The Children's Bridge

USA Adoption Info Session
2021-01-25 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Toronto) | ONLINE
Important Note: This information session is delivered via Zoom (live webinar format).
Please ensure that your computer’s operating system is compatible.
Have you been thinking about creating or expanding your family through international adoption from the United States?

You are at the right place! The Children’s Bridge is pleased to announce a virtual program-specific information sessions designed to provide prospective adoptive applicants with a wealth of information about each adoption program and opportunities for live interaction with our Adoption Program Managers!

Cost: $28.25

Targeted participants:

Married/common-law couples and single applicants, transgender couples and same sex applicants

This USA Adoption Program info session will provide details about:

Program history
Partnership(s)
Program requirements
Child profile
Timelines
Step-by-step process
Trips

Please register in advance HERE
If you attended our general information session in the past, please note that this program-specific information session will ONLY be focusing on the USA (ACF) program. If you have not decided which program may be fit for your family situation and profile, we encourage you to attend all program info sessions as it may guide you to determine the country (or countries) of your interest.

For any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our main office:

Tel: (613) 226-2112 | Email: admin@childrensbridge.com

Thailand Adoption Info Session
2021-01-19 17:00 - 18:30 | ONLINE
Important Note: This information session is delivered via Zoom (live webinar format).
Please ensure that your computer’s operating system is compatible.

Have you been thinking about creating or expanding your family through international adoption from Thailand?

You are at the right place! The Children’s Bridge is pleased to announce a virtual program-specific information sessions designed to provide prospective adoptive applicants with a wealth of information about each adoption program and opportunities for live interaction with our Adoption Program Managers!

Cost: $28.25

Targeted participants:

Heterosexual married couples and single applicants in all provinces (except QC).

This Thailand Adoption Program info session will provide details about:

Program history
Partnership(s)
Program requirements
Child profile
Timelines
Step-by-step process
Trips

Please register in advance HERE
If you attended our general information session in the past, please note that this program-specific information session will ONLY be focusing on the Thailand program. If you have not decided which program may be fit for your family situation and profile, we encourage you to attend all program info sessions as it may guide you to determine the country (or countries) of your interest.

For any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our main office:

Tel: (613) 226-2112 | Email: admin@childrensbridge.com

Connect-A-Kid: Games & Painting
2021-01-03 16:00 - 17:00 | ONLINE
Games & Painting
Come join us and reconnect with your friends and mentors! Connect-A-Kid is a Team based mentorship program for adopted children, devoted to connecting the adoption community through mentorship, embracing cultural diversity and celebrating adoption.

Date: Sunday January 3, 2021
Time: 4 – 5 pm

This is a virtual event and we will email you the zoom link prior to the event.
(watercolour paint set and watercolour paper will be supplied)
For more information or to register, CLICK HERE
or contact Cathy at: cathy@adoption.ca or 613-680-2999 .
Adoption Council of Canada, Connect-A-Kid Program
2249 Carling Avenue, Suite 416, Ottawa, ON K2B 7E9

Connect-A-Kid is open to all adoptees from 6 to 12 years of age.

General Information Session
2020-12-01 17:00 - 18:30 | ONLINE
The Children’s Bridge is holding a General Information Session via Zoom and you’re invited!

Join us to learn about all of our options for intercountry adoption.

Cost: FREE
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 1
Time: 5 – 6:30pm

Please register in advance HERE

Social Justice & Allyship for Pre-Adoptive Parents of BIPOC Kids
2020-11-25 19:00 - 21:00, 2020-11-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2020-10-28 19:00 - 21:00, 2020-10-14 19:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE
A 5-part anti-racism series designed for pre-adoptive parents of BIPOC kids
About this Event

Throughout the last few months, a new lens has been shown on the persistent, dehumanizing racism faced by BIPOC throughout the world, but most notably in North America.

If you’re a pre-adoptive or prospective adoptive parent considering adoption transracially (parenting a child of a different race than your own), you may be wondering how to think about these incidents or talk to your future child about them. You may be wondering if adopting transracially is the right decision for you and your family or considering how best to be prepared to be an anti-racist parent and raise anti-racist children.

