Youth Adoptee Programs & Services
Holt provides lifelong support to all adoptees, whether they were adopted through Holt or another agency.
We are here to serve, connect and support all adoptees.
Every adoptee has a unique and complex life experience. Holt seeks to offer support to all international and domestic adoptees, regardless of their placing agency.
Circle Back – Adoptee Mentorship
Led by Holt’s expert post-adoption team of adoptees, Holt’s Circle Back program strives to help youth adoptees build a positive identity, and acknowledge and process different facets of the adoptee experience. Each session is uniquely tailored to each adoptee and their family!
Parent Adoptee Discovery Club (PADC)
PADC provides a safe space and guided experience for adoptees and their parent(s)/guardian(s) to talk about the hard issues in adoption such as birth family, grief/loss and racism. Our goal is to increase open and healthy communication within families by teaching common language around these topics and providing a safe space to practice.
Adoptee Scholarship Contest
Every year, Holt awards three adoptees a $700 scholarship to help them pursue higher education. We provide a prompt for their submissions and encourage applicants to interpret it creatively — whether through a self-portrait, an essay, digital art, a zine, a song, original choreography, poetry or a short film (or anything else you might come up with!).
TBRI® Journey of Hope Camp
TBRI® is an attachment-based parenting approach designed to meet the complex needs of children who have experienced early childhood trauma. Holt’s Illinois office offers the Journey of Hope Adoptive Family Camp each summer for families to learn TBRI® tools and strategies in a fun environment!
Adoptee Summer Camps
Holt offers overnight camps across the country for adoptees ages 9-17, as well as day camps for the whole family. Along with other adoptees, campers will have the chance to try new things, make new friends and discuss issues that are important and unique to adoptees.
Birth Family Search
Holt’s post-adoption services department provides a wide variety of search services for adoptees. If you are interested in beginning a birth parent search, or searching for any additional information about your past, start here.
View the 2024 Adoptee Graduate Yearbook
Read about the Class of 2024 Holt adoptees who recently graduated from high school or college, and learn about their exciting plans for the future!
Adoptee Birth Country Travel
Our team can help arrange visits to important adoption landmarks like orphanages or adoption offices. Holt offers group travel opportunities, as well as assistance for family trips to country of birth.
Stories for Youth Adoptees
Caley and the “Grey” Space of Racial Identity
A Vietnamese adoptee shares what it’s like to be a transracial adoptee growing up in Oregon, existing in the “grey” space and attitudes towards racial stereotypes through an adoptee lens.