Resilience Building Program for Youth

For ADOPTEE, FOSTERED, and KINSHIP CARE (AFK) Youth

-What Parents are Saying-

“This is an amazing, one of a kind, much needed resource for the foster care and adoption communities.”

“Love the crafts/artwork!!! Sewing, woodwork, painting, lots of mediums- great for creativity, learning new skills, things to talk about when she gets home, working with different adults, etc."

“LOVE THIS! AMAZING PROGRAM!”

“Programming specific to the challenges faced by adoptees is extremely rare, making this a priceless jewel. Our daughter loves going and seems to genuinely connect to the topics explored each session. Heather and her crew are knowledgeable and compassionate with a clear zeal for this population”

"This group is a catalyst to continue taking about adoption in a healthy way in our home."

“Thank you!”

"My daughter loves coming. She sees it as something special that she gets to do and enjoys being with other adults and children who were adopted as well."

"We appreciate Encompass and the time, energy, and effort they put into this group.”

"Our daughter's involvement in this group has paved the way to further discussions about how she views her adoption and given her a voice to share those thoughts and feelings with others in the group as well as us (her family)."

“You are changing lives!”

What Makes Our Program Unique?

This program was created as a way to build resilience and post-traumatic growth and to address issues that are common struggles for adopted fostered or kinship (AFK) youth. It’s for youth 7-12 years old (or best developmental fit). While the activities are fun and encourage creativity, the program is not intended as a play date or casual hang-out time. It is designed to work in conjunction with individual therapy as a way to continue learning and practicing skills with peers and mentors offering ample supports. The program has been designed based on extensive research, personal lived experience, and years of work with many others who have lived experience. This knowledge was incorporated into key facets to offer families a truly unique program:

At a Glance:

It’s created, planned, and facilitated by an adult adoptee therapist, and adopted, fostered, kinshipped, and donor-conceived (AFK+D) adults assist as mentors to offer to high adult-to-youth ratio.
It includes a curriculum specifically designed to enhance post-traumatic growth and build resiliency for AFK youth specifically based on the study of concepts related to neuroscience and brain wise ways of helping children, as well as adoption specific issues and protective factors.
It combines elements of both a support group and a mentoring opportunity in a trauma-informed environment.
It incorporates artistic activities based on an understanding of art therapy concepts to increase curiosity, group engagement, fun, good communication, self understanding, self expression & reflection, empathy, skills practice, and other learning.
It is specifically intended to double as respite and to give parents/caregivers time for themselves, their partner, and/or other youth at home. The duration of the program, which is 3 hours, was purposefully chosen to give parents/caregivers time to rest, have coffee with a friend, or go on a date with their partner. We understand the realness of blocked care and hope parents will take this opportunity for whatever they may need to take care of themselves.

Program Fee:

The fee Encompass charges families does not cover all expenses for this program. Encompass relies on donations in order to continue to provide this program. If your child has aged out of our program we ask that you continue to help others come by making a donation.

Fees go to purchasing an extensive variety of specialty arts and crafts materials for youth, games & books, program insurance, background checks for mentors, staff wages and training (especially trauma informed learning & responses), utilities, cleaning supplies, and maintenance items.

The Resiliency Building Program is $75 (for 3 hrs @ $25/hr)
There is a $20 registration deposit fee which will be taken out of the total cost. This is non-refundable if cancellation is required.
Cash, check, and credit card payments are accepted at the time of drop-off.
A sliding scale is offered for those in significant need - 1 child per home per program day only. Please use the contact form above to request a sliding scale form.
Help us continue to provide this program to others! Please Donate funds, books, individually packaged snacks, juice boxes, paper towels, etc… this helps us keep the program accessible for all families.

Check Upcoming Dates on the Calendar

Quick Reminders:

For youth generally 7-12+ yrs (depending on developmental fit)
Group runs from 11-2 pm, one Saturday per month
Please have youth wear appropriate clothing for making art, playing outside, and honoring the potential trauma/trauma triggers of other attendees.
We ask that a packed lunch be provided for each date your child is registered. A microwave is available.
Youth and mentors are not specifically paired up- natural friendships are encouraged and the youth have a choice in which mentor/s they enjoy and do projects with.
Mentors are not available to be approached as babysitters or caretakers outside of the hours designated for this program. Encompass Adoptees offers one-on-one mentoring for a fee.
Updated registration dates will be posted on the registration form as they are available. Dates that are full will be listed as such on the registration form.
Once 8 youth have been registered, a waitlist will be created. In the case cancelation is required, we ask that you do so as soon as possible. This allows us to open spots up for other youth to participate, and helps us keep our costs to you low by not purchasing an excess of supplies and materials.