This five-part series will:

educate you on social justice and allyship,
guide you through owning your role and responsibility as the future parent of a BIPOC child,
discuss how to show up as an anti-racist advocate in your life, family, and community,
provide insight on how to shape your future child’s life and community as one that is anti-racist and inclusive, and
have conversations with your child, family, and community about social justice, human rights and the history of adoption.

COST:

$450 + taxes per family (maximum two participants per family)
$400 + taxes per person

A resource list and study materials will be distributed via a secure link.

SCHEDULE:

All times in Eastern Time (ET)
Every other Wednesday (September 30, October 14, 28, November 11, 25) | 7 – 9pm

FACILITATORS:

Kara Eusebio, MPA and Karyn Arnauld-Bakelaar, M.A. Click HERE to meet your facilitators.

VIEW FLYER
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

The Children’s Bridge Annual General Meeting
2020-11-21 13:00 - 15:00
The Children’s Bridge Annual General Meeting will be held November 21, 2020 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm via Zoom. The AGM is open to all members of The Children’s Bridge. To vote at the meeting you must have an active CB membership. A proxy voting form can be found HERE.
There is no cost to attend the meeting, and attendees will receive the link to the meeting by registering through Eventbrite HERE.
Nominations for the Board of Directors are welcomed and can be sent to Andy Thompson at andy.thompson@childrensbridge.com.

Social Justice & Allyship: A Five-Part Anti-Racism Series for Adoption Professionals
2020-11-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2020-11-04 19:00 - 21:00, 2020-10-21 19:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE
Joins us for this 5-part anti-racism series for adoption professionals.
This course was developed specifically for adoption professionals including adoption practitioners, adoption consultants, adoption doulas, and anyone working in adoption with families adopting transracially.

It is designed to:

Educate you on social justice issues in relation to child welfare/adoption;
Guide you through challenging the adoption narrative;
Help you uncover the racism inherent in adoption and provide real tools to actively dismantle it;
Discuss ages and stages of development and actions anti-racist parents can take;
Provide guidance to families on how to shape their child’s community as one that is anti-racist and inclusive.

WHEN: Every other Wednesday via Zoom (Sept. 23, Oct. 7, 21, Nov. 4, 18) | 7 – 9 pm

COST: $450 + taxes (A resource list and study materials will be distributed via a secure link.)

FACILITATORS: Kara Eusebio, MPA and Karyn Arnauld-Bakelaar, M.A. Click HERE to meet your facilitators.

VIEW FLYER
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Connect-A-Kid: Games & Show-and-Tell
2020-11-15 15:00 - 17:00 | ONLINE
Games & Show-and-Tell
Come join us and reconnect with your friends and mentors! Connect-A-Kid is a Team based mentorship program for adopted children, devoted to connecting the adoption community through mentorship, embracing cultural diversity and celebrating adoption.

Date: Sunday November 15, 2020
Time: 3 – 5 pm

This is a virtual event and we will email you the zoom link prior to the event.
For more information or to register, CLICK HERE
or contact Cathy at: cathy@adoption.ca or 613-680-2999 .
Adoption Council of Canada, Connect-A-Kid Program
2249 Carling Avenue, Suite 416, Ottawa, ON K2B 7E9

Connect-A-Kid is open to all adoptees from 6 to 12 years of age.

Educational Seminar – beyond PRIDE: Preparing your hearts and your lives for your new child
2020-11-14 09:30 - 15:30 | ONLINE
LIVE stream online – Saturday, November 14th, 2020
The goal of this educational seminar is to provide a framework for the next stage of your adoption process – beyond PRIDE.
Topics include:

Adjustments of children: food, language, sleeping, other children in the home, your extended family, pets;
Understanding open adoption relationships (or considerations if no contact);
Issues related to mixed racial adoptions; how to talk to your child about adoption; positive adoption language;
How to answer questions from family and friends;
Guest speakers, including adult adoptees; adoptive parents, birth mother, etc.

