A Day in the Life of a Gladney Intern

My time at Gladney has gone by so quickly! I've loved being an intern for the  transitional care and new beginnings programs! 2 of my favorite things I have done have been going on homestudies and going to a matching event in San Antonio. I love being able to interact with the families taking that first step towards adoption. It is so wonderful to hear what has led them to Gladney and their stories. I also enjoyed going to the matching event and getting to know the foster kids waiting to be adopted. It was definitely a great opportunity to see the kids and hang out with them. One of my projects has been making the resource list on Portal easier to navigate so we can fully utilize the resources available to us.There are filters besides each category that make it easier to navigate a specific resource in a specific state, city, or type. Thank you all for being so welcoming and helpful! This is such a wonderful environment to be able to work in. :-) - Lindsey Patters...

I am a graduate student from the University of Texas at Arlington where I am currently perusing my Master’s degree in the field of Social Work. For my degree, I am required to complete a total of 400 hours in a placement of my school’s choosing.   Honestly, I was skeptical at first about the “potluck-style” placement of my internship but once I learned I had the opportunity to work at GladneyCenter for Adoption I was ecstatic.   I felt an initial connection to this placement because adoption has had a huge part in my life. I was adopted by my parents when I was 6 days old from an agency in San Antonio and for as long as I can remember, I have heard from my family how beautiful and precious adoption is. I’ve heard it described as so many things; a miracle, a prayer answered, a blessing for adoptive parents (especially for those who may not be able to conceive children of their own) …and yet none of those words completely describe what it feels like to actually be one of thos...

This week I went to Austin with Heidi Bruegel Cox for a two-day meeting of the Adoption Review Committee , which was appointed by the governor. The Committee is charged with identifying barriers to adopting out of foster care and creating legislative proposals to overcome those obstacles so that children in the foster care system can find permanency more quickly. On Wednesday the Committee heard testimony from individuals and families who had fostered or sought to adopt children from CPS ( Child Protective Services ) but felt that CPS created barriers to the adoption that was damaging to their family and to the children. A common theme throughout their testimonies was that the current foster care reimbursement system disincentivizes adoption. Parents who had been fostering medically fragile children – some of whom suffered from degenerative conditions that weaken and deteriorate their bodies and who required treatment from multiple specialists – find themselves financially unable to a...

I have LOVED getting to work at Gladney ! Heidi Bruegel Cox (whom I work with in Legal) is good about making this a two-way experience in which I learn from and about Gladney as much as I work for Gladney. I've had the chance to go with Heidi to a local hospital and listen to her present to the current resident class of OB-GYNs about the adoption services Gladney could offer their clients. The best part of my experience thus far was attending Adoptive Parent Orientation. It was amazing! Couples came to learn about the next steps in the adoption process and have all their questions answered. It was wonderful to hear from three birth-moms about their journeys - they are all so sweet, bright and thoughtful. My big project for the summer is researching the cost associated with state adoptions and with children leaving the foster care system. I have spent the first half of this week looking into the costs associated with future homelessness of youth who age out of foster care - i...