Supporting Parents of Toddlers and Older Children through Options Counseling
Spence-Chapin is well-known as a trusted resource to help new and expectant parents across New York and New Jersey as they consider permanency options for their infants. But Spence-Chapin also has experience and expertise supporting parents of toddlers and older children, regardless of their developmental and medical needs, as they plan secure adoptions. This past […]
The Woman Who Experienced Both Sides of Open Adoption
Ereshnee grew up as an Indian woman in South Africa. After becoming pregnant at 17 years old, she decided to make an adoption plan. Her mother knew about her pregnancy but very few other relatives were aware. Her father was not told about the pregnancy. Ereshnee bonded closely with her social worker from the adoption […]
Building Families, Nurturing Communities: The Important Role of Social Workers in Adoption
Two infants, Two families Monica Baker, a social worker with Spence-Chapin for more than ten years, understands well the delicate balance of emotions involved in her work. She spends her days enabling connections between infants and the families who can provide forever homes for them. Today she facilitated the adoption of two infants, just hours […]
Birth Parent Support: The Spence-Chapin Way
by Leslie Nobel At Spence-Chapin, we view adoption as a lifelong journey that touches the lives of many individuals: birth parents, adoptees, adoptive parents, as well as extended families. It is essential to approach every individual connected to adoption from a place of honesty, respect, and loving support. That is what we call The Spence-Chapin […]
Do you need a Doula?
Labor is a challenging, arduous, stressful experience. Having a labor expert to serve as your companion can relieve the stress. In other words, a doula. What is a doula, and what do they do? Doula is a Greek word meaning “a woman who serves”. Doulas provide emotional and physical support for pregnant women before, during, and after labor. While doulas […]
Interim Care During COVID-19
The role of an Interim Care Volunteer is not always an easy one, but they all agree that it is certainly rewarding. Spence-Chapin’s Interim Care Program provides a unique and important service to birth parents, offering them time and space to work with one of our social workers on a plan for the future while […]
Support for Our Community During COVID-19: Birth Families
To help mitigate some of the challenges that the children and families of our community are facing, Spence-Chapin is providing critical supplies and support services that are especially needed during this time. Here, our social workers share how meaningful these services have been to the birth families they serve. To learn more about how to […]
Journey of Strength and Hope: A Birth and Adoptive Mom’s Story
The Present Jacqui adopted a beautiful baby girl named Carina through Spence-Chapin in August 2018. When I asked Jacqui why she chose to work with Spence-Chapin, she said that she was first introduced to Spence-Chapin as a birth parent seeking counseling and support many years ago. And after finally finding this support, she knew this […]
ADOPTION IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
In November of 2005, Ed Gordon of National Public Radio (NPR) sat down with Spence-Chapin’s then-Assistant Director of Domestic Adoption Antoinette “Toni” Cockerham and Spence-Chapin adoptive parent Lisha Epperson about African American adoption. Their conversation highlights the history of African American Adoption at Spence-Chapin, some of its challenges at the time, as well as its […]
An Open Adoption Story
By Lucy Shaw, LMSW and Birth Parent Outreach worker for Spence-Chapin Dax (third from left) with three of his biological siblings and adoptive Dad, Jochen For National Adoption Month, I’m excited to share my personal story of open adoption with you all. As an adoptive mom in an open adoption and as a social worker […]
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