AGAPE Long Island Family Support Specialist

caryl@affcny.org  | 631.598.1983

Having experienced firsthand the benefits of the Coalition’s Adoption and Guardianship Program or Everyone; (AGAPE) as an AGAPE family, Caryl joined the Coalition in June 2020 as a Family Peer Advocate for the Long Island Rockland Region.

Her work in adoption advocacy started with The Adoptive Parents Committee where she served as a Tri-State Governor and the Long Island Chapter Co-President for more than eight years helping 100’s of hopeful families through the preadoption process to form their family through adoption.

 As a Family Support Specialist, Caryl is passionate about helping adoptive families raising a child with special needs and mental health challenges learn how to advocate for their children until they can do so for themselves. By building resilience and a positive mindset, she empowers her families with the tools, they need to be successful in doing so. Having lived experience with adoption trauma and loss, Caryl believes identifying community resources, providing appropriate educational supports and maintaining family peer support is the key to forming trust and successful outcomes in the families she serves.

Caryl has more than 20 years of experience in leadership positions for local community, volunteer-based non-profits specializing in the special needs and mental health and serves on advisory boards for The Long Island Children’s Museum 4All, The International Dyslexia Association’s Long Island Branch, her local SEPTA, and NYS Parent to Parent as a Support Parent. She is an adoptive parent of two teens and currently credentialing as a Family Peer Advocate with New York Families Together and the Office of Mental Health.