This morning as I read through one of several adoption news listserves that find their way to my Inbox, I found this article about post adoption depression. I checked our other bloggers to see if anyone had already found it, and sure enough, Dr. G wrote about Post Adoption Depression Revisited: Hot Off the Press. Dr. G was wondering about the possibility... more

I know this isn’t the Christian adoption blog, but for this time it might as well be… Both the church sermon and the Sunday school lesson today discussed topics that related to the lives of so many families who contact ADN. First, our pastor has been doing a series of sermons on the last twenty-four hours of the life of Jesus. This weekend’s time period was after Judas betrayed Jesus and when he was taken before the Sanhedrin. Our pastor discussed the “pack mentality” and how 71 men all allowed Jesus to be flogged and “convicted”. Our pastor... more

I did a little research today about what kind of Medicaid woes Colorado is experiencing… and apparently it has to do with residential placement only… not general Medicaid issues. My source tells me the Colorado CHILD MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT ACT (HB 99-1116) is still in effect and still working primarily the way it was designed to work. This piece of legislation allows parents to access residential care for their children without being declared abandoning or neglectful,... more

I am tired today. Partly physically tired, because my good friend MADE me walk a second time last night, making it four miles straight. The Border Collie thought that was a fine plan, but after finishing up my testimony yesterday morning and then rushing off to Topeka, only to hurry up and wait to present it… and then eat a very late lunch and drive home… I was TIRED. But I needed the walking, as I have my son’s wedding approaching and I’m trying very hard to get in shape!

The other part of my tired is emotional. It was very emotional in Topeka yesterday, listening to the stories from... more

I testified in Topeka today, as mentioned in You have to leave. Here is the testimony I presented:

My name is Nancy Spoolstra and I am the Executive Director of the Attachment Disorder Network. Although I started ADN here in Kansas ten years ago, it is now a national non-profit serving families with children who have attachment issues or attachment disorder. The vast majority of the families we serve are parenting foster or adopted children who have experienced trauma, abandonment, grief and loss. I created this organization as a result of my inability to find and access appropriate services... more

Speaking of getting ejected from residential treatment facilities, Kansas’s next door neighbor, Missouri, is struggling with when and how to do that too… (See You have to leave) I have a very dear friend whose son turns 17 in April. He is currently in residential care, but since they really don’t have a clue about what to do with him, they are probably going to release him by this summer. Most folks shouldn’t have to worry, though, for the following reasons:

He’s not a sociopath because he isn’t 18, and you can’t BE a sociopath until you’re 18.

He’s not trying to kill PEOPLE,... more

Next week I will drive to Topeka, the Kansas state capitol, to testify at a legislative hearing about a rather significant hiccup in the Kansas Medicaid program. (Read the article.) Apparently Kansas has a law on the books that Medicaid will not pay for children to stay in residential care for longer than 140-180 days. And apparently Kansas has been ignoring that law for ten years and billing Medicaid anyway. Now that the feds are trying to cut Medicaid expenses, they found the glitch last December and the state is now releasing kids into foster care homes post haste. The state’s response was, “Oh well, we can’t... more