Founded in 2005, the adoptee-led NYC Teen Mentorship Program welcomes adoptees in Middle and High school to join for monthly events throughout New York City from September to June. This program functions as a group mentoring program connecting teens with adult adoptee mentors 25+, creating spaces for fun activities and thoughtful conversations, all while creating new friendships and community. Discussion-based days center around the adoptee experience, identity formation, how to talk about difficult topics and how adoptees navigate new spaces as we get older. Registration is offered to families per semester, or per year.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
Mentorship Facilitator
Jessica M. Luciere is a New York–based intercountry adoptee, born in Bogotá, Colombia, who has dedicated more than 20 years to supporting adopted people and their families through post-adoption services, community building, and mentorship. A founding mentor of the NYC Teen Mentorship Program when it launched in 2006, Jessica has spent nearly two decades guiding and empowering young adopted people as they explore identity, belonging, relationships, and resilience.
As the Associate Director of Family & Community Support at Spence-Chapin, Jessica oversees a wide range of post-adoption programs designed to strengthen and support adopted people and their families across all stages of life. Drawing from both her professional expertise and lived experience as an adoptee, she is passionate about creating spaces where adopted people feel seen, connected, and understood. Her work centers on fostering meaningful relationships, developing adoptee-centered programming, and helping young people build confidence, community, and a strong sense of self.
All Mentors who volunteer in this program are also adopted people who understand the importance of creating adoptee-led and centered spaces for the younger generation. Mentors offer guidance, support, and share their experiences as older adoptees while creating safe and comfortable spaces for mentees to explore their growing identities. Some of the Mentors are former mentees themselves and return to the program to become the positive role models they once experienced as kids in the program.
Every year, we welcome new Mentors! Each brings their unique experiences and perspectives into the group, and some return year after year to continue as volunteers because this program is so impactful to them.
Ruby
Cristina
Luke
Cristina
Jacqueline
Ross
Doreen
Yuriy
Understanding the importance of community, adoptive parents are invited to participate in a separate monthly group. Topics include talking about adoption, advocating for your child and navigating birth family search. Parents whose children participate in the mentorship program are automatically enrolled. If your child is between the ages of 11 and 18 but is not participating in the program, you are welcome to join us.
Waiting Children Profiles
Thank you for your interest in adopting through Spence-Chapin! We are able to share the profiles of children who are considered to be the most in need and are waiting internationally to be matched with an adoptive family. The children featured on this page have been waiting for the longest to find families and consist of children who are older, part of a sibling group, or children with a diagnosed medical condition. In order to respect the privacy of these children, this page has been password protected.
Spence-Chapin takes the privacy rights of the children that we are seeking to place very seriously, and share the profile with you under the following conditions:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PASSWORD ACCESS
That you acknowledge and understand that
1. Misuse of the content, and/or linking to any sites that reflect practices that involve the sale, abduction, exploitation, or trafficking of children is strictly prohibited.
2. You have been given limited access to confidential information in the form of images that you will not disclose to any person or in any manner that is inconsistent with applicable policies and procedures of Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children.
3. The confidentiality obligation shall continue indefinitely, including at all times after my association with Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children.
4. You are not permitted to release, copy, distribute, or sell any of these images to third parties in any form.
5. Impermissible disclosure of the images may result in legal actions being taken against you, by or on behalf of that person.
6. You are doing this freely, voluntarily and with a full understanding of what you are agreeing to by entering/accessing this blog.
7. Thank you for your interest in providing a loving home for a waiting child! We look forward to connecting with you soon to continue discussing adoption paths at Spence-Chapin. We hope that you like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter, and keep up with our families through our adoption blog!
Warm regards,
The Adoption Team at Spence-Chapin
Phone: 212-400-8150
Email: [email protected]