9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. $125/person.
View flyer for details
For further information and to register, contact:
Sofie Stergianis
adoption@rogers.com | 416-483-0003
www.adoptioneducation.ca

India Adoption Program (Virtual) Information Session
2020-11-02 17:00 - 18:30 | ONLINE
Have you been thinking about creating or expanding your family through international adoption from India?
You’re in the right place! The Children’s Bridge is pleased to announce a virtual program-specific information sessions designed to provide prospective adoptive applicants with a wealth of information about each adoption program and opportunities for live interaction with our Adoption Program Managers.

Date:
Monday, Nov. 2 | 5 – 6:30pm

Cost:
$25

Targeted participants:
Heterosexual married couples and single applicants in all provinces (except QC.)

This India Adoption Program info session will provide details about:

Program history
Partnership(s)
Program requirements
Child profile
Timelines
Step-by-step process
Trips

If you attended our general information session in the past, please note that this program-specific information session will ONLY be focusing on the India Adoption program. If you have not decided which program may be fit for your family situation and profile, we encourage you to attend an all-program info session as it may guide you to determine the country (or countries) of your interest.
Registration is required and can be done so HERE.
For any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our main office:

Tel: (613) 226-2112 |Email: admin@childrensbridge.com

ACO Live Webinar: Adoption & Adulthood - The Journey Continues
2020-10-29 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE
Adoption & The Adult Adoptee with Dianne Mathes R.S.W. Adult Adoptee, Therapist, ED Adoption Council of Ontario

Recommended Audience:Adoptees, parents, partners and the community who wants to connect with and support.

Goals: During this 2-hour webinar, Dianne explores the lifelong journey of the adoptee. This webinar focuses on understanding the history, experience and core issues that exist and impact the adult adoptee and how they may “play” at various stages of life stages and phases. The adult adopted person is often hindered in addressing and thus resolving these issues for a combination of reasons. A key focus is what adults who are adopted need to move from coping, longing and surviving to solidly knowing who they are and how to thrive in that knowing and being in the world.

Objectives:

Learn about and understand the lens of adoption and what it means
Integrate an understanding for yourself of how that lens was shaped for you by history and cultural beliefs
Learn what is missing and how missing pieces of your story can leave you at “don’t know points” in your life and journey
Explore the core issues in adoption and the duality that they can create in life phases
Learn the thoughts, feelings, experiences and perceptions that can occur and the importance of having them recognized, acknowledged and cared for
Understand how the issues of loss, grief and abandonment can emerge at stages and phases of life
Explore how the issues of shame and control play in your life and may be hidden even from you
Learn about the steps and stages of healing from adoption trauma and its role in your life

Register for free HERE

ACO Live Webinar: FASD
2020-10-28 19:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE
Recommended Audience:

Prospective and adoptive families and the professionals who work with them

New FASD with Judy Archer, MSW, RSW
*This is an introductory session for people who are just learning about FASD.
Our new webinar on prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs with Judy Archer, Adoption Counsellor and Consultant, will provide a comprehensive introduction to information about prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs that is critical for adoptive parents to consider when parenting or planning to parent a child by adoption.
Goals: Raise awareness about the lifelong impact of FASD as well as tools, strategies and resources for optimizing the child’s adaptive functioning.
Objectives: By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

Put FASD into context by explaining the extent of alcohol consumption in Canada
Pinpoint contributors to and symptoms of FASD: primary and secondary
Summarize the new diagnostic guidelines for FASD
Explain lifelong implications and realities of living with a brain-based disability
List strengths of children with FASD
Describe contributors to adaptive functioning in children with FASD
Identify formal and informal supports available to parents of children with a history of prenatal exposure to FASD

Register for free HERE

ACO Live Webinar: ACEs & Developmental Trauma Part 2 - Healing Through Adoption & Permanency Journeys
2020-10-26 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE
ACEs & Developmental Trauma Part 2: Healing Through Adoption & Permanency Journeys with Kathy Soden & Sylvia Gibbons, Adoption Council of Ontario PACT Team & DTAA Members and Dianne Mathes, Executive Director of the Adoption Council of Ontario

Recommended audience: pre-adoptive families, adoptive, kinship and customary care families, adult adoptees and the professionals who support those on adoption and permanency journeys

