About Our Project

The Post Adoption Services Project is a renewable 14-month grant program funded as a joint project of the Humboldt County Council On Adoptable Children (C.O.A.C.) and the California Department of Social Services. The goal of the project is to provide services to adoptive families. Components of the program include a parent/professional Advisory League that meets quarterly to discuss the needs of adoptive families in the Humboldt and Del Norte County areas. A Summit On Children was held in early March of 2002, in which local professionals who work with children were invited to speak about the organizations they are associated with and to break down barriers existing in the professional community. A respite training program will also be implemented that provides training for professionals that provide respit care for adoptive families. Our services also include support for guardianship cases, and open adoption mediation and support. The above aspects of the program were formulated in compliance with the guidelines set out by the Council on Adoptable Children and the California Department of Social Services.

PASP offers short-term individual and family therapy sessions at no cost to it's clients. PASP also offers specialized Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) at its fully equipped facility on-site. Families or individuals, through self-referral or other, may call PASP for assistance with both crisis interventions and general counseling needs. Referrals will be made for clients needing long-term or more specialized crisis intervention. Families or individuals may receive up to twelve (12) sessions with our Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is both an adoption specialist and a PCIT certified therapist. Clients needing further assitstance may use our MediCal provider or be referred to other community resources.

All PASP therapy services focus on the needs of the adoptive family unit and can be useful whether or not the placement continues. Our counseling services focus on the development of the family constellation. Families are encouraged to work on adjustment and attachment, positive parenting skills, behavioral concerns, healing the pain caused by a child's history of abuse and neglect, developmental transitions, working with a child who has a permanent special need, safeguarding and supporting the marital unit, and encouraging positive sibling interactions.

Our counseling services are appropriate for families nearing finalization, in danger of a disruption, and families who are having post-adoption adjustment difficulties. Families are encouraged to attend our Educational Support groups which augment our therapy sessions.

Monthly Support Groups & Therapy Sessions
The Post Adoptive Services Project also offers a Monthly Parent Support Group. The educational group will take place from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Local qualified therapist Teri Vodden will conduct the group. Guest speakers will be present at the majority of the groups to provide additional information on scheduled topics. Planned group topics include: siblings, cultural differences/ international children, parenting teenagers, placement disruption, residential treatment, parenting a child who has been sexually abused, strengthening the bond in marriage, self-esteem building and dealing with biological families. Group topics will be scheduled based on the interests of group members. By scheduling these groups in the evening we are hoping to include parents who are busy during traditional work hours, in particular, fathers. For the many families living outside the Humboldt-Del Norte County area in Northern California, we include highlights from each monthly meeting in our Newsletter and in monthly articles by Teri Vodden and some local adoptive parents (see the P.A.S.P. Reading Room).

In addition to monthly parent Support Groups, topic specific six week multiple family groups will be offered. Parents and their children can engage in the group therapy process to address specific family issues. Groups will be formed based on common interests between families. Groups may be offered in either a Eureka or Arcata location. Once again, the Post Adoptive Services Project will cover the cost of these services. Teri Vodden will facilitate these groups.

Anyone interested in family therapy or multiple family groups can contact Teri Vodden at (707) 840-0815 or call the Post Adoptive Services Project at (707) 476-9210. Information regarding the monthly Parent Support groups will be available at the Post Adoption Services Project, (707) 476-9210.

The therapy programs have been developed with the goal of reaching all adoptive parents. We realize that needs and interests range from individuals wanting group involvement, to those requesting individual therapeutic services, to those individuals who have a desire to work on their issues privately, but who could benefit from resource information. A final service offered by the Post Adoptive Services Project is this website, which contains information regarding our program as well as advice and resources on a variety of topics.