The Connecticut Adoption Community Network (ACN) is a group of adoption professionals and adoptive parents who have formed a collaborative partnership designed to support adoptive and relative caregiver parenting. The concept of the ACN originated at a DCF hosted gathering of Connecticut’s adoption community in 2006. A series of planning meetings over the following months identified two goals:
- Development of a website intended to facilitate improved communication statewide of adoption and relative caregiver trainings, workshops, support groups, and other events.
- Sponsorship of educational events that support adoptive and guardianship parents, and improve adoption competency in the professional community.
Since its inception, the ACN has grown to include over four-hundred members. Subcommittees of the group have supported educational advocacy, legislative efforts, and development of a therapist directory of adoption competent therapists. The group meets twice annually at the offices of the Connecticut Association of Foster and Adoptive Families (CAFAF). The Network is managed by the UConn Health Adoption Assistance Program (AAP).