[kmarkus]

International Adoption Professionals --

I am the Director of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy, a non-profit which works to improve child welfare and adoption systems in myriad ways. We are based at Capital Univ. Law School in Columbus, Ohio. Although we're engaged in activity all over the country, much of our programming is first developed in Ohio.

For several years, in conjunction with Columbus' Childrens Hospital, we have produced and continue to improve delivery of an Adoption Academy, a 12-week, 2 hr./wk. program for prospective adoptive parents. The Academy is divided into core, domestic and international tracks. The presentations are all made by experts who donate their legal, medical, financial, cultural and other expertise to the endeavor.

We are beginning to explore distance learning means of delivering the Adoption Academy curriculum, but have had great difficulty reliably covering two of the sessions during the international track. At this time, we are trying to identify someone -- probably someone associated with an agency involved in international adoptions -- who would be willing and able to speak once or twice a year in Columbus on the topic: "International Adoption: Dealing with governments, ours and theirs".

We have specific curricular objectives easily met by someone knowledgable about these matters. If you have substantial knowledge about international adoption practices and would be interesting in providing that information to a group of 15-30 prospective adoptive parents, please contact me at the email address below. Although we vigorously discourage those speaking from "advertising" the organizations, entities and agencies with which they are affiliated, effective, informative presenters have often been subsequently contacted by the Academy attendees. Furthermore, once we identify a consistent cadre of effective presenters, we will more vigorously puruse efforts to take the Academy national. (So far, we have been unable to identify any similarly comprehensive educational program for prospective adoptive parents.)

If you might be able to help us out, please contact me.

Thanks.

Prof. Kent Markus, Director
Nat'l Ctr. for Adoption Law & Policy
kmarkus@law.capital.edu