Program brings adoption alternative to health care centers

By David Myers

Southwest Kansas Register

“In the situation of an unplanned/unintended pregnancy, women should be provided information and counseling in a nondirective, non-coercive manner in order to make an informed decision.”

– Spaulding for Children

A scared, young girl walks into a medical professional’s office to discuss having an abortion; she’s given the facts, sets up an appointment, and her child becomes one more in a tragically high statistic of aborted babies.

Catholic Social Service is changing that statistic – and from an unlikely place: the office of the medical professional itself.

“Understanding Infant Adoption” is a workshop designed to provide a wealth of information on adoption to medical professionals. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and social workers throughout Kansas have attended the free training seminar since it began two years ago.

“The training provides information that will allow the medical professional to feel more comfortable offering adoption as a viable alternative,” explained Pattie McGurk of the Great Bend CSS office.

The training, which includes a four-hour, one or two-day program, are offered through a class-room setting. The free training is also available through a web-based workshop, or through self-study. The curriculum looks at the history of adoption and its various types (see Page 3 for an article on “open adoption”), and focuses on state and federal laws and the cultural, social and spiritual aspects of adoption.

Participants will also learn skills in developing appropriate non-directive counseling tools and will learn to identify the patient’s particular needs and then connect that patient with the appropriate resources in their community.

McGurk stressed that parenting is always the first choice if at all possible. The curriculum includes information on the importance of pregnancy counseling referrals as early as possible for those times when adoption isn’t necessarily the proper alternative.

“We don’t want women to make an adoption plan if that’s not best,” she explained.

For example, there may be the occasion when a patient fears that she will be unable to support a new child. The training seminar includes information that the medical professional can present on programs to aid new moms with housing, day care, and health care.

One of those programs, for example, is CSS’s Teen Moms, in which young moms are offered a wealth of information and resources, as well as advice on simply being a good parent. The young moms in the Teen Moms program are also presented a mentor, who acts as a sort of guide.

The “Understanding Infant Adoption” workshop is offered in partnership with the national “Spaulding for Children” group. Last year Spaulding was presented a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as part of its Infant Adoption Training Initiative. The initiative seeks organizations to develop training curriculum for counseling adoption as an option.

CSS of the Diocese of Dodge City was then awarded a contract from Spaulding to be the lead trainer for the state of Kansas. CSS has not only trained hundreds of medical professionals since being awarded the contract, but they have trained others to present the program, including Ellen Patterson of “Blessing Adoptions” in Wichita, and Debbi Stone of Catholic Charities of Wichita. Both are now providing their own training to health care workers.

The curriculum offered through the “Understanding Infant Adoption” workshop is in accordance with, and approved by, the Department of Health and Human Resources.

For more information, or to set up a training workshop, call McGurk at 800-794-9756, (620) 792-1391, or email, pmcgurk@cpcis.net.