Volunteers are crucial to Strength United's work and we are thankful to have so many dedicated people give their time and talent to support our mission. As part of our continuing volunteer appreciation series, please join us in taking a moment to recognize another outstanding volunteer: Karla.
Karla is a second year graduate student at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and came to the Adoption Promotion and Support Services program (APSS) in spring 2012. Since she came on board, Karla has been providing individual, group, and family services to children, teens and adults that are in the process of being adopted and/or have finalized adoption, including foster care. Her knowledge from her past work experiences coupled with her education along with the professional trainings that she has participated in through APSS, have made her a strong and exemplary counselor in our APSS program. She has developed great interpersonal, communication, collaborative and partnership skills.
To showcase Karla’s talents, the following is a story from one of the cases she was assigned when she came to APSS:
On February 15, 2014, Karla terminated a case after providing APSS services for approximately one year to this family. The family consisted of maternal grandparents in the process of adopting their five year old twin granddaughters. Although the family maintained a motivated and optimistic outlook regarding the adoption process, they were unprepared for the challenges and disruptive behaviors that the minors would exhibit during their transition to their home. However, the family’s willingness and openness to participate in APSS services, which included case management and family counseling allowed them to bond and learn parenting tools, communication strategies, and a deeper understanding of the adoption process. In addition, the family benefited from linkages and resources provided, such as Counseling 4 Kids, specifically their Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Karla helped the family recognize their strengths, increase family bonding and connectedness, and stabilize the adoption process. Now, the family is in the final stages toward finalizing the adoption.