Facilitator: Chauncey Strong MSW, Strong Family Training

Chauncey Strong, originally from Newark, NJ, earned his BA degree in Social Work from Elizabeth City State University, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in 1991 and his MSW from Norfolk State University Norfolk, Virginia, in 1993.

Chauncey is a child welfare advocate with 27 years of extensive experience in child welfare administration in the private and public sectors specializing in foster care and adoption training and consulting. He recently worked for eight years as a Foster Care Supervisor with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services in Fairfax, Virginia. He has also served as an administrator, manager, supervisor, child welfare worker, mentor, and community organizer.

Chauncey is currently the Executive Director of Strong Training and Consulting, LLC, where he provides training and consulting in child welfare. He is presently consulting with The Capacity Building Center for States, The Virginia Department of Social Services, and several local and national child welfare agencies.

Chauncey has served on several national boards, including the Board Chair of Foster Care Alumni of America. He is currently on the board of Lutheran Family Services of Virginia. Chauncey is a motivational speaker and a committed advocate for children and families. He has dedicated his career to improving the outcomes of children and families involved in the child welfare system.

Facilitator: Josh Kroll, NACAC

Participants learned the steps they need to take to file for the U.S. federal adoption tax credit. The focus was on filing for 2021, and covered applying for the credit for adoptions as far back as 2018. Presenter Josh Kroll explained what parents need to do to take advantage of the credit. Key points include that the credit is not a refundable credit for 2021 and that parents who adopt children who receive adoption assistance/adoption subsidy benefits do not need to have adoption-related expenses to claim the credit. The session focused on families who adopted children with special needs from foster care but will be applicable to all adoptive families as well.

Facilitator: Arnie Eby

Join Arnie for a discussion on the topic of the current deficit in social worker staffing in our State, and how it’ s impacting the Case Workers, the lives of children, and those who care for them.

Facilitator: Arnie Eby

Followed by an Open Forum discussion.

Held on the 2nd Tuesday of January due to the Holiday.

Facilitator: Amber Jewell, LMSW

Join us for a lively and educational discussion on Ms. Jewell’s book, ‘Finding Hope: The 12 Keys to Healing Hardship, Hurt & Sorrow’.

Facilitator: Becky Rice, LCSW-C, Frederick Co DSS and Erika Ford, LCSW-C and Faculty Field Instructor with Family Connections Baltimore

This session is designed to offer processes for engaging the Family of Origin and creating partnerships that improve the outcomes for the children being fostered, and for the families involved. Becky will offer ideas for effective comfort calls, icebreakers to get the discussion started, and more. PowerPoint Presentation is available HERE.

Facilitator: Kim Parks-Bourn, Program Manager for Practice Innovation, DHS

This session is designed to offer processes for engaging the Family of Origin and creating partnerships that improve the outcomes for the children being fostered, and for the families involved. Becky will offer ideas for effective comfort calls, icebreakers to get the discussion started, and more. A followup Q&A session will be held on July 20th.
This MRPA presentation references a TedTalk video (there is a placeholder where this was viewed on the session). We are unable to include it in our presentation video due to copyright, so have provided it for you below.