NEWS + EVENTS

Insights That Inform Practice

Recent Blog Posts

The Value of Adoption Competent Therapy

Aug 10, 2026

The Value of Adoption Competent Therapy Isabel S., Lived Experience Advocate I was eight the first time I sat across from a therapist. I don't...

Strengthening Mental Health Through Connection, Collaboration, and Competency: Reflections from NAMICon 2026

Jun 28, 2026

The National Center reflects on NAMICon 2026, highlighting adoption competent mental health, workforce development, and cross-system collaboration.

Beyond Intervention: Why Foster Care Must Be Paired with Adoption Competent Mental Health Care

Jun 28, 2026

Finding adoption competent mental health care isn’t easy. Explore why access gaps exist, why specialized training matters, and how stronger systems can better support adoptive, foster, and kinship families.

The ACN Workforce Brief

The Adoption Competency Network is dedicated to equipping providers and systems with the knowledge and skills needed to thoughtfully respond to the clinical and relational needs of children and families impacted by child welfare. Through this quarterly newsletter, we’ll share insights, resources, and updates that reflect this mission and the meaningful work happening across our network.

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Recent Webinars

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Sustaining Ourselves While Serving Others

Q&A with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky. Designed for child-serving professionals—including social workers, clinicians, health care providers, and educators—this interactive webinar explores how to sustain compassion while navigating trauma exposure, burnout, and moral distress.

In Their Backpack: The Added Weight of Loss & Grief for Students in Adoptive, Foster, Kinship, and Guardianship Families

In this webinar viewers will gain a deeper understanding of how trauma and loss impact students’ emotional regulation, behavior, and academic functioning. You will learn to recognize common school-based manifestations of grief, traumatic stress, and loss, and will leave with practical, permanency-focused, trauma-informed strategies that can be immediately applied to promote safety, connection, emotional processing, and academic success for students in adoptive, foster, kinship, and guardianship families.

Upcoming Events

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New England Children’s Behavioral Health Network Conference

Sep. 15, 2026

Meet with the National Center along with national and regional thought leaders to advance solutions for how we can use technology and new models to reimagine behavioral healthcare for children and families across New England.

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