Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections supports families and staff
Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections (APAC) provides free, state-wide adoption trauma-responsive training and education, family support, and trauma-informed counseling services. Operated by Children’s Aid Society of Alabama, services are provided through offices in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery.
Services
All APAC services are focused on improving permanency outcomes and post-adoption stability in the state of Alabama.
Mental health support: The program includes master’s-level, adoption-competent counselors who offer free mental health support for adoptive families and youth with experience in Alabama’s foster care.
Family and parent training: APAC also hosts a training website for foster and adoptive parents, covering topics such as trauma, attachment, behavior, and post-adoption support.
Professional training: For child welfare professionals, APAC offers credentialed training with CEUs for a nominal fee, making trauma-responsive, adoption-focused education more accessible across Alabama, and the United States.
Additional services include:
- Family support groups (in-person and virtual)
- Camp APAC (a free summer camp for adoptees and their siblings)
- Free access to Alabama’s largest adoption-focused resource lending library
- Free TIPS training
- Free adoption-competent counseling (in-person and virtual)
- An annual Permanency Conference
- Community outreach to recruit potential adoptive parents
Outreach
- APAC sends a free quarterly newsletter to families and professionals connected to its services.
- Email messages, social media posts, and an online event calendar share upcoming events with adoptive families and professionals.
- Children’s Aid Society of Alabama’s blog, and social media Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages publicize events and share information.
- APAC exhibits at community events, health fairs, conferences, school activities, and other child service agency events.
- Other outreach includes participating in TV or radio talk shows, newspaper calendars, magazine ads, sharing human interest stories in the media, speaking at public welfare agency adoption preparation panel meetings, and participating in other child welfare agency committees.
Training and APAC professional development
Adoptive parents co-lead APAC’s TIPS training along with licensed APAC staff. The social workers and counselors in the post-adoption program have at least five years of experience.
All staff receive ongoing continuing education. Social workers and counselors are required to have 15 hours of training per year to maintain their license. APAC provides general training on adoption laws and issues, diversity, crisis intervention, and other work-related needs.
Trainings are provided based on staff needs and feedback. Staff are also encouraged and supported to pursue their individual training requirements.
Evaluation and outcomes
Each service is evaluated separately to determine if clients received what they needed or increased their knowledge of how to handle a particular adoption issue. Clients provide feedback through a survey after individual services are provided. The agency tracks the numbers of services provided, number of clients served, and number of families served, along with the survey results for quality of services.
Learn more
Suzie Diamond, Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections program director, sdiamond@childrensaid.org