The organization will begin serving Arizonans throughout the state, through its state headquarters in Tucson, Arizona, with additional office locations planned in the coming months to open in Maricopa County.
“It is well recognized that stability and permanency create the best outcomes for children,” said Yekaterina Trambitskaya, Chief Executive Officer of Spence-Chapin. “We are pleased to be able to offer local support to Arizona residents through our new office in Tucson, with more offices on the way.”
Spence-Chapin provides free, comprehensive support services to women who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy or who have just given birth and are unsure about parenting. The agency provides women a safe space where they are in full control to make decisions regarding their child, their ability to parent, and their plan for a stable and viable future. The agency also offers a unique respite care program called Interim Care, where trained and screened volunteers care for newborns and toddlers in their homes, providing birth parent(s) the extra time and space they need to continue to work with their social worker on a plan for the future.
As a licensed adoption service provider, Spence-Chapin is also able to bring its inclusive and comprehensive Domestic Adoption Program and its award-winning Special Needs Adoption Program to Arizona where it will help build families through open adoption. The Special Needs Adoption Program places medically fragile children with loving adoptive families who are equipped to manage their ongoing needs. The program waives all professional placement fees, allowing adoptive families to begin focusing on the care of their new family member from the start.
Once the agency establishes a solid foundation in Pima and Maricopa counties and across Arizona, it will look forward to introducing additional services, such as its children and family therapy services and community programming—thereby connecting Spence-Chapin’s full suite of offerings to support Arizonan children, women, and families in their lifelong journeys and ensure the best possible outcome for their futures.
“It is well recognized that stability and permanency create the best outcomes for children,” said Yekaterina Trambitskaya, Chief Executive Officer of Spence-Chapin. “We are pleased to be able to offer local support to Arizona residents through our new office in Tucson, with more offices on the way.”
Spence-Chapin’s services to women and their partners who are unsure about their ability to parent provide a critical pre-preventative intervention that offers parents a pathway to make a secure, permanent plan for the future before the intervention of the child welfare
services, where positive outcomes are more difficult to achieve due to the instability and inherent transience of the foster care system, which can have detrimental effects on their healthy development with lifelong consequences. And Arizona, which is the 14th most populous state in the country, has the sixth-highest number of children living in foster care. On average, Arizona children spend 15 months in the foster care system before finding permanency. And for those who spend more than two years in foster care, the chances for permanency down the road are significantly lessened and the likelihood that children will have three or more foster care placements increases by 75%.
That’s why supporting women during their pregnancy can help lead to successful outcomes for mothers and their children. More than 60% of the women who receive options counseling from Spence-Chapin go on to parent, but they do so with the support network and resources they need to provide a safe, permanent, and stable environment for their baby. In cases where a woman chooses adoption for her child, Spence-Chapin guides her through every step of the process.
“The Spence-Chapin Way respects the rights of women to make a plan for their baby’s future where no mandates are present, and where they have access to all of the resources and support they need,” Chief Program Officer Linda Alexandre explains. “For those who choose to make an adoption plan, Spence-Chapin provides free independent legal counsel and guidance every step of the way.”
To learn more about Spence-Chapin’s services in Arizona, visit www.spence-chapin.org/Arizona.
