The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast

My friend Haeli has walked alongside my family through every stage of our foster care adoption journey. From respite care to adoption day celebrations, we discuss practical ways friends, family members, and community members can support children and families impacted by foster care and adoption.

What happens when you talk about adoption? In this episode, I sit down with my friend and mentor Susan Haertling to discuss her experiences as both an adoptee and adoptive mom. We talk about what led us to collaborate on It's Okay to Talk About Adoption, why adoption conversations matter, and what happened after she shared her connection to the book on social media. We also discuss the importa...

In this episode, I’m joined by a high school English teacher who piloted the Teen Edition of the Foster Care Adoption Awareness Reading Program alongside my new graphic novel, Ready or Not? We talk about what it actually looks like to bring this into a classroom, how students responded, and how educators can realistically use it during the school year. If you’re an educator or know one, learn more...

Deborah Olivia Farmer, adoptive mom and nonprofit founder, shares her own journey through foster care adoption and how she helps others overcome the fears that often hold people back.

What is EMDR therapy and how does it help children process trauma? EMDR trained therapist Casey O'Donnell Jones, M.Ed., LPC, RPT explains Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing , how it works in practice, and how foster and adoptive families can identify whether EMDR may support healing after early childhood trauma.

Keeping siblings together isn’t accidental. It’s intentional. Tiffany and Hakim talk about how they prepare for sibling groups and what it looks like to be the family that says yes when agencies are trying to keep brothers and sisters together.

Christie Erwin is the Executive Director of Project Zero , an organization with a bold mission: Zero. Noun. The number of children that should be waiting in foster care to be adopted. If that sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve been wearing their gray T-shirt for years. And when you’ve helped more than 1,600 children find a permanent family, you’ve earned the right to talk about getting closer to z...

Adoptive mom Francine Apy shares the story behind her adoption pendant necklace and her business, SoulFilling , which helps normalize adoption and support families touched by it.

Adoptive mom and Reclaim Compassion author Lisa C. Qualls explains blocked care and how parents can begin reclaiming compassion in adoptive families. Learn more about Lisa and her work at www.lisacqualls.com

Adoptee-turned-therapist Bre Gronli shares her foster care adoption story, her path to trauma-informed work, and the resources that help shape her own healing.

Adopted together. Growing up together. Sharing their story together. In this bonus episode, siblings Laura, Kim, and Dan reflect on entering foster care, being adopted as a group, and what they want families to know about saying yes to siblings.

Tom Baldwin serves as the Director of Strategy and Development for the Belmont University Social Innovation Labs, where he helps students, leaders, and organizations rethink how meaningful social change is made. With more than two decades of experience launching innovations across the business and social impact sectors, Tom brings a thoughtful and creative lens to today’s most complex challenges....

Anna is a mom by adoption and birth whose personal journey led her to bridge a gap for families raising children with trauma histories. You might remember her from Season 1, when she and her husband Travis shared their adoption story. Now, Anna is a certified Master IEP Coach® and Special Needs Church Consultant, equipping schools and faith communities to better support children and families impac...

Meet my graphic novel writing coach Maria Rodgers O’Rourke! Maria is a writer and certified Story Grid Editor. Her career began in advertising and public relations, moved to nonprofit leadership, and homed in on communications and writing after earning her master’s degree in pastoral studies. Maria is publisher and author of two women’s journals. She’s contributed stories to the St. Louis Post Dis...

Josh, a finance professional from Erie, Pennsylvania, shares how a timely billboard sparked a life-changing decision for him and his wife, Elena—to say yes to helping children in foster care. In this episode, you’ll hear how Josh brings foster care adoption advocacy into his Fortune 500 workplace, openly sharing his journey with colleagues and finding meaningful ways to support children in care. H...

Vince Smith leads Keystone Family Alliance as its Executive Director, drawing on his extensive expertise in organizational leadership and community engagement to drive transformative programs. Over the years, Vince has spearheaded innovative outreach and sustainable initiatives that create opportunities for vulnerable children and families to thrive.

Andrew Lewis is a partner at KPMG and the founder of the KPMG National Foster Care and Adoption Network. He is both a foster parent and adoptive parent who serves on the boards of Comfort Cases and the Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE).

Karen Phillips didn’t plan to become a child welfare changemaker—she simply said yes to becoming a foster parent. That yes set her on a path to help families in crisis long before the foster care system gets involved. In this episode of The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast , Karen shares how her lived experience fueled the creation of the 100 Families Initiative at Restore Hope Arkansas . Togethe...

Eva Amador is a retired adoption attorney from Puerto Rico. She spent her the final years of her career navigating the legal process to help children find forever families.

Connie Going has spent over 25 years working in the child welfare system and is the adoptive parent of two teens including Davion and another young man - the boys became good friends and referred to themselves as brothers when living at the same group home.

Beverly Jenkins and I met as Invested Faith Fellows. She is the founder of the North County Innovation Center . During a meet up at her space, she shared she was an adoptive mom, too. She went on to share she adopted a teenager from her youth group. Listen to this episode to hear how their forever family came together.

Foster Care Adoption Awareness in the Classroom: Lessons from Two Educators In this episode, I sit down with Jamie and Linda , two passionate elementary school teachers who have been instrumental in shaping and implementing the Foster Care Adoption Awareness Reading Program . Jamie, a kindergarten teacher, collaborated with me to develop the original lesson plan and co-taught the pilot session in...

Amanda Denning is the Director of Extreme Recruitment for the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition . Amanda is herself half adopted and, as of a few months ago, has become the kinship placement for her niece.  She has been working in child welfare for more than 10 years first as a recruiter and now as the director of a unique and intensive approach to finding permanent homes for children in foster...

In addition to being the mother of 3 daughters, 1 through adoption, ⁠Katerina Canyon⁠ is an award-winning poet and author.  During our conversation, we revisit stories from past guests, including ⁠Ben & Emily⁠ , who faced the unexpected challenge of their paperwork getting lost during the licensing process, and ⁠Thea & Amy⁠ , who discuss how their ⁠Family-Match⁠ technology is changing the...

Rene by day works in tech. As a single woman, she cares for her sister's children. In the foster care space we call this a 'kinship placement'. Kin refers to being a family member or someone related by blood. I think you'll find her story remarkable and also empathize with the challenges she faces.