The Parent to Parent program provides a listening ear, knowledgeable guidance and community connections for adoptive families. The program is staffed by consultants who each have many years of experience as adoptive parents and who have been trained to help other adoptive parents. These Adoptive Parent Consultants have a variety of experiences themselves, such as foster-to-adopt, domestic adoption, transracial adoption, kinship adoption, children with special needs, and much more. The consultants are available at any time, to any adoptive family that needs support in any way.
Quite simply, the purpose of the program is to encourage and support adoptive families whenever, however, and wherever they need it. We do this in three ways:
- Connect your family to an adoptive parent consultant whose background most closely fits your situation.
- Providing personal contact and support in whatever way and for however long you need it (phone, email, in person, etc).
- Connecting your family to other adoptive families so that you can all support each other as you grow together.
How do you get started?
It’s easy to access the resources of the Parent to Parent program. Contact us 24/7/365 by calling us at 855-MICH-P2P or send us an email at afsn@dabsj.org. Visit our AFSN Facebook for up to date program highlights. Our services are free of charge to any adoptive, kinship and guardianship families living in Michigan.
We will connect you with an Adoptive Parent Consultant who can answer your questions, refer you to resources, connect you to other families and provide you with support.
This program is funded by:
Here are just a few of the questions that we can help you answer:
Identity:
How do I answer questions that my child is asking about his/her identity?
Behavior:
My child is exhibiting some difficult behaviors (mood swings, temper, disobedience, etc.). What can I do?
Resources:
What kinds of medical, emotional and financial support are available to us as an adoptive family?
Advocacy:
How do I obtain the help my child needs in school?
Referrals:
Can you help me find a physician, therapist, or other specialist with experience in adoption issues?
Peer Support:
Can I connect with another adoptive family? Is there someone else out there like us?
Grief and Loss:
I have heard that there are certain ages when children more commonly have questions about their adoption.