International Adoption Training

You will be required to complete at least ten (10) hours of pre-adoptive training.

** Families who are adopting from China: 2 additional training hours are required by the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) **

Training Requirements:

• 3-Hour Adoptions Together/FamilyWorks Together Individualized Hague Training
• 2-Hour Country-Specific Hague Training
• 5 Hour, 20 Minute Adoptions Together Online Training (Hague Package)
  • Complicated Children: Managing their Behavior While Helping Them to Heal
  • International and Domestic Adoption Medicine 101
  • Interracial Adoption and Parenting
  • Trauma, Attachment and the Developing Brain
  • Understanding Blocked Care and Strategies for Moving Forward

• Description of In-Person Individualized Training:
  This individualized training is for pre-adoptive families who plan to adopt a child or children internationally. If you have been matched with an identified child, it is personalized for your child and specific family situation, with an emphasis on strategies that encourage a positive transition for your child and family. This training will ensure that you learn effective strategies so that you are prepared to “hit the ground running.” The specific topics included in the training are as follows:

  • The effects of insecure attachment on the behaviors of your child who has been in foster care and/or an orphanage.
  • The effects of trauma on your child’s cognitive, social, emotional and neurological development.
  • The effects of pre-natal drug or alcohol exposure.
  • The short and long-term effects of institutional care including physical, cognitive, emotional and social.
  • The family adjustment during transition and after “honeymoon” phase, including specific tools and techniques to foster healthy attachment and to create a therapeutic environment.
  • Language development.
  • Long term implications of becoming a multicultural and/or multiracial family including:
  • Strategies for helping the child acculturate and assimilate.
  • The importance of honoring country of origin customs and traditions.
  • To process any known information about your child to help you successfully integrate your child into your family.
  • Strategies for helping siblings adjust to your adopted child.
  • Local resources.