Adoption Law Institute 2009

Overview

Recently admitted NY attorneys: This program is accredited for transitional CLE credit

Why You Should Attend

By attending PLI's sixth annual Adoption Law Institute, you will learn from a distinguished and experienced faculty from throughout the United States about the latest developments in the fast-changing field of adoption law, and the implications of these developments for your practice.  The faculty and the course handbook materials will provide practice tips and practical solutions to a broad range of issues that legal, medical, and social work professionals commonly confront in adoption cases.

What Past Attendees Have Said...

“I thought the program was comprehensive and thought-provoking with a range of perspectives presented.”
Natalie Zwerger, Legal Intern, Lawyers for Children

What You Will Learn

• Representing birth parents in termination of parental rights and voluntary relinquishments/surrenders: state and national practice and issues
• Adoption from the "Consumers" Perspective by adoptive parents
• Adoption of adolescents from foster care
• Ethical issues in adoption: the costs of both domestic and international adoptions, a panel discussion of standards for international adoptions. 
• Financial support for adoption:  the Family Medical Leave Act, adoption tax credits, social security, and health care coverage

Who Should Attend

This program is designed especially for family law attorneys, social workers, adoption advocates, adoption agency professionals, mental health professionals, and other related professionals seeking to expand their knowledge of this growing field.

Scholarships to attend this program are available for qualified individuals.  Please visit http://pro-bono.pli.edu for scholarship information.

Special Features

Live Webcast - Simultaneous live webcast of the New York session is available for individual viewing. Webcast participants will receive streaming audio and/or video of the program, view and print the Course Handbook, and have the ability to submit questions electronically.

For more information click on the Live Webcast link in the Related Items box.

Special Bonus to all Registrants

All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of PLI's comprehensive Course Handbook. This softcover, bound volume was written to augment the program and to stand alone as a permanent reference. PLI's Course Handbooks represent the definitive thinking of the nation's finest legal minds, and are often the standard reference in the field.

Please Note: Webcast attendees will receive a downloadable version of the Handbook one business day prior to the program.

PLI Group Discounts

Groups of 4-14 from the same organization, all registering at the same time, for a PLI program scheduled for presentation at the same site, are entitled to receive a group discount.  For further discount information, please contact membership@pli.edu or call (800) 260-4PLI.

PLI Can Arrange Group Viewing to Your Firm

Contact the Groupcasts Department via email at groupcasts@pli.edu for more details.

Cancellations

All cancellations received 3 business days prior to the program will be refunded 100%. If you do not cancel within the allotted time period, payment is due in full. You may substitute another individual to attend the program at any time.

Schedule

Please plan to arrive with enough time to register before the conference begins. A networking breakfast will be available upon your arrival.

9:00  Introduction & Welcoming Remarks

Douglas H. Reiniger

9:15  Representing Birth Parents in Termination of Parental Rights & Voluntary Relinquishments/Surrenders

• Practice considerations in representing birth parents in defense of termination of parental rights proceedings
• Counseling and legal and ethical issues in representing birth parents who wish to voluntary surrender their parental rights
• Identified adoptions and post-adoption contact agreements
• Comparisons of adoption laws and birth parent representation practice in California and New York
• National policy issues related to the rights and legal representation of birth parents

Michele Cortese, Hon. Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Elizabeth A. Thornton

10:15  Networking Break

10:30  Adoption from the Consumer's Perspective

• Panel discussion by parents who have adopted children within the United States (in New York and in other states) through adoption agencies and foster care agencies, and from other countries
• Discussion of the adoption experience in finding a child and working with agencies and adoption attorneys

Tom Chiodo, Hon. Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Rebecca L. Mendel, Kim Susser

11:30  Adoption of Adolescents from Foster Care

• A discussion of the resources available for adoption of older children in foster care
• Strategies for recruiting adoptive parents for adolescents
• Private and government grants and financial support available to recruitment programs and individuals for adoption of older children from foster care

