Our
mission is to strengthen expectant/ birth and adopting/adoptive parent(s) through education, support, and counseling services. Foundations for Growth employs adoption support professionals who provide services to all members of the adoption triad. An adoption support professional is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who has earned a master’s degree in the field of social work, completed adoption competency certification, and has extensive experience working in the field of adoption. Support professionals utilize evidence-based practices to provide adoption education, counseling and support services to expectant/birth and adopting parents to address the social, emotional, and familial aspects involved in adoption. Adoption support professionals are advocates for openness in adoption to benefit all members of the adoption triad and promote long-lasting, positive psychological outcomes for our families.
Foundations for Growth, PLLC, is owned and operated by two Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Kathy Roth and Audra Coons. They are both very passionate about working with the adoption triad and are strong advocates of open adoption! The duo is dedicated to filling the gap in counseling and education services in the adoption community and are committed to raising awareness on best adoption practices. Kathy and Audra have been working as close colleagues for the past 4 years and have worked in a variety of clinical social work roles over the past decade. They both have experience working for a private open adoption agency, where they provided counseling and guidance through the entire process to all members of the adoptive triad. They both had the honor of working under the supervision of Kathleen Silber, MSW, ACSW, a renowned expert in open adoption. Both Kathy and Audra are competent in best adoption practices, debunking adoption myths and stereotypes, domestic infant adoption, open adoption, Florida-specific guidelines, the home study process, birthparent grief/loss, and special counseling considerations such as transracial adoption, LGBT, and prenatal exposure. They have worked with adoptive families all over the country and feel honored for the role they were able to play for so many wonderful families! Throughout their adoption work, Kathy and Audra have noticed that many birth and adoptive families do not have comprehensive education and counseling support services readily available to them. They want to ensure all families have access to receiving these necessary services, which is why they created a private practice geared towards adoption-related concerns. Foundations for Growth, PLLC, currently offers adoption consultations, domestic home study and post-placement supervision services, support groups, educational seminars, birthparent counseling and match services, and post-adoption counseling. For more info on these services, please visit our counseling page at facebook.com/FFGcounseling