Program Details:

1) It’s created, planned, and facilitated by an adult adoptee therapist and assisted by adults who were adopted, fostered, in kinship care, or donor-conceived (AFK+D). All programming is created and overseen by Heather Gonzales LPC, who is an adult adoptee holding a Bachelor’s degree in Art Therapy and a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. And our mentors have diverse experiences such as international and domestic adoption, kinship care, infant and older adoption, time in foster care, transracial adoption, etc. Because of this, we are better able to hone in on specific needs associated with these lived experiences. This informs our program in two ways. First, our curriculum topics, discussions, book readings, and art projects all cater to what we know are common concerns for AFK youth from both experience and significant study. Additionally, we use this knowledge to encourage better understanding and communication with one another during the program as well as at home with parents/caregivers. Having mentors lived experience enables us to offer a unique mirroring, empathy, encourage, and to normalize AFK experiences to the attending youth. Mentors participate in our discussions and art activities and this increases the youth’s ability to gain words to choose from when communicating their own experiences and gives a broader and more normalized perspective on their experiences.

Periodically, we like to invite Guest Teachers to teach a specific skill or art project to a group, or interns from local colleges. This adds to the diversity of our programming with a wide range of activities, such as cultural learning or culinary options, etc. While we enjoy working in diverse teams, we maintain our lived experience mentors as greater than 3/4 of our total group. We seek to maintain a 2:1 youth-to-mentor ratio to allow for maximum availability to meet children where they are at each day. All mentors participate in background checks, training, and regular group processing.

2) It combines elements of both a support group and a mentoring opportunity. This program is based on a group mentoring concept, and our space is set up in a large room with various activity areas. This allows youth and mentors to divide into smaller groups to play games or do activities one on one, while still maintaining a group setting. Mentors are adults with lived experience with adoption and/or foster care who engage in activities alongside the youth, build friendships, and are available to them throughout the program. Time is set aside for reflecting, sharing, and conversation as a group. Encompass approaches group mentoring with the idea that veyone has the capacity to learn from one another, and multiple adult mentors are available to each child adding diversity to the support given. Staff members work as a team to maximize individual strengths and skill sets for the benefit of the whole group. The Resilience Program has 4 adults on staff and a maximum of 8-10 youth spots (depending on the activity and scheduled staff) are available each program day.

3) It incorporates artistic activities to increase fun, group engagement, self-expression, and learning. We offer a large variety of art media including wood burning, painting & drawing, felting & other fiber arts, building with clay, leather working, paper mache, printmaking, poetry & children’s literature, among many other creative opportunities. The art activities for this program are chosen to have fun, encourage building friendships, communication skills, self-esteem, sharing, empathy, positive identity development, learning new skills, being able to see success with these new skills, encouraging problem solving, self-expression, using our imaginations, working together, and increasing our understanding that “talents” come in all shapes and styles! The kids have asked for a short time to play games outside after lunch and we have incorporated this into our schedule of activities since we acknowledge how much movement can help us regulate and focus on the next activity.

4) The program is intentionally 3 hours (11 am-2 pm) specifically intended to double as respite and to give parents/caregivers time for themselves, their partner, and/or other youth at home. The duration of the program, which is 3 hours and therefore longer than other classes or group sessions, was purposefully chosen to give parents/caregivers time to rest, have coffee with a friend, or go on a date with their partner. We understand the realness of blocked care and hope parents will take this opportunity for whatever they may need to take care of themselves.

To fill that time, the program consists of 4 components or activities.

Age appropriate discussion with a related art activity (clay, paint, drawing, collage, etc).
Shared lunch recreational activity outdoors (weather permitting) to allow for physical movement and regulation between activities
A second activity that encourages exploring and learning different art media, materials, or techniques
Youth are encouraged but never forced to participate in these activities. We understand your child’s unique needs, and therefore some of our mentors are dedicated to supporting those who are unable or uninterested in participating in the planned activity; other options will be offered to them.

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