story & photo by Maren Schober
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?I?m in it for the long run!? exclaims Sandra Couillard. ?I am personally and professionally dedicated to the needs of the children awaiting adoptive placement ? including the state?s foster children, as well as the infants being placed privately for adoption.
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?A few years ago, I started the Connecticut Collaboration of Private Agencies to help find families within the state for infants designated ?harder to place? because of medical issues, race, or requests of the birth parents.? All the Connecticut private agencies now belong to the collaboration, and we have helped many infants find their ?forever families.??
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Couillard, of Oakdale, is Executive/Clinical Director of Connecticut Adoption & Family Services (CT-AFS) in New London; she started her adoption work in 1991 and traces her history in the field.
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?At first I worked as the adoption coordinator at Catholic Charities in Norwich. After seven years, I felt that I wanted to learn more about other types of adoption, so I applied for a social worker position at CT-AFS. This agency has programs for all types of adoptions ? state foster care, domestic infant, and international,? she says.
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?I started out as a social worker doing home studies, in-home support for DCF children and their foster/adoptive families, and educational classes.? After a couple of years, I became the clinical supervisor, in charge of training and supervising all the clinical staff members.
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?CT-AFS is a family,? Sandra continues, ?not just an agency. The staff considers itself a family and works together as a team.? We work hard to advocate for, and support, our clients just as a family would.?
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?Finding just the right family for each child brings me the greatest satisfaction. I love seeing the joy that this brings. The business of making families is about doing our best for these children, which includes supporting the families afterwards. We offer a lot of post-adoption support.?
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But there?s nothing like a success story.
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John and Natasha Sheer of Norwich are the proud parents of an adopted baby girl through Connecticut Adoption & Family Services.
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?We named our baby Willow and she is now 10 months old,? Natasha says. ?It was the happiest day of my life and the biggest thrill when we received the phone call telling us we were chosen as parents for this baby. I will never forget it.
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?We worked with a social worker at the agency named Allyson Foerster, who is so friendly and helpful. The adoption process was easy and the paperwork was explained so well. We are definitely going to use this agency again ? probably in a couple of years for a second baby.?
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?It doesn?t cost anything to learn more about adoption,? Sandra states.
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?We have free informational sessions on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Groton Public Library, or I can meet families for individual information sessions during our office hours at no cost.?
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To find out more, call 860.444.0553 or visit www.CTadoptions.org.
Source: http://www.theresident.com/2012/03/14/sandracouillard/
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