Call for Proposals for 2011 Symposium Richmond, VA: Opening Adoption: Realities, Possibilities & Challenges

Call for Proposals for 2011 Symposium Richmond, VA

Symposium 201 1 Opening Adoption: Realities, Possibilities & Challenges

Call for Workshop Proposals

Dates: September 23 & 24, 2011

Location: University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Virginia

Definition of Symposium: a meeting or conference for the public discussion of some topic especially one in which the participants form an audience and make presentations

Coordinators2inc is seeking proposals for their 2011 Symposium Opening Adoption: Realities, Possibilities and Challenges. Through this symposium, we seek to open a dialogue in our community about many facets of adoption. We hope that presenters and attendees will have opportunities to discuss, from multiple viewpoints, adoption as a lifelong process. We are open to presentations that are about adoption in general or specifically about one type of adoption. We do not intend for this symposium to only discuss open adoption nor to only discuss adoption from a positive or negative perspective. We seek and expect to have a wide range of perspectives to give a full view of the complexity of the issues and to allow attendees an opportunity to consider adoption from another perspective other than their own. Please consider in your proposal how you can structure your workshop to include ample opportunity for discussion, not just presentation of information. If you have information, expertise, interest or knowledge to add to this symposium, please consider presenting at our 2011 Symposium in Richmond, Virginia.

Until JANUARY 14, 2011 coordinators2inc will accept proposals from adoptees, first/birth parents, adoptive parents, adoption professionals, therapists, researchers, educators, media professionals, advocates, attorneys, policy makers and legislators to submit a proposal for a workshop. Workshops may include more than one speaker and will be scheduled for 75 minutes.

Coordinators2inc is seeking those who would like to contribute to a dialogue about any facet of adoption. Below are suggested topic areas and are not intended to be the only topics we will consider:

**Opening of conversation about adoption in the community and the family
**Legislative advocacy – how to, what are obstacles, what does current practice do to inform legislative change related to past adoptions
**Best practices in adoption policies, laws and processes;
**The impact of openness or a lack of openness has had on individuals and families
**Preparing for openness (for families hoping to adopt or for women/men planning a placement)
**Negotiating boundaries in search/reunion, open adoption, closed adoption, etc…
**How to offer more/better post adoption services related to openness
**Siblings and open adoption
**Managing openness in families with children by birth and children by adoption
**How does the current thinking around openness change things for those in closed adoptions
**Opening adoptions later on in life
**The internet and openness in adoption
**Openness as it relates to sperm/egg donors
**Openness in adoption as it relates to the developmental stages of a child
**International adoption and openness
**Managing obstacles to openness (personal/emotional, familial, cultural, legal, safety etc.)
**What sets up open adoptions for success? What doesn’t?
**How can placing parents and families hoping to adopt best prepare for openness?
**Negotiating boundaries in search/reunion, open adoption, closed adoption, etc…
**What kinds of post adoption services best prepare families for success?
**Moving from a closed system/adoption to an open system/adoption
**Post adoption contact agreements – pros/cons; what works and what doesn’t work
**Gender and openness – what if any differences are there for men and women – talking about adoption, managing relationships, etc…

Guidelines
Please use this format for your written proposal:
**Your name as you wish it to be included in the symposium materials
**Contact information to include address, phone number and email address
**Brief biography of presenter(s) that is 50 words or less
**Title of your workshop
**Summary of the workshop content you intend to share
**Brief explanation for how you see the proposed workshop meeting symposium expectations based upon the description of the symposium on the first page
**udiovisual requirements
**A statement as to whether you would give permission for your workshop to be audiotaped.

Handouts are suggested but are the sole responsibility of the presenter to provide. Classroom sizes for the workshops will likely limit attendees to 20 per room. The total expected attendance of this event will not exceed 200.

Workshop sessions may include more than one speaker; however, if several workshop proposals are submitted that are of a similar nature, the organization may request to combine those workshops into a panel presentation. Panels will be limited to 3 – 4 people and will have 1 ½ hour time frame.

All presenters will have access to the Symposium free of charge. We request that all presenters provide their own travel and lodging accommodations. We hope that all presenters and attendees will consider staying at the Embassy Suites hotel where we have blocked off rooms for this event. Embassy Suites Hotel – Richmond (www.embassysuitesrichmond.com ) Reservations should be made prior to the cut-off date, August 25, 2011. Please call the hotel directly at 804-672-8585 or central reservations at 1-888-409-5345 and ask for the coordinators2inc block when making their reservations.

All proposals should be emailed to [email protected] by JANUARY 14, 2011

All accepted proposals will be notified by email.
Please be sure to include an email contact.

For more information about the organization sponsoring this Symposium, please visit coordinators2inc online at www.c2adopt.org or find us on Facebook by searching for coordinators2inc The Lifetime Adoption Resource.