Symposia

Special Needs Adoption

March 1, 2002

On March 1, 2002, the Justice for Children Project sponsored a Seminar on Special Needs Adoption. Offered in cooperation with The Ohio Adoption Law Roundtable, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and the Central Ohio Juvenile Lawyers Association, the all-day seminar focused on some of the basic issues in the adoption of special needs children.

The speakers, who are lawyers, legal academics, and social workers, provided an interdisciplinary perspective. The seminar was enriched by the comments of over 60 participants, who work in a variety of settings, including state and private agencies, and law firms.

Program Faculty

• Nancy Burley, MSW, Executive Director, Adoption Circle: What are Special Needs?
• Susan Garner Eisenman, Esq., Chair, Ohio Adoption Law Roundtable: Ethics on Adoption & Federal Laws Related to Adoption
• Katherine Hunt Federle, Professor of Law & Director, Justice for Children Project, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law: Best Interests of the Child and Other Policy Issues
• Timothy O'Hanlon, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Center for Adoption Policy and Reform: Subsidies
• Traci Kessee, LSW, Executive Director, A Place to Call Home: Community Resources
• The Honorable Gary McKinley, Union County Juvenile & Probate Court: Court Perspective on Special Needs Adoption Advocacy
• Donald Tobin, Assistant Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law: Tax Implications of Special Needs Adoptions
• Samuel C. Totaro, Jr., Esq., Past President, The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys: Full Disclosure and Wrongful Adoption
• Ellen L. Wristen, Esq.: School Law