iCARE4aaff

04/17/2026

When a child with a complex family story walks into your school, what signals safety, understanding, and connection?

Join Laura Adams, Founder and President of iCARE4 Adoptive And Foster Families, for Beyond the Family Tree™: Supporting Children with Complex Family Stories, a free 60-minute virtual session for educators and school-based professionals.

You'll learn how to shift from behavior-focused responses to relationship-centered, regulation-first practices that support every student's full story. Attendees also receive a free Connection Kit™ Implementation Guide and are eligible for a free CEU/PDH certificate.

Choose your session:
Monday, May 18 at 12:00–1:00 PM
Monday, May 18 at 6:00–7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 20 at 12:00–1:00 PM
Thursday, May 21 at 12:00–1:00 PM
Thursday, May 21 at 6:00–7:00 PM

Register at buff.ly/fjt85jf

Presented with support from the U.S. Department of Education's School-Based Mental Health Grant, awarded to West40 Intermediate Service Center #2 in partnership with iCARE4 Adoptive And Foster Families and the Illinois Association of School Social Workers.

04/13/2026

We are incredibly grateful to have partners like the Scripps Howard Fund and Scripps Howard Foundation come alongside us! Their support is a wonderful recognition of the work we’re doing every day to build Adoption & Foster Friendly Schools™.
It takes a village to ensure every student feels seen and supported, and we are honored to have "the Fund" helping us create thriving, inclusive environments for our children. ✨

04/09/2026

April Is National Stress Awareness Month - https://mailchi.mp/icare4aaff/connected-together-newsletter-2026-04

04/09/2026

Collaboration and energy filled the room this week at the Summit with Barb Moore and the Center For Excellence in Child Welfare University of Illinois School of Social Work. We are so appreciative of being included and iCARE being highlighted at the event!

03/30/2026

This month, we’ve talked about invisible stories.

We’ve talked about how response shapes experience.

We’ve talked about consistency.

This is where it leads.

The Adoption & Foster Friendly Schools™ Movement brings schools, educators, and professionals into alignment around one shared standard: students impacted by adoption, foster care, and kinship care deserve to be understood.

As Social Work Appreciation Month comes to a close, we are especially grateful for school social workers and clinicians who lead this work daily — often quietly — bridging families, educators, and systems.

Schools can become Adoption & Foster Friendly Schools™.
Professionals and community members can serve as Champions.
Partners and organizations can sponsor and strengthen the work.

When We Connect, Children Thrive™.

Learn how your role fits within the Movement:
🔗 https://buff.ly/xB8kFjg

03/25/2026

Consistency builds trust.

For students impacted by adoption, foster care, and kinship care, unpredictable environments can reinforce instability.

Consistent environments build reliability.

Aligned language.
Aligned response.
Aligned leadership.

Trust is what makes connection possible.

And connection is what allows students to engage, learn, and grow.

When We Connect, Children Thrive™.

If this message resonates in your school community, consider sharing it.

03/24/2026

We are honored to be highlighted in the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce today!

Next up, meet a woman doing wonderful things in our community, Laura Adams, founder of iCare 4 Adoptive and Foster Families.

Laura is a parent of four daughters, including through international adoption. She also has extensive experience in education, trauma-based support, and national media and marketing strategies. With this powerful blend of real life experience and unique professional skills, she founded iCARE4 Adoptive and Foster Families, an organization with exponential success in a short time.

iCARE equips the environments children live and learn in, especially schools, to be ready for the complex stories they carry. They help educators, social workers, and community partners understand the impact of loss, attachment, and identity on children in adoptive, foster, or kinship families through resources and professional development series.

Laura's passion radiates from within and is matched by her expertise. She is a powerhouse for the cause. As a social worker, I saw firsthand the need for Laura's organization and am grateful and proud of her amazing success.

NOTE! She has a bill going through the House, HB4536. The IASSW (IL Association of School Social Workers) has endorsed it, and Senator Feigenholtz is taking it to the Senate.

03/23/2026

Some students carry invisible stories.

Those stories shape how they move through the world —
how they react, protect, withdraw, or test trust.

What shapes what happens next
is how adults respond.

Response shapes experience.

Prepared adults.
Aligned language.
Intentional action.

Schools cannot rewrite history.
But they can influence the direction of the story today.

03/19/2026

Some children carry stories you cannot see.

Adoption.
Foster care.
Kinship care.
Relational loss.
Rebuilding trust.

Schools cannot change a child’s history.

But they can change a child’s experience of today.

Preparation matters.
Language matters.
Partnership matters.

If you believe schools must be part of the healing story, share this message.

Because when schools respond with readiness instead of reaction, students feel safer — and stronger.

When We Connect, Children Thrive™.

03/18/2026

Caregivers and schools often care about the same child.

But care is not the same as alignment.

Parallel efforts can feel supportive.

Aligned efforts change outcomes.

When communication is consistent —
Students feel steadier.

When expectations are shared —
Students feel safer.

When adults operate as partners —
Students feel supported instead of divided.

Strong systems support strong families.

What is one way your school strengthens partnership with caregivers?

03/16/2026

If a child with a complex family story walks into your school tomorrow…

What do they notice first?

The hallway.
The tone of the front office.
The language used by adults.
The way conflict is handled.

Before a single intervention plan is written,
before a support meeting is scheduled —
Students scan for safety.

Being welcome is not announced.
It is communicated.

What is one practice in your building that quietly communicates, “You are welcome here”?

03/11/2026

Some initiatives last a semester.
Some programs get implemented.
Some trainings get scheduled.

But lasting change in schools doesn’t come from adding one more item to a checklist.

It comes from alignment.
Shared language.
Shared preparation.
Shared responsibility.

Supporting adopted, foster, and kinship students cannot live with one professional.

It must live across the system.

This is not a program.
It’s a movement.

What would have to shift in your school for support to become systemic instead of situational? Learn more: https://buff.ly/Q9xRQJF