Breakout Session 1 | Friday, 11:30am CST
Featured Breakout 1: Dealing With Big Behaviors - A TBRI® Approach | Daren Jones
What is trauma and how does it impact our kiddos? We will spend time understanding trauma, its impact, and how the TBRI® strategies help us respond to behaviors and create an environment of connection and safety.
Reframing Foster Care | Jason Johnson
ReFraming Foster Care is a reflection on the foster parenting journey designed to help you find hope – and remind you that your work is worth it and you are not alone.
Presence Matters | Beth Guckenberger
Join Beth as she shares practical tips and strategies for working with children who have a trauma history. 26 years of experience in children’s ministry, specifically with this population uniquely equips her to share with wisdom and hope.
Transracial Family Panel | Cam Lee Small, Kayla Moffitt, Sophia Janzen
Join trusted voices in a discussion on transracial foster and adoptive families that will explore the unique experiences and challenges faced by these families as they navigate cultural differences and identity formation. Attendees will hear personal stories from both parents and adoptees, offering insights into the complexities of belonging and inclusion. The session aims to provide practical strategies and support for families and professionals to create nurturing and inclusive environments.
Raising Children Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol and Drugs | Sandra Flach
This workshop presents the impact of alcohol exposure on a developing fetus and introduces the primary, secondary and tertiary symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder FASD. Attendees will explore how to accommodate their child's symptoms by understanding how their brain works differently and what supports work best.
I Can't Do This Anymore | Meredith Shuman
Living with disrupted adoptions, residential care placements, undesired reunifications, loss, relinquishing your foster care license, primary/secondary trauma...raising kids from hard places takes its toll. We know it is all too easy in those moments to give into the stigma of the voices around you, or even those in your own head. But beauty lies in the reality that there is strength in deep places of survival. There is hope in our Savior that understands suffering. You are not alone. Learn practical ways to process and heal by fighting isolation with community, fighting despair with faith, and fighting fear with action.
From Eye Rolls to Real Conversations: Practical Strategies for Connecting with Teens | CarrieAnn and Will Standfest
Many parents fear ‘the teenage years’, not knowing how to connect with their kids. Join us for practical advice and tools you can use to build a meaningful relationship with your teen, even if they are new to your family.
Friday, 12:30 pm (Lunch & Learn)
Replanted: Faith-Based Support for Foster and Adoptive Families | Megan Williams
Support is key for the foster and adoptive journey. Did you know that Replanted is more than just a conference? We also help churches, organizations, and individuals build emotional support groups in their community for parents and children to heal, connect, and thrive. Join us for this info session as we discuss the Replanted small group model.
Breakout Session 2 | Friday, 1:30 pm
Featured Breakout 2: Caring For Your Worth | Ryan North and Kayla
In his session, Ryan and Kayla address the importance of self-care and self-worth in their parenting journey. Drawing from their extensive experience and insights, they will explore practical strategies for maintaining emotional health, setting boundaries, and recognizing personal value amidst the unique challenges of adoption and foster care. This session aims to empower parents to nurture their well-being, enabling them to provide the best possible care for their children.
Healthy Relationships With Biological Parents | Jamie Finn
This breakout will address the foster parent’s role in building, strengthening, and repairing relationships with biological families. Jamie will lay the groundwork for a theological and research based foundation for family preservation and reunification, and share practical steps and ideas for foster parents looking to grow in building relationships with biological parents.
TBRI in Action | Daren Jones
In this workshop, you'll learn practical TBRI strategies to connect with children who have experienced trauma. We'll cover techniques like calming exercises, effective communication, and creating an environment of felt safety. These tools will help you build trust and improve relationships with the kids in your care.
Understanding the Adolescent Brain | Melody Aguayo
Adolescence is a timespan of at least 15 years of neurological development. Trauma makes these years extra complex. Join our workshop to understand your child's developing brain and be able to support them in this hugely impactful neurological window of time.
Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and the Gospel | Jami Kaeb
As believers we are called to follow the example of Jesus; serve selflessly and give generously. But what do we do when our service for God provokes in us anxiety, depression, and burnout? This message will present a different way to think about our responsibility to live out the gospel.
Honoring Grief in you Parenting Journey | Meredith Shuman
Being a foster/adoptive parent involves loss. We’ve all heard that “grieving is a process,” but most of us don’t know where to start. Join us as we unpack the deep meanings in Psalm 23 and 24, leading us through grief…with vulnerable reflections from Meredith Shuman.
When Self-Care is a Dirty Word: Taming the Stress Response of a Caregiver | Angie Proctor
Are you a caregiver? Do you put others’ needs before your own? You are not alone! What we are learning through neuroscience research is how stress impacts our brains and bodies. This workshop is designed to empower you to discover past wounds and stresses so that you can become emotionally available to others. You are valued! You matter!
Breakout Session 3 | Saturday, 8:00 - 8:50 am
Overcoming Parenting Roadblocks | Kayla North
Many times in parenting we encounter roadblocks. Behaviors we are unsure how to navigate. Blocked care that is preventing us from providing the care our kids need. Triggers from our own past that frequently seem to rear their ugly head. How do we overcome these roadblocks so we can be the parents we want to be and that our kids need us to be? In this session, attendees will walk away with greater compassion for themselves and with tools to navigate the parenting roadblocks they are experiencing using practical strategies and community care.
