Sponsored by Concerned Persons for Adoption www.cpfanj.org

Lynne Witkin was a social worker, adoptive parent and volunteer advocate for adoption. She recognized the need for an annual gathering of professionals and parents and in 1979, pioneered New Jersey’s first “Let’s Talk Adoption” Conference. Lynne also served as president of Concerned Persons for Adoption, the adoptive parent support group which has continued to coordinate this conference since her death.

This scholarship is offered in the hope of helping and encouraging qualified social work majors who are interested in pursuing a career in the area of adoption/child welfare. There are currently over a half million children in the U.S. in foster care. More than 100,000 of these are awaiting adoptive parents. There is a critical need for caring, capable social workers to enter the field of child welfare - protective services, foster care, adoption, post-adoption services and the like, especially at this time in New Jersey.

A surge in online adoption advertising and the proliferation of unlicensed adoption intermediaries (aka "baby brokers") in the past decade have created a troubling landscape for those impacted by private domestic adoption. Licensed adoption professionals, policymakers, and child welfare advocates should work together to safeguard the well-being of all parties involved in private domestic adoption through education, law enforcement, and legislation.