Adoption is a lifelong process and adoptive families of medically complex children, in particular, need support. NAC’s Post Legal Adoption Network (PLAN) is designed to train, assist and strengthen the capacity of families who have adopted one or more children with special medical needs.

Adoption dissolutions (when a child is returned to foster care after adoption) among children with special needs can be as high as 14% nationally. Among the hundreds of adoptions completed at NAC since PLAN’s inception in 1994, no child has ever returned to foster care after being adopted.

PLAN is a nationally recognized program that trains, assists and strengthens these adoptive families through parent support and education groups, case management services, referral and advocacy, crisis intervention and counseling. Children receive services that help them cope with the dual issues of disabilities and adoption, including family, group and individual counseling and medical and mental health services.

Our model is to provide interdisciplinary, comprehensive services that meet the specific needs of the entire family and a continuum of care for as long as the family needs support. Families not only have access to master’s level Social Workers, but a team of educators, medical providers, mental health clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, and youth development specialists.

Program services include:

• Comprehensive family and individual needs assessment to determine appropriate services.
• Individual, family, group counseling, and crisis intervention.
• Case coordination with medical facilities, community-based organizations, mental health clinics, early intervention services, and schools.
• Education advocacy and placement of children in appropriate educational settings.
• Information, referral and/or advocacy services.
• Access to resources, entitlements, and homelessness prevention services.
• Therapeutic youth development, mentoring and recreational programs.
• Parent support groups

Adoptive parents of children with special medical needs are eligible to join PLAN regardless of where their adoption took place.

Learn about the other programs and supports available to all families receiving services at NAC

• Children and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS)
• Mental Health Clinic
• Medical Clinic
• Autism Center
• Educational Advocacy & Tutoring
• College Bound Program
• Youth Development & Mentoring Programs
• Recreational Services
• Food Bank
• Safe Haven LGBTQI+ Support