Sunday Silver, Director of U.S. Programs, received her Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy in 1993. She currently supervises branch directors, acting as liaison between the branch offices and the Eugene office; manages domestic services provided by the branches, as well as manages Post Adoption Services, and provides post adoption counseling. She has been with Holt for 17 years. During the past 17 years she has provided post adoptions services to all triad members in one capacity or another through pregnancy counseling, education and direct services to adoptive parents, and counseling and search services to adult adoptees. This past year she has been working with each of our five branch offices to expand their services to include Post Adoption Seminars on various adoption issues for adoptive parents.
She has also connected with other agencies that are providing post adoptions services to develop ways to collaborate services. One of these collaborations is with Adoption Learning Partners, an organization that provides online courses for prospective adoptive parents. They are currently introducing a new online course for adoptive parent’s pre and post adoption, entitled “Ain’t Misbehavin’: Discipline and the Adopted Child.”
Abbie Smith, LCSW, has been practicing clinical social work with children and their families for 20 years. Abbie she holds a post graduate certificate in “Therapy with Adoptive Families” from Portland State University. Abbie’s professional interest is the attachment process and issues that can hinder the development of a secure attachment. Her positions at Holt include the Director of the Waiting Child Program and Director of Clinical Services. Lastly, Abbie is the mother of a beautiful 19 year old young woman, who was adopted at the age of six years.
Steve Kalb, MSW, is an Adult Adoptee from the Midwest. He received his MSW in 2009 and is currently pursuing his Ph. D. in Social Work and Social Research focusing on Adoptee community empowerment models. During his five years at Holt, Steve has worked directly with hundreds of Adoptees through the Adoptee Camps and birth search counseling. He has seen the need for, and the benefit of, a strong Adoptee community; that experience guides his Adoptee advocacy work at Holt.
Michael Tessier, Youth Adoptee Services Coordinator, is a Holt adoptee and new, full-time employee in the Post Adoption Services Department at Holt International. He has been involved with the Holt Adoptee Camp program for over 15 years as a camper, counselor, and program coordinator. In addition to general post adoption services, he will create and manage programming for teen and tween-aged adoptees across the country. He will first focus on an adoptee mentorship program, trialing in one city before expanding across the country.
Debby Hanson is Administrative Coordinator for the Post Adoption Services Program, having been with Holt for four years. She talks with adult adoptees, adoptive families, and birth families about our services, works with international programs to collect background information, assists with citizenship questions, and conducts search requests. She is the mother of a transracial adoptee and the wife of a domestic adoptee. She has two adopted siblings, one of whom is a birth mother who relinquished a child for adoption, giving her first-hand experience with all three sides of the adoption triad.