Teens only! Meet other kids of color who were adopted or fostered. Here's a chance to have a good time with other kids who are like you. There will be teen / tween only activities. Separate mentoring groups for teens and pre-teens.

2010 - 2011 Schedule:

Teens & tweens will meet monthly, on the following dates:

• September 4
• October 16
• November 13
• December 11
• January 17
• February 5
• March 5
• April 16
• May 14
• June 11

Click here to join Pact's Teen Club

Teen & Tween Program
Pact's program is especially for adopted and fostered teens of color - although all adopted and or foster youth are invited to participate. Our Teen gatherings focus on both social and mentoring oriented meetings. Connie Galambos-Malloy and Nile Malloy, familiar to many because of their work with youth at Pact Camp and Teen Club. Connie is herself a transracially-adopted adult and one of the founding board members of AFAAD (Adopted and Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora). They will be working every other month on a mentoring curriculum specifically tailored to adopted and fostered youth of color. This program will cater to both younger and older youth in age-appropriate groupings. In the intervening months the youth will be invited to participate with chaperoned social activities beginning with a pool and pizza party in September.

When we talk to parents of teens, they ask for services and groups where their children can find friends who share their experiences and offer opportunities for their children to talk about the deeper that are surfacing about adoption, family, and identity. In the past we have gone to an A's game, had dinner and movies, learned how to DJ, made T-shirt logos, gone bowling, skating and swimming. This year we hope to have more gatherings that not only give us time to socialize, but incorporate creative and expressive ways for youth to think about our lives as adopted and fostered people.

Our Tween group meets at the same time as our Teen group, but has its own mentors and activities. The teen years can start as young as ten or eleven, and have often been compared with the preschool years because of the dramatic changes that occur during the move to greater independence. Tweens develop a new ability to be introspective and analytical and develop new views of the world, some of which may be challenging to adults. Emotionally, their job is to become "their own person." For adopted and foster kids, this raises identity issues perhaps on a deeper level than has ever been possible before. Parents looking for groups or activities that feel safe and wholesome, want a place where their children can find friends and share their experiences, and we look to support the Tweens as they move into official 'Teen' status.

If your teen has been reluctant to attend, read this.

Interested in volunteering your home for Teen Parent Discussion? Have a new idea about a discussion at Parent Peer Support Group? Contact us here.

Why teens need their own group:

Teens are clear they don't want adults to decide about a group for them and they certainly don't want parents or professionals selecting friends for them. As many of them have demonstrated before, they are more than capable of asserting their independence and autonomy by rejecting the very things adults think might be best for them -- especially if they are forced or pushed rather than given the opportunity to choose for themselves.

Pact is NOT doing a "support group." Instead, we offer teens the opportunity to come to both social and project oriented events where the goals are for them to have a good time with other kids (who they might just happen to find out are living some of the same experiences as they are) and for them to participate in some sort of expressive activity. Can Pact guarantee that each child will have fun or connect with this group? NO. Is pushing attendance just setting up another source of ammunition for them to say, "I told you so," if they don't have a good time? Maybe. Is it worth a try to give them an opportunity to find a group that may feel like a better fit than some of their other activities? WE THINK SO!

As part of the program we offer facilitated discussion opportunities where teens can talk about their experiences and feelings. These talk-sessions will not be forced on teens who attend but are generally structured within the project work we are doing. There will also be facilitated discussion opportunities available at our Summer Pact Family Camp.

Who Can Join
Siblings may participate if they wish, but Pact's Teen Club is designed with adopted and foster teens of color in mind. We do not encourage youth to bring friends who are not personally touched by adoption or foster care as we are trying to promote connections between children and family members who share the issues of adoption and race in the context of trying to find their own identity. Events will be open to members only, teens will not be given entry if we do not already have their names or a parent, foster parent or guardian does not accompany them. We will distribute a roster for teens who have joined the group.