Welcome to this week’s episode of NHLN Opinion+, our weekly program that is dedicated to discussing the concerns and opinions of New Hampshire’s Latino community!
We spoke with Executive Director Mariellen J. MacKay of the NH Foster & Adoptive Parent Association about the organization’s work amid the pandemic, its main goals moving forward, along with resources for foster and adoptive parents & children.
Many opportunities for children’s social interaction and different types of support that families typically received suddenly stopped due to the COVID-19 health crisis. In today’s interview, MacKay discussed the pandemic’s biggest impacts on foster and adoptive children and how the association quickly transitioned as many of its operations online as it could.
“Now with the pandemic, social workers couldn’t come and visit children, children couldn’t visit their families. There had to be new and creative ways for foster parents and relative caregivers to negotiate that child’s world and to help them navigate through some really really troubling times and situations,” MacKay said.
Resources mentioned in the video:
NH Foster & Adoptive Parent Association main website:
Learn more about the organization:
Check out available family resources:
Access the grant application here: