NATIONAL PARK COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PRESS RELEASE

Infant Adoption Awareness Training
Workshop Held at NPCC

The RN Division at National Park Community College hosted a free Infant Adoption Training Initiative (IATI) workshop on October 21, in the Frederick M. Dierks Center for Nursing and Health Sciences. This workshop was sponsored by Spaulding for Children, a nationally and locally recognized leading authority on the adoption of children from the child welfare system. The founders of this organization base their operating principles on the belief that all children are adoptable, without regard to their age, race, or disability. “In partnership with families, communities, organizations, states and the nation, Spaulding for Children's mission is to assure that all children grow up in safe, permanent families and have the help they need to be successful in life.”

Spaulding for Children & Harmony, in collaboration with adoption and pregnancy counseling agencies and health centers is proud to have developed an evidence-based model curriculum, Understanding Infant Adoption, (UIA) and a sustainable national delivery system, the Infant Adoption Training Initiative. IATI is a training designed for staff at public and non-profit private entities that provide health and counseling services to pregnant women.

The curriculum developed by the Infant Adoption Training Initiative, Understanding Infant Adoption (UIA) is designed to train health care professionals how to provide adoption information and referral to pregnant women. The UIA provides participants with opportunities for self-reflection and open discussion of issues facing women with unplanned pregnancies, as well as the different service providers available in their areas. Understanding the different resources available for pregnancy counseling and adoption services is a key characteristic necessary to make informed referrals consistent with client/patient needs and preferences.

“The faculty at NPCC feels strongly about the need to expose nursing students to all areas of human services to increase their knowledge for future endeavors,” stated Diane Fergadis, NPCC nursing faculty.  Senior nursing students, local maternal/child hospital nurses, public health nurses, and nursing educators attended the workshop.