Workshop: Launching: Supporting Your Teen Through Early Adulthood

Adoption is a lifelong journey, and adopted individuals face different challenges during each stage of life. The late adolescent and early adult years offer unique opportunities for growth, independence, and identity formation, but also create new obstacles as life experiences expand beyond the shelter of the familiar. Build your knowledge of the common developmental struggles of adoptees in this age group through the lens of the seven core issues in adoption and learn the best ways to offer support and guidance as a parent, caregiver, or professional. Warning signs of more serious issues requiring professional intervention will also be described.

The mission of Pact Family Camp is to provide a safe, honest, child-centered, anti-racist space where adopted children and youth of color can connect with peers and mentors who share their identities and experiences, and where their parents can dig deeply into not only the joys but also the challenges of adoption, race, and family. Through a week-long immersive program, we set in motion a transformative experience that continues to impact families long after camp is over. Children and parents come away with a deeper understanding of the complexities of adoption, new language they can use to talk about it, and the knowledge that they are not alone on the lifelong journey of adoption.