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BOSTON, June 30, 2015 – The National Center on Adoption and Permanency is forming an important new strategic partnership with the visionary Treehouse Foundation, including its “Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America” initiative, NCAP’s leaders announced today.
They also announced that NCAP is expanding its team with five additional, pre-eminent child welfare experts – Bruce Boyer, Susan Cox, Michael Grand, Laurie Miller and Susan Livingston Smith – and said that current team member David Brodzinsky has been named to a new staff position, Director of Research.
“All of us at Treehouse are excited by this dynamic new partnership,” said Judy Cockerton, the organization’s Founder and Executive Director. “We see it as a compelling way to expand our two national social change initiatives – the award-winning intergenerational Treehouse Community model and the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America movement – as well as to collaborate with NCAP’s stellar team members, who are among the most accomplished professionals in the field.”
“We’re delighted by the progress we’re making, the recognition we’re receiving and, most pointedly, the important work our team members are doing around the country,” NCAP President Adam Pertman and Chief Operating Officer Carol Biddle said in a statement. “We’re particularly enthusiastic about our partnership with Treehouse – which genuinely exemplifies NCAP’s mission – and we’re delighted that Susan, Laurie, Michael, Susan and Bruce are joining us; they are extraordinary professionals, and we’re lucky to have them.”
Bios for all 29 of our team members are on NCAP’s website. Short descriptions of our new colleagues follow:
Bruce Boyer is a nationally recognized expert in child welfare law who is Director of the Civitas ChildLaw Clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where his work focuses primarily on issues of child maltreatment.
Susan Soon-keum Cox is one of the most respected, experienced professionals in the field of international adoption and child welfare. She is VP of Policy and Advocacy for Holt International Children’s Services.
Michael Grand is a highly accomplished researcher, trainer and speaker based in Canada. He joins NCAP after a distinguished career as a professor, author and pre-eminent scholar at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Laurie Miller is an internationally respected physician and educator. She holds several positions at Tufts
University School of Medicine, where she did pioneering work as founder of the International Adoption Clinic.
Susan Livingston Smith is one of our nation’s most accomplished researchers and scholars in the realms of
adoption and child welfare. She previously served as Program Director of the Donaldson Adoption Institute.
The Treehouse Foundation was established in 2002 by Cockerton, a businesswoman/educator/child advocate
and nationally recognized social entrepreneur who has been honored as a Congressional Angel in Adoption and an Encore.org Purpose Prize winner for her innovative work for children and youth in care. Treehouse is known for its bold leadership and visionary approach to inspiring investment in foster care innovation.
Its two major initiatives are: the Treehouse Community in Easthampton, MA, which is being replicated in
Metro West Boston and in Northern California (working with NCAP’s Carol Biddle); and Re-Envisioning Foster
Care in America, which is planning its 7th Annual REFCA Conference for 2016. For more information about this vibrant non-profit organization, contact Treehouse Foundation COO Beth Spong at beth@refca.net.
In addition to our exciting new relationship with the Treehouse Foundation, NCAP also recently formed
strategic partnerships with the American Institutes for Research, a major nonprofit behavioral and social
science research and evaluation organization that works throughout the U.S. and in other countries; and with the Chronicle for Social Change, a national online publication that produces daily news and commentaries about child welfare, juvenile justice and children’s mental health issues.
NCAP’s mission is to move child welfare policy and practice from the historical/current model focused on
“child placement” to a new paradigm with a more vital objective: enabling families to succeed – which is
Treehouse’s goal as well. NCAP’s unique structure is a “one-stop” organization that provides a broad range of multidisciplinary programs, services and resources relating to adoption, foster care and child welfare.
The organization – through its website and its team of highly experienced and successful trainers, educators, speakers, scholars and presenters – is designed to provide a single destination where agencies, government entities at all levels, conference organizers, family and advocacy groups, and professionals can go for expert services and consulting reliable information, and other assistance to fill their short-term and strategic needs. Our diverse services include, but are not limited to:
Program and project development, consultation and/or evaluation
Board development, consultation and/or executive transition planning
Staff development and training to improve clinical and practice competence
Parent/caregiver training to strengthen families with children with histories of trauma
Writing, editing, media consulting, print and online/social media and related activities
Consultation related to development and fundraising, as well as community relations
Conference/event consulting, including the provision of keynote speakers and other presenters
Executive training/coaching, as well as policy development/analysis and practice protocols
To find out more about NCAP, to engage any of our team members or to set up an interview, please contact Adam Pertman at apertman@ncap-us.org or 617-332-8944.
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