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AdoptUSKids

AdoptUSKids authors include experts in child welfare, communications, evaluation, and/or technology from across the United States. Together, they drive the AdoptUSKids project, as it supports foster and adoptive families, raises awareness about the nationwide need for more of these families, and provides resources to child welfare systems and professionals.

MPLD graduate Phoenix Santiago poses for a photo with two Health and Human Services representatives to celebrate her graduation from the prestigious leadership fellowship, MPLD.

Planting seeds, growing leaders: APLD celebrates Cohort Six graduates

Phoenix Santiago didn’t grow up discussing policy, but her time in foster care showed her firsthand its real impact on actual lives. And while that lived experience proved invaluable in her child welfare work, she felt she needed more to make the desired difference in the industry.   “We never talked about data and policy at home,” she said, “and I didn’t think I had that skillset.”   In 2023, she resolved to change that, and her… 

A stack of books with a variety of titles about adoption and foster care

How books can be therapy: Plus, reading recommendations for child welfare professionals  

Kendra Morris-Jacobson with the Oregon Post-Adoption Resource Center Library discusses the benefits of bibliotherapy, which promotes healing through reading. Plus, she offers her recommendations for the best books to read as a child welfare or family support professional, as well as books she’d suggest for families to read together to help their child or youth process difficult emotions.