Health and Family Services Cabinet
Registration Open for State Adoption Conference; Parents involved with DCBS adoptions invited to Louisville event on Oct. 13-14

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 6, 2006) – The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University, is sponsoring a conference next month to train adoptive families in Louisville.

The “Fall in Love with Adoption” conference is planned for Friday, Oct. 13, and Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Executive West Hotel, 830 Phillips Lane.

The free event is open to all adoptive parents receiving an adoption subsidy who have not attended another conference in the past year. The registration deadline is Monday, Sept. 11, and parents interested in attending should contact their recruitment and certification worker or a subsidy worker.

The conference is the cabinet’s latest effort to emphasize the importance of adoption. The state’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Adoption will meet monthly at least through the end of the year to review the adoption process and to identify opportunities for improvement.

Check-in starts at noon on Oct. 13, with an optional workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. On Oct. 14, morning and afternoon training sessions are scheduled. Topics include adoption assistance, attachment, educational advocacy, preventing disruptions and the effects of substance abuse. Nine training hours are available.

Allen Brenzel, M.D., a child development expert and DCBS consultant, said adoptive families may not know the huge difference they make in the lives of their children.

“Research on early brain development and attachment has clearly shown that one of the keys to adult health and functioning is having a healthy relationship with a consistent and nurturing caregiver,” he said.

“Those individuals who open their homes to children in need are truly performing work that is as important as neurosurgery,” said Brenzel, who is also a conference workshop presenter. “Their efforts impact how a child’s brain is physically wired and thus determines how they will relate to the world throughout their entire life. The importance of foster and adoptive parents cannot be overemphasized.”

For more information about the conference, contact Patricia Parrish at patricia.parrish@ky.gov.

To learn more about adoption, call (800) 928-4303. Or logon to the SNAP home page at www.chfs.ky.gov/snap.

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