Objectives:

focus on the understanding of developmental trauma through the lens and core issues of adoption and permanency journeys
emphasize the importance of truly understanding children, youth and adults and their “internal working models”, so that parenting, child welfare work and therapeutic interventions can be set up for success
expand on the introductory discussion of prevention and healing from part 1 and address what can help children, youth and adults who have been impacted by developmental trauma from the perspective of:

pre-adoptive families
adoptive, kinship & customary care families
adult adoptees
professionals

address the importance of understanding developmental trauma and the lens of adoption by all of the systems (child welfare, education, health – physical and mental, family law, justice, etc) that work with people and families on adoption and permanency journeys
provide relevant resources and further learning opportunities

Register for free HERE

Connect-A-Kid: Games & Zoom Scavenger Hunt
2020-10-25 16:00 - 17:00 | ONLINE
Games & Zoom Scavenger Hunt
Come join us and reconnect with your friends and mentors! Connect-A-Kid is a Team based mentorship program for adopted children, devoted to connecting the adoption community through mentorship, embracing cultural diversity and celebrating adoption.

Date: Sunday October 5, 2020
Time: 4 – 5 pm

This is a virtual event and we will email you the zoom link prior to the event.
For more information or to register, CLICK HERE
or contact Cathy at: cathy@adoption.ca or 613-680-2999 .
Adoption Council of Canada, Connect-A-Kid Program
2249 Carling Avenue, Suite 416, Ottawa, ON K2B 7E9

Connect-A-Kid is open to all adoptees from 6 to 12 years of age.

(Central Ontario Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-21 - 2020-12-09 | ONLINE
Central Ontario Families | Oct. 21 – Dec. 9

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

ACO Live Webinar: ACEs & Developmental Trauma Part 1 - The Science & Why it Matters
2020-10-19 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE
ACEs & Developmental Trauma Part 1: The Science & Why it Matters with Kathy Soden & Sylvia Gibbons, Adoption Council of Ontario PACT Team & DTAA Members

Recommended audience: pre-adoptive families, adoptive, kinship and customary care families, adult adoptees and the professionals who support those on adoption and permanency journeys

Objectives:

provide an overview of:

the Adverse Childhood Experiences study and its findings,
the brain science related to childhood trauma and adversity, and
what developmental trauma is all about

explain why it’s important to understand these topics through the lens of adoption and permanency journeys
introduce a discussion about the prevention and healing of developmental trauma which will be expanded upon in Part 2
discuss the brain’s resilience and opportunities for strengthening neural pathways
introduce Ontario’s Developmental Trauma Action Alliance and its goals
provide relevant resources and further learning opportunities

Register for free HERE

(LGBTQ Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-17 - 2020-12-05 | ONLINE
LGBTQ Families | Oct. 17 – Dec. 5

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

(Kinship Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-16 - 2020-12-04 | ONLINE
Kinship Families | Oct. 16 – Dec. 4

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

ACO Live Webinar: Search and Reunion
2020-10-15 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE
Search and Reunion with with Dianne Mathes R.S.W. Adult Adoptee, Therapist, ED Adoption Council of Ontario.

Recommended Audience: Adult adoptees, first/birth families, adoptive families and the professionals who support them.

Goal: During this one hour webinar, Dianne explores the search and reunion phase in the life long journey of the adoptee. This webinar focuses on practical information about what reunion is and how to consider and embark upon a search. By exploring some of the key experiences within the adoption experience, our Search and Reunion webinar explores how questions, lack of mirroring and reflection as well as the lack of information about the story and circumstances of placement can be pieced together and the core issues within the lens of adoption addressed. Key to this webinar is a focus on how unresolved loss, grief and abandonment can be “triggered” and the normal and sometimes intense feelings this can create for both adoptees and their original and adoptive families.

