Connie Going

Ms. Connie Going, Adoption Specialist , Consultant and National Adoption Advocate has been actively involved in the world of Adoption and Child Welfare for over 20 years. She has been essential in the creation of numerous community adoption support programs and has overseen well over 1000 adoptions become permanent. In her last position as Adoption Specialist for Eckerd Ms. Going coordinated adoption recruitment efforts and provided much-needed support to adoptive parents. An advocate for adoptive families, Ms. Going helped the community build its capacity for adoption competent services, created post-adoption support groups and coordinated the implementation of a five-year community plan for adoption promotion and support. Under her leadership, adoption finalization goals have consistently exceeded nearly 300 foster children who were adopted into loving homes each year in Pinellas and Pasco counties. Moreover, Ms. Going had continued to work tirelessly to ensure that the children placed with their forever family receive the help and assistance they need. In 2012 Ms. Going was nominated by Congressman Bill Young and awarded the prestigious National Angels in Adoption™ Congressional Designation, which is part of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) for her outstanding advocacy efforts and passionate work in the area of foster care adoptions. Ms. Going is certified as an Adoption Expert in the dependency court system, and is sought after as an Adoption Trainer and Educator . Passionate about finding forever homes for children, Ms. Going coordinated and partnered with a local TV station affiliate , WTSP to air a weekly series called "Wednesdays Child" allowing over 250 children to receive high level recruitment efforts. Her above and beyond commitment to waiting foster children gave her the opportunity to create an atmosphere where children in the system could advocate and speak to the community about their personal need for a forever family. This recent effort created "the Davion Effect" in which a young man who Ms. Going took to church to speak about his desire for a forever family, became an international news story, allowing mass media coverage worldwide. Ms. Going, also an adoptive parent of a 13 year son from Foster care, has appeared on numerous television and radio shows as well as in magazines and newspapers, including "Daytime", The View", "ABC evening news with Dianne Sawyer" and " CBS evening news, On the Road with Steve Hartman","Woman's World", People Magazine" " Huffington Post" and" Newsweek".