Hon. Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Pat O'Brien, Douglas H. Reiniger

12:30  Lunch

1:45  Serving Vulnerable Children at Home and Abroad: A Medical and Legal Perspective

• National experts in adoption law and children’s health discuss their opinions on the ways government and non-governmental agencies can help orphans and dependent children
• The legal and medical significance of nurturing and early permanency on the long-term development of children
• A discussion on the proper consideration of heritage and culture when matching children and adoptive parents
• The obstacles to permanency: politics and attitudes

Dr. Jane Aronson, Elizabeth Bartholet

2:45  Costs of Adoption: A Survey and Ethical Considerations

• Survey results in comparative costs of domestic and international adoptions
• Review of the comparative costs of adoption in some foreign countries
• Budgeting for adoption in Russia, China, and for independent domestic, agency domestic and foster care adoptions
• Discussion of individual cases that may have deviated from averages
• Ethical and practical concerns about the high cost of adoption

Susan Caughman, Gregory A. Franklin, Mirah Riben

3:45  Networking Break

4:00  Financial Support for Adoption: update on FMLA, Adoption Tax Credit, Social Security, Health Care Coverage

• An update of Federal Adoption legislation, with special emphasis on financial issues
• Recent amendments to the Family Medical Leave Act relating to adoption
• The end of the Adoption Tax Credit? Current status and benefits, and the possible termination of the program
• Discussion of other financial support for adoptive parents and children: social security, health care coverage

Laurie B. Goldheim, Mark T. McDermott

Faculty

Chairperson(s)

Douglas H. Reiniger, The Reiniger Law Firm

Speaker(s)

Dr. Jane Aronson, CEO & Founder, Worldwide Orphans Foundation; Director, International Pediatric Health Services, PLLC
Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program, Harvard Law School
Susan Caughman, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Adoptive Families Magazine, Adoptive Families Annual Adoption Guide, Adoptive Families Circle Social Network
Tom Chiodo, Adoptive Parent
Michele Cortese, Deputy Director, Center for Family Representation, Inc.
Gregory A. Franklin, Ashcraft Franklin Young & Peters, LLP
Laurie B. Goldheim, Law Offices of Laurie B. Goldheim
Mark T. McDermott, Law Office of Mark T. McDermott
Rebecca L. Mendel, Rosin Steinhagen Mendel
Pat O'Brien, MS, CSW, Executive Director, You Gotta Believe!
Mirah Riben, Lecturer & Author, "The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry", Advocate Publications
Hon. Edwina G. Richardson-Mendelson, Administrative Judge, New York City Family Courts
Kim Susser, Director, Matrimonial and Family Law Unit, New York Legal Assistance Group
Elizabeth A. Thornton, Staff Attorney, ABA Center on Children & the Law

Program Attorney(s)

Janet L. Siegel, Practising Law Institute

CLE Credit

Travel Information

New York City Seminar Location

PLI New York Center, 810 Seventh Avenue at 53rd Street (21st floor), New York, New York 10019. Message Center, program days only: (212) 824-5733.

New York City Hotel Accommodations

The New York Hilton & Towers, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. 1 block from PLI Center. Reservations 1-800-HILTONS or, 1-877-NYC-HILT. Please mention that you are booking a room under the Practising Law Institute Corporate rate and the Client File # is N495741. Reservations on line at www.hilton.com and enter the same Client File # in the Corporate ID # field to access Practising Law Institute rates.

The Warwick New York Hotel, 65 West 54th Street New York, NY 10019. 1 block from PLI Center. Reservations 800-223-4099 or, hotel direct 212-247-2700. Please mention that you are booking a room under the Practising Law Institute Corporate rate. Reservations on line at www.warwickhotelny.com Click reservations in menu bar on left. Select desired dates. In 'Special Rates' drop down window select Corporate Rate. In 'Rate Code' enter PLIN. Click search and select desired room type and rate plan. Or, you may email reservation requests to: res.ny@warwickhotels.com.