We like to think that when a child is in crisis, we know what's in their best interest. And that in some cases, that means removing them from one family and placing them with another - for foster care, and/or to be adopted. If they were adopted, we like to think the adoptive parents are good people, good parents with good intentions, who want to help and love a child, with whom the child will be "better off".

Unfortunately, adoptive families are equally capable of abusing and neglecting children in their care. And for a multitude of reasons, we miss it. We miss it in screening, we miss it in home visits. We miss it til it's too late.

In this session we will:

• Review child maltreatment and death cases in the media to examine missed opportunities for screening and intervention

• Review red flags of narcissism in prospective families, as well as screening questions to assess

• Encourage audience members to reflect on how their own ideas and beliefs about adoption/child welfare could potentially cloud the ability to spot red flags

• Examine system failures, and consider opportunities for change…and more.