A Helping Hand Adoption Agency:  Parent Education Program for China Adoptions.

A Helping Hand’s Parent Education Program is designed to equip parents with the resources needed to respond to issues important for families adopting internationally.  AHH is also held accountable to the educational requirements of the State of Kentucky, the Hague Convention, and the country from which the child(ren) are adopted.  Therefore our program enables parents:

• To speak with other adoptive parents in order to learn about their experiences parenting adopted children.

• To prepare strategies for coping with the challenging behavior of adopted children.

• To identify referral resources for the potential developmental delays of adopted children.

• To learn how to respond to the effects of loss, stages of grief, other attachment issues.

• To develop cultural awareness and sensitivity for the adopted child’s (children’s) country of birth.

• To become familiar with medical issues common in internationally adopted children.

• To learn how adopting a child may impact family functioning (adjustment), family values, and expectations (including discipline).

Each adoptive parent is expected to do the following PRIOR TO completion of their HOME STUDY:

•  Read “The Adoptive Parent Preparation Manual” (enclosed) by the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS). This manual discusses topics on attachment and bonding; loss and grief; stages of child development; and various medical issues that have been known to arise in international adoption. Also, read the “Open Letter to Pediatricians” (enclosed). The third piece of literature is a country specific document describing the history, cultural, racial, religious, ethnic and linguistic background of your child’s original country.  Once these materials are read, the family must discuss the reading with their home study provider to display understanding of inter-country adoption.  With the home study provider, each family will sign the parent education certificate indicating that this document has been read and discussed.

• The family’s state of residence or their home study provider may have specific parent education that need to be completed prior to the home study as well.  These requirements are separate from those of AHH.

Between the time the home study is completed and the family prepares to travel, there is a series of courses that are needed in order to comply with Kentucky state, and the Hague Convention regulations concerning parent education.  Twelve hours of on-line parent education plus one family discussion activity must be completed prior to travel.  If the family is involved in a program that will take more than 12 months to complete, parent education must continue on an annual basis.  Thus, the family will need to divide those 12 credits and family discussion activity between the two or more years in order to comply with annual regulations.  Adoption Learning Partners provides 10 hours of coursework that will serve as A Helping Hand Adoption Agency’s parent education provider.  In order to register for this program, please go to www.adoptionlearningpartners.org.  Our agency code that will help in the registration process is F238HELPHA.  In this program, please complete the following courses:

Course                                                                         Credit Hours

Conspicuous Families: Race, Culture, and Adoption                 1.5

The Journey to Attachment                                                             2.0

Let’s Talk Adoption: A Lifetime of Family Conversations           2.0

Finding the Missing Pieces:

Helping Adopted Children Cope with Grief and Loss                 2.0

With Eyes Wide Open:

A Preparation Guide to International Adoption                            2.0

Adopting the Older Child                                                                2.0

Medical Issues in International Adoption                                       2.5

Program fees for Adoption Learning Partners vary by the amount of courses you chose.  There are package programs designed to discount the total price.  After completing the course, a certificate will be given to the family that they can print or forward through e-mail to their agency as proof of completion.  Please send this certificate via e-mail to your Family Advocate.

When a course is completed, the family will take a short survey and then a completion certificate will be issued to them by Adoption Learning Partners.  Please forward this certificate, through e-mail to your Family Advocate.

For families not using A Helping Hand Adoption Agency as their Home Study Agency, the family may have requirements from their home study provider that need to be fulfilled.  If the family’s agency requires similar classes that will cover the same Hague-required topics, please submit documentation explaining how they suffice and AHH will review the document.  Submit this documentation to: Trish Beagle at Trish@worldadoptions.org.  If the home study provider’s parent education meets regulations, the family will not be required to complete both programs.

Before travel, each family must complete one final educational requirement: the “Discussion with Parents of Internationally Adopted Children”.  Each family needs to talk with 3 adoptive families who have adopted from the country they are pursuing.  These conversations can take place either face-to-face, over the phone, or through the internet.  If the family does not already know parents whom they can talk to in order to meet this requirement, they may consult their Family Advocate for assistance.  The topics of the discussion will include: experiences with developmental delays, medical information given about the child prior to adoption, and bonding/attachment.  See the Adoptive Parent Discussion form to complete this requirement.  This documentation will need to be returned to the family’s Advocate at AHH 1510 Newtown Pike Ste. 146  Lexington, KY 40511.

Special Needs Parent Education Requirements

A Helping Hand is excited to be a part of special needs adoptions as we see each child as a valuable, carefully formed child of God.  We applaud the families who have opened their lives and hearts to these beautiful children.  With special needs sometimes come special challenges.  The parent education for a special needs family is designed to have the family to explore their child’s specific need through consulting professionals and other venues.  There are three specific items that need to be addressed before it is time to travel to China:

1. Consult your family physician and/or an International Adoption Clinic as to your child’s specific need.  Ask questions such as:  What do you understand my child’s current condition to be?  How can this manifest?  What will be required for my child once he/she has come home to the United States? 

2. Research the National Foundation concerning your child’s specific need (if applicable).  Research local resources that you may need to consult when your child comes home such as First Steps, Support Groups, etc.

3. The last requirement will be reading that is specific to your child’s special needs.  Please contact your Special Needs Family Advocate to receive this last instruction.