The Justice Action Center and the Center for Adoption Policy are proud to cosponsor a yearly conference on adoption law and policy. Currently in its fifth year, this series explores topics at the forefront of adoption policy in the United States and abroad.

Friday, April 25, 2008
New York Law School
Wellington Conference Center

DESCRIPTION | SCHEDULE | CLE & PRICING

An estimated 100,000 American children in foster care are free for adoption.  For many of them, foster care offers an uncertain, unpredictable future. What they need is the permanent, loving home to which every child is entitled.

At the same time many potential U.S. adoptive parents, seeking to form or expand their family through adoption, find that the route to international adoption has been closed and that the path to domestic private adoption is too expensive and unreliable.

Children need homes; people want to parent. This conference investigated the structural, legal, and societal barriers that delay permanency for children in foster care who need families and suggested measures that address the pressing problems that impede the formation of adoptive families for children in care.

Sign-In
8:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Continental breakfast provided in the Wellington Conference Center.

Welcome Remarks
9:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m.

Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Executive Director, Center for Adoption Policy

Keynote Presentation
9:15 a.m.–9:45 a.m.

Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Professor of Law, Harvard University

What We Have Studied, What We Are Learning
9:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m.

• Richard Gelles, Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice
  The Adoption and Safe Families Act:  What Has Been the Impact on Adoption?
  Panel Chair 
• Jeff Katz, Independent Consultant
  Listening to Parents: Overcoming Barriers to the Adoption of Children from Foster Care
• Mary Hansen, American University
  Using Private Agencies to Create Adoptions from Foster Care
• Susan Smith, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
  Key Factors in Promoting Successful Special Needs Adoptions

Lunch Break
12:00 noon–1:00 p.m.

Light lunch provided in the Wellington Conference Center.

The Legal Dimension
1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Attendees at this panel are eligible for 2 CLE credits in professional practice

• Joan Hollinger, Lecturer in Residence, Berkeley Law School
  Panel Chair 
• Denise Seidelman, Partner, Rumbold & Seidelman Adoption and Reproductive Law
  Viable Options for Building Families through Adoption: Will Recent Limitations on Children Available through International Adoption Provide Opportunities for Children in the United States Seeking Permanency?
• Maria-Alana Recine, Principal Court Attorney to the Honorable Kathie E. Davidson, Supervising Judge for the Ninth Judicial District
  A View of the Foster Care System from the Bench: Changes Being Considered to Achieve the Goal of Child Permanency
• John Greene, Partner, Cohen and Greene
  Maryland's Mediation and Post-Adoption Contact Program: A Promising Model
• Ben Rosin and Rebecca Mendel, Partners, Rosin Steinhagen Mendel
  Foster Care to Adoption: A Legal Perspective
• Nathan Schacht, University of California, Berkeley
  Coming Out the Hard Way: Nonconsensual Disclosure of Sexual Orientation During the Adoption Process

What We Can Do Better: Improving the Lives of Our Children
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.

• Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Executive Director, Center for Adoption Policy
  Panel Chair 
• Sarah Gerstenzang, Incoming Executive Director, New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children, and Alexandra Lowe, Special Counsel, Division of Family Permanency Services, New York City Administration for Children's Services
  Adopting Close to Home: Navigating the Public Child Welfare System
• Joan Siegel, Director/Bridges to Health, New York City Administration for Children's Services
  What We Can Do Better:  Improving the Lives of Our Children
• Pat O’Brien, Executive Director, You Gotta Believe! (child placement service) 

Immigration Alternatives for Children Who Are Adopted or in Foster Care
4:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m.
Attendees at this panel are eligible for 1 CLE credit in professional practice

• Lindsay A. Curcio, Staff Attorney, Justice Action Center Safe Passage Project and Adjunct Professor, New York Law School
  Panel Chair
• Joan Hollinger, Lecturer in Residence, Berkeley Law School
  The New Hague Intercountry Adoption Regulations
• Katherine A. Fleet, Esq., Staff Attorney, Immigration Unit, The Legal Aid Society
  [Presentation Title to Come]
• Harry Gelb, Assistant Supervising Attorney, New York City Administration for Children's Services, Family Court Legal Services, Bronx Family Court Unit

Credits and Pricing
This CLE program was approved for both transitional and non-transitional attorneys for a maximum of 3 continuing legal education credits in professional practice. To receive credit, attorneys must have attended both the 1:00 and the 4:45 panels. The price of attendance with CLE was $99. (The cost of attendance without CLE was $25.)

Tuition Assistance
New York Law School offers financial assistance to attorneys who wish to attend CLE courses but who find it difficult to attend due to cost considerations. For more information, please visit the law school's continuing legal education tuition assistance page.

The 2004 conference focused on developments in the fields of intercountry adoption, transnational law, and European Union law. The well-regarded journal Diplomatic History joined in cosponsoring this first annual conference. For complete speaker information and a list of topics discussed, please click here.

The 2005 conference addressed the topic of gay and lesbian adoption, touching on the history of the movement, its current status, and future prospects. The second annual conference was cosponsored by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. Complete information on the conference is available by clicking here.

The 2006 conference addressed groundbreaking issues in adoption policy, including the legal and political ramifications of continuing technological development. Click here for complete conference information.

The 2007 conference returned to a discussion of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, and that treaty's effect on intercountry adoption in the United States. Click here for details on the fourth annual conference.