being, the first and most urgent attention is typically paid to safety. Well-being is a broader and longer-term goal. When it is the focus, primary attention is paid to well-being of children, rightly including such issues as physical health and social development.  When adult adoptees are asked about issues that concern them, however, they often mention broader issues that touch on who they are and how they fit into the world. These include knowledge of their own genetic background and health history as well as their connections to their birth relatives and birth culture. These connections all have the potential to enhance adoptees' sense of well-being and will be the focus of the 2018 Rudd conference, "The Future of Adoption: Beyond Safety to Well-Being."

In addition to the morning keynote address and panel discussion we will have research poster presentations, breakout sessions and a special celebration of the Rudd Adoption Research Program's 10th anniversary.