Voices

“I have engaged Voce representatives on multiple opportunities to provide workshops on race equity and trauma to a variety of audiences. Their presentations are consistently based on thorough research and are delivered in an innovative manner."

Voce and Pennsylvania Child Advocate Maryann McEvoy hosted more than 100 child-serving professionals at today’s inaugural Forum on Pennsylvania’s Children (FPaC), an event focused on healing childhood trauma.

The inaugural Forum on Pennsylvania’s Children (FPaC) is a first step in an ongoing campaign to challenge public and private sector thought leaders to understand the deep effects of childhood trauma and collaborate to create a safer and more equitable Pennsylvania for children.

Imagine a room filled with dedicated and passionate individuals exchanging ideas and forming partnerships to bring about hope and healing for children and families who have been impacted by trauma. This is the experience Voce aspires to create through the first Forum on Pennsylvania’s Children (FPaC), which will be held on November 10, 2022 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Training for Adoption Competency impacted me, both professionally and personally, in numerous ways. I was initially drawn to the accredited program because as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I wanted to serve families with the best clinical practice possible. Imagine my surprise when it really hit home for my most important job, being a mom of two siblings adopted from the Pennsylvania foster care system.

Adoption professionals have long recognized the need for a comprehensive, multi-layered continuum of support to ensure stability and well-being for children who have been adopted and their families. Now, an online learning community from our colleagues at Identity has launched to provide accessible, diverse, and ethical education to adoptive families.

Child welfare is beginning to experience a transformational shift in approach and thinking – from a reactive or remedial stance to a proactive, preventative stance. There is a national movement currently to rethink child welfare by creating the conditions for strong, thriving families where children are free from harm.

In over 30 years of working with adult and child victims of sexual trauma, six of which were spent as a director in a rape crisis center, I witnessed the impact of sexual assault on the victim as well as their family, friends and community. There is never a single victim of such an unspeakable trauma.

Child victims of abuse experience unspeakable trauma, loss and disruption and are often misunderstood by professionals and the community at large. These children need advocates and professionals who practice with empathy and understanding.

Compassionate, thoughtful and insanely knowledgeable — as I’ve gotten to know her over the last six months, this is how I would describe Shadell Quinones, Manager of Adoption Services for Chester County (PA) Department of Children, Youth and Families for the past ten years.