One of their most frequent complaints in adoption is the inability to find mental health care and ancillary service professionals who are adoption-competent – that is, who understand the unique issues associated with adoption.

Many different types of professionals provide mental health services. The person or team best suited to work with a particular family will depend on the family’s specific issues, as well as the professional’s training, credentials, and experience with adoptive families.

The AFCTN’s mission is to enhance the training of attachment-focused, adoption and foster care specialized mental health professionals, so that EVERY adoptive, birth, and foster care parent can easily access and receive the services they need for themselves and for their child to support a thriving, nurturing, forever family.

C.A.S.E. increases awareness of the deep need for adoption competency in mental health services because our families deserve to have access to effective, sensitive and expert care.

A therapist who is adoption competent has completed accredited training in trauma-based adoption issues. They should not be using the old Reactive Attachment Disorder diagnosis.