Self Control and Duct Tape - Parenting Young Adults | Meredith Shuman
Meredith and Jordan Shuman, a mother/son duo, will unpack the challenges of not only parenting young adults, but being parented as a young adult adoptee. Many of us underestimate this huge transition. Join us for some laughs, real talk, and the application of concepts.
Building Intentional Connection in Marriage | Rick and Ann Smith
In this workshop we will work at building safety in our marriages to better process stress and effectively regulate distress. This will give us more energy and resilience to parent in challenging environments. It will also improve our connection to our spouse and help us to experience joy with each other!
Growing Through The Hard | Loryn Smith
This workshop will bring validation to the challenges in the journey, while identifying the opportunity for growth and connections.
Unlocked: Understanding & Nurturing Your Child’s Brain, Behaviors, and Sensory Processes | Jocelyn Sutton
You can do this. With advancements in cognitive neuroscience research we can better understand our children’s brains while creating change that produces healthy autonomy and age appropriate interdependence. Learn how to understand your child’s brain (what’s going on in there?!), looking at behaviors (what we do see) and sensory processing (what we dont’ see or may not recognize) to create lasting change through neuroplasticity (creating and reorganizing neural connections-rewiring the brain). You will leave with practical ideas of how you can create felt safety, and identify and address your child’s nervous system deficits. We focus on cultivating a trauma informed connection to promote healing in us, our children, and our relationship with them. We will address sensory processing deficits including vestibular (movement), ocular (eye function) and proprioception (where our body is in space). These systems are foundational for the higher level skills we want to see in our children, including attention, emotional regulation, language, memory, impulse control, motor coordination and planning and more.
Finding Calm in Chaos: Overcoming Anxiety and Feeling Overwhelmed | Tabitha Goldsmith
This is for the parent who wears all the hats. School, work, appointments, therapy, hospitalizations, court hearings… the list is endless! I will teach you a very simplified approach to managing emotions in real time. With tangible examples and take aways to apply NOW, in order to create a more peaceful home for everyone.
Saturday, 10:45 am
Practical Strategies for Trauma-Impacted Kids | Jenn Hook
Learn practical tools and strategies to help your child heal and thrive. This session will guide you through simple, effective techniques to support kids who have experienced trauma. You will see live demonstrations to support emotional regulation, connection, and helping children find their voice. Whether you have young children or teens, there will be something for everyone. You'll leave with valuable, hands-on insights to use at home.
A Birth Mother’s Perspective | Courtney Tierra Cook
We warmly invite you to join us for an intimate breakout session where Courtney will share her personal journey. This gathering provides a unique chance to hear directly from her about the challenges, emotions, and triumphs she has experienced, as well as how she has navigated her sense of worth throughout it all. Courtney’s story will offer deep insights into her adoption journey, touching on the intricacies of love, loss, hope, and self-worth. If you are trying to figure out how to be in a relationship with your child’s birth family, currently in relationship with them, or apprehensive, this is a session for you. We encourage you to come with an open heart and mind, ready to listen, learn, and engage in a meaningful conversation.
Secondary Trauma & Biblical Self Care | Jamie Finn
This breakout will explore the importance of Biblically informed self care. Topics include the risk of secondary trauma and burnout for foster and adoptive parents, a Biblical foundation for self care, creating space for self care in a busy family, and practical ideas for foster and adoptive parents to build actual self care into their lives.
Safety Concerns in Your Home | Loryn Smith
Feel unsafe in your home? This session will cover ways to create safety for all family members, creating a safety plan, interventions to turn survival into thriving, strategies for dealing with difficult behaviors.and evaluating what qualifies as a reason to identify an out-of-home placement for the purposes of safety. This session will additionally assist you in finding purpose in your hard and maintaining a posture of compassion and hope.
Technology Risk | Ryan North
In this session, we will explore the impacts of technology and social media on children and teens. We will examine the developmental risks posed by pervasive technology use, especially in mental health and attachment. We will consider the impacts of technology and share how they mirror the impacts of complex developmental trauma on a developing brain. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the dangers of excessive technology usage and how to create healthier developmental environments.
Attachment Styles and Why it Matters | Rick and Ann Smith
Join us as we look at how attachment patterns developed in infancy carry forward into future relationships. Knowing these patterns helps unlock ways we relate to others that cause relational challenges. We’ll also look at ways to move towards earned secure attachment. Secure attachment with one safe person can change our perspective and translate to better relationships with everyone.
Calling All Dads | Chris Turner and Will Standfest
This session is designed specifically for foster and adoptive fathers - We see you! You’ll have the opportunity to connect with other fathers who understand your unique journey and gain insights on building strong, nurturing relationships with your children. Whether you’re new to foster care or adoption or have been on this path for years, this session offers a valuable space to learn, connect, and grow.
Saturday, 11:45 pm (Lunch & Learn)
African-American Hair Care Basics & Braiding | Tamekia Swint
Hair is central to the care of your child. Come learn about the connection between hair and culture and the development of a healthy identity. Learn black hair care and skin care basics. Ask your questions and see a hair braiding demo!
In Chicago
Be a part of our live audience at The Compass Church in Naperville, IL with teaching, worship, breakouts, pampering, connection, and more!