Center for Adoption Support & Education Awarded $75,000 from W.K. Kellogg Foundation...

Center for Adoption Support & Education Awarded $75,000 from W.K. Kellogg
Foundation to Develop Racial and Cultural Identity Training Programs for
Professionals

BURTONSVILLE, Md., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Adoption
Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is pleased to announce that it has been
awarded a $75,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The grant will enable C.A.S.E. to develop training curricula for post-masters
mental health professionals on issues of racial and cultural identity as they
impact individuals who are adopted internationally or transracially as well as
benefit adoptive families. The training program will comprise a DVD/Discussion
Guide, classroom curricula and a resource guide for clinicians on
racial/cultural identity issues.

"This generous funding will make it possible for C.A.S.E to develop
comprehensive, in-depth training materials for professionals," said Debbie
Riley, M.S., Executive Director of C.A.S.E. "Racial and cultural identity are
vital competencies on which the intensive training programs will focus." A
growing number of adoptive families have adopted transracially and
transculturally. Professionals will acquire the skills to effectively help
adoptees and their families understand the impact of race, ethnicity and
culture upon their lives and the development of healthy racial, ethnic
identity.

Multiracial children, transracial adoptees and children adopted from foster
care by families in which there is more than one racial or cultural heritage
have unique experiences inside and outside their families -- experiences that
differ from those of children who are raised in racially and culturally
homogeneous families. Research indicates that children's healthy development
depends on the effective management of diversity-related issues by their
families and that adoptive families frequently seek mental health services to
assist them with these issues.

Approximately 50% of the adoptive families for whom C.A.S.E. provides
adoption-competent clinical services are transracial or transcultural. The
training program will prepare psychologists and clinical social workers, as
well as marriage and family counselors (and other licensed professionals) to
accurately assess and develop appropriate intervention strategies.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR ADOPTION SUPPORT AND EDUCATION
Since 1998, C.A.S.E. has ensured the well-being of foster and adoptive
families, with adoption-competent counseling and educational services, as well
as nationally acclaimed publications (W.I.S.E. Up!(R), W.I.S.E. Up! for
Children in Foster Care(R), S.A.F.E. at School(R) and Beneath the Mask:
Understanding Adopted Teens) for foster and adopted children, teens, adults
and families. Named "One of the Best Small Charities" by The Catalogue for
Philanthropy, C.A.S.E. is an independent, non-profit organization that also
provides adoption-competent training workshops to child welfare professionals,
counselors and educators. For more information call 301-476-8525 or visit the
website at www.adoptionsupport.org.

ABOUT THE W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports
children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions
that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as
contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in
the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the south African
countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland
and Zimbabwe. For further information, please visit the Foundation's website
at www.wkkf.org.
CONTACT: Michelle Lovejoy
Director of Community Education
301-476-8525
lovejoy@adoptionsupport.org

SOURCE Center for Adoption Support & Education

Michelle Lovejoy of the Center for Adoption Support & Education,
+1-301-476-8525, lovejoy@adoptionsupport.org