NATIONAL SOCIAL WORK MONTH - MARCH 2017

I have worked in the field of adoption for 30 years. I always knew I wanted to work with children and families, started as a camp counselor at the age of 15, worked in various social service agencies starting at age 17 and earned a Master of Social Work degree in 1976. It seems I always knew that this is what I wanted to do professionally.

It wasn’t until 1986, when I wanted to start my family that I began to look for a job that would allow me to spend time with my children. The position I had did not have flexible hours so I found work as a homestudy social worker at The Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) and added a part-time private therapy practice. I received my training from a seasoned professional at JCCA, and in 1992 was offered the position as Director of their private adoption program. I was able to initially negotiate a part-time schedule that allowed me to spend time with my children and to work from home two days a week. 

As my daughters grew and the demands of the position increased, I added more in-office days, leading to a full time full-timeby the time both of my daughters were in full-time school. Even then, I arranged to take them and pick them up from school daily. Little did I know that I would feel as if I were on a treadmill and couldn't find the “off” switch. I was always running somewhere - to school, to work or to someone’s home for a homestudy or post placement visit. 

I would spend time with my daughters before and after school and write reports late into the night once they were asleep. I would sometimes sneak in writing while they watched a favorite TV show or did "my homework" while they did theirs.

I love my work. I have assisted thousands of families achieve their dreams of parenting or enlarging their family. I have had the privilege of working with some of the best social workers and attorneys in New York and around the country. After leaving JCCA in 2015, I have been able to establish working relationships with agencies and attorneys throughout the country, and continue to provide homestudy, post placement, consultation and counseling services.

During this month of March, I take an extra moment to recognize the contribution social workers have made in the field of adoption. I have supervised some of the best. I know their commitment to help families grow. They share their knowledge and often extend themselves beyond traditional work hours because we believe this work is important and essential. 

I am honored to be a social worker and to have had the opportunity to help children, expectant, birth and adoptive families find one another, and to assist not only in the adoption process, but in the emotional well-being of everyone - before, during and after the legal adoption.

Kathy Ann Brodsky, LCSW is a New York and New Jersey licensed social worker, adoptive mom and advocate for ethical adoption practice. She has prepared thousands of adoption homestudies, counseled adoptive parents and parents-to-be, and has trained professionals to work with adoptive families. She was Director of the Ametz Adoption Program of JCCA from March 1992 to March 2015, was Head Writer for Adoption.net, a member of the Advisory Board for POV’s Adoption Series and currently a member of the Adoption Advisory Board of Path2Parenthood and active in the Adoptive Parents Committee in New York. She has has a private practice specializing in adoption and adoptive parenting. She was named an “Angel in Adoption” by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption in 2001. Follow or reach her at ADOPTION MAVEN BLOG or EMAIL.