Adoption Conference
Join us for the 8th Annual Adoption Conference- "Our Children's Roots"
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Fountain Springs Church West
2100 N. Plaza Drive, Rapid City, SD
Meals catered by Fork Real Cafe
For Professionals – Day Session
7:30 am – 4:00 pm MT
Includes lunch
Fountain Springs Coffee Shop will be open to purchase hot and cold specialty drinks
For Caregivers – Free Evening Session
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm MT
Free childcare
Includes dinner for parents and children
Speakers: Barb Clark and Daryle Conquering Bear
Our Children’s Roots: Navigating Community, Culture and First Family Connections
Zoom option available
This presentation supports parents and professionals in reflecting on and improving their cultural competence in providing care as well as interfacing with individuals from different cultures. Children and youth being raised in families of a different race and culture than their own have unique needs around positive identity formation and social/community safety. In this presentation, lived and professional experiences combine as an adult adoptee and child welfare professional guide attendees through the formation of racial and cultural identity.
We will go beyond talking about the importance of honoring race and cultural differences and provide practical tools for parents as they help their families embrace complexities and prepare for challenges. Whether adopted at birth or at an older age, adopted internationally or domestically, our children have a history that precedes our welcoming them in our family. It is crucial that professionals and families understand the importance of maintaining a child’s connection to their first family, culture and community in order to support their development of a strong and positive sense of self, a deeper understanding of who they are and their authentic story. In some form or another, at some time, our children will have questions regarding their past and the circumstances of their adoption. This session will discuss the various thoughts and questions adopted children may have and how to address them as adoptive parents and professionals.
Agenda
7:30 Registration Opens
8:00-9:45 Making Connections to Family, Culture & Community
9:45-10:00 Break
10:00-11:00 Discussion & Small Group Reflection
11:00-11:45 Lunch
11:45-2:00 Affirming Children’s Identities
2:00-2:15 Break
2:15-3:30 Discussion & Small Group Reflection
3:30-4:00 Strategy Wrap Up
Speaker Bios
Barb Clark is the Director of Training at Families Rising (formerly known as NACAC). Barb is passionate about sharing her parenting mistakes with other parents and professionals, so they don’t have to feel like the total failure that she felt like early in her journey of parenting children with trauma histories. Through humor and real-life experiences, she shares information about how trauma impacts children’s brains, and how to move away from consequence-based parenting/programming and instead use strategies that promote relationship and attachment building. Barb and her husband are parents to five young adults and are proud to say they survived having five teenagers at the same time. Before parenting, Barb worked with at-risk teenagers. She attended the University of Minnesota, earning a degree in Youth Studies. She has a particular passion for educating others on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders as well as trauma-responsive parenting strategies and parent support group networks and she does through her position at Families Rising, as the lead coach in the FASD Caregiver Kickstart and as a private consultant.
Daryle Conquering Bear Crow (Oglala Lakota) is the Native Wellness Coordinator at Denver Indian Health and Family Services. He is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux nation in Pine Ridge, SD. Daryle attended Oregon State University where he pursued a degree in Human Sports and Development with an emphasis on youth development and coaching. He speaks nationwide about Native youth who experience the child welfare system and advocates for the enforcement of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Daryle has worked with Casey Family Programs Indian Child Welfare Unit and served on advisory boards for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Capacity Building for Tribes. He collaborated and has interned with the National Indian Child Welfare Association and served on the North American Council on Adoptable Children board of directors and part of the Capacity Building for Tribes Advisory Council. Daryle was selected as a 2015 White House Champion for Change by President Obama and his Administration.
Cost to Attend
In-Person and Zoom Rates
Professional Day Session
Early Bird Registration (until March 31, 2024) – $105.00
General Registration (after March 31, 2024) - $125.00
CHS Staff - $50.00
DSS Staff – Free
Student Registration - $95.00