Objectives: By the end of this webcast, participants will:

See the “view” of search and reunion through the lens of adoption

Explore and learn about approaches to searching

Understand the types of reunion and how best to make decisions about what is right for you

Learn the thoughts, feelings, experiences and perceptions that can occur are normal, and how they are connected to the experience of adoption

Learn that the intense feelings and longings can evoke intense needs such as Genetic Attraction

Understand how the issues of loss, grief and abandonment can emerge with search and reunion

Learn how search and reunion can provide a way to understand the missing pieces and facts that often exist within the adoption and placement experience

Learn why and how support is important and what support is most helpful

Learn ways to tell and talk about the need to search and why reunion is important to others in your life who may not know

Learn about how to navigate reunion relationships with care and compassion for everyone

Register for free HERE

(Northern Ontario Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-15 - 2020-12-03 | ONLINE
Northern Ontario Families | Oct. 15 – Dec. 3

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

ACO Live Webinar: Grief, Loss and Trauma
2020-10-14 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE
Tasks to be Mastered to Facilitate Healing from a History of Grief, Loss and Trauma Part 1 with Judy Archer, MSW, RSW

Recommended Audience: Prospective caregivers, adoptive parents, foster parents & professionals.

Upon placement, children face two daunting emotional issues: forming an attachment to new caregivers while simultaneously grieving separation, loss and more often than not, reactivation of any trauma from the past. In this webinar, prospective caregivers, adoptive parents, foster parents and the professionals who work work with them will gain important knowledge, skills and insights about the indicators of healing in the child post-placement and what they can do in their respective roles and relationships pre and post-placement to facilitate the healing process.

Goals: To gain knowledge, skills and insights needed to facilitate a child’s healing from grief, loss and trauma

Objectives: By the end of the webinar participants will be able to…

Describe the grieving process including the nature, stages and symptoms of grief
Identify at least 3 child-specific factors that will influence a child’s reactions to grief and loss
Explain at least 5 contributors to unresolved grief and loss in the child post-placement
Delineate the 6 variables that set the grieving process for the child-in-care and the child who joins a family through adoption and permanency planning apart from other types of loss
Outline the 9 Principles of Practice for parenting or working with the grieving child
Define trauma and provide at least 3 examples of the types of traumatic experiences that are common to many children-in-care
Elucidate 4 indicators of healing from a history of grief, loss and trauma with explanations of the specific tools, resources and strategies that can be used in their respective roles and relationships with a child to facilitate the child’s mastery of each interrelated task
Demonstrate knowledge of specific resources relevant to working with children pre- and post-placement
Outline the 9 Principles of Practice for parenting or working with the grieving child
Define trauma and provide at least 3 examples of the types of traumatic experiences that are common to many children-in-care
Elucidate 4 indicators of healing from a history of grief, loss and trauma with explanations of the specific tools, resources and strategies that can be used in their respective roles and relationships with a child to facilitate the child’s mastery of each interrelated task
Demonstrate knowledge of specific resources relevant to working with children pre- and post-placement

Register for free HERE

(Eastern Ont. Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-14 - 2020-12-02 | ONLINE
Eastern Ontario Families | Oct. 14 – Dec. 2

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

(W & SW Ont. Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-14 - 2020-12-02 | ONLINE
Western & Southwestern Ontario Families | Oct. 14 – Dec. 2

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.

CANCELLED U̶S̶A̶:̶ ̶P̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶-̶S̶p̶e̶c̶i̶f̶i̶c̶ ̶I̶n̶f̶o̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶S̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶
2020-10-13 17:00 - 18:30 | ONLINE
CANCELLED
Have you been thinking about creating your family through international adoption?

Look no further! Learn more about specific country programs and meet our Adoption Program Managers through live Zoom sessions. These program-specific information sessions will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and engage in interactive discussions.

These program-specific info sessions will provide details about:

Program History
Partnership
Requirements
Child Profile
Timelines
Step-by-Step Process
Trips

For full details, please view our flyer HERE, and register at Eventbrite HERE.

(Toronto Families) Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who have Experienced Trauma and Loss©
2020-10-13 - 2020-12-01 | ONLINE
Toronto Families | Oct. 13 – Dec. 1

What is it?

An eight session (24-hour) specialized training designed for adoptive, kinship and customary care families who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as a part of their history.

This Fall we are pleased to be offering our Pathways training program virtually to adoptive, kinship, and customary care families in classes that have been organized by geographical region in Ontario, as well as some classes specifically for kinship families, LGBTQ families, families who have adopted children with FASD, families who have adopted inter-culturally/inter-racially and families parenting adopted teens.
Download the flyer HERE.
For detailed information about the training click HERE.
Register for free HERE.
