AGAPE Long Island Director
samantha@affcny.org | 631.598.1983
Samantha joined the Coalition team in January of 2020 as the Director of AGAPE Long Island/Rockland/Putnam. Samantha is the Program Director for the AGAPE program in Nassau/Suffolk/Rockland/Putnam counties. In this role, she supervises and supports the Family Support Specialists who serve our families directly, as well as facilitates parent trainings and support groups. You can find Samantha teaching about blocked trust and care at our Reframing Parenting series, as well as connected parenting at our Trust-Based Parenting groups. Before joining the Coalition, she worked as a Program Director for an international adoption agency, providing pre-adoption education, home study services, and post-adoption counseling.
Samantha is a NY Licensed Master Social Worker and an adoption-competent therapist. She has over 10 years of experience working with adoptive families providing advocacy and education, case management, home studies, post adoption support, and ongoing therapy. She is passionate about helping families navigate the blessing, the loss, and the trauma of adoption. Samantha’s work at the Coalition is more than a job, because her passion is to help individuals heal from their histories of trauma and help families grow in their connection with one another.
Samantha received her Master’s in Social Work degree from Bryn Mawr College and is a New York Licensed Master Social Worker. Samantha has completed the Training for Adoption Competency through the Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE), and is a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner. In addition to her role at the Coalition, Samantha is a therapist in a private practice, and her favorite population to work with are adoptive families!
Samantha lives on Long Island with her husband, and has 4 children by birth and adoption. She has experienced the challenge of parenting a child who has endured profound loss, and the impact on the whole family system. She has also experienced the healing and connection that can happen when parents practice therapeutic parenting. Samantha loves continuing education, reading, the mountains, and being outside with her family.
