If things are looking tough right now, here's some hope for you...According to one of my mentors - Richard Wilkins "The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence" The past may explain the present but it needn't dictate the future. Join Erin and Megan as we explore hope, healing and more as we look forward to a brighter future.

Erin Argue is Heart Galleries of Texas Post-Permanency Director

Erin Argue first came to TACFS as an intern in 2022 during an MSW program at Texas State and returned as the Heart Galleries of Texas Associate Director in 2023. Before the Alliance, Erin spent her career supporting youth in foster care at member organizations, Partnerships for Children and Settlement Home for Children. There, she managed major programs, services, and projects.

Originally from the Great Lakes State, Erin graduated from Michigan State University and earned two B.S. degrees in Psychology and Environmental Geosciences.

Now, Erin lives in Austin. As a people person with a love for connection, she spends lots of time outside, with friends, and with her dog, Charlie the Bandit.

Megan Ransom is Chief Executive Officer The Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS).

Megan joined TACFS as the Director of Community Engagement in 2019, moved into the role of Chief of Staff in 2021, and became the CEO in 2025. She came to TACFS from Partnerships for Children, an Austin-based nonprofit, where she served as the Director of Foster and Adoption Services. Megan worked closely with DFPS and many Central Texas child placing agencies and nonprofits on community education/outreach initiatives built around children in the foster care system who are waiting for adoption. She also worked at Texas CASA in the Quality Assurance Department.

She has a passion for building strategic collaborations that produce results and continuously work towards improvement of practices and partnerships to lift up the children and families involved in the child welfare system.

An Indiana native, Megan earned a BA in Sociology & Psychology from Indiana University and a Master’s of Nonprofit Management from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. She is also Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner through the Karyn Purvis institute of Child Development.

Megan and her husband are parents to two boys, both adopted through the Texas foster care system.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganshawrhoades/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-argue-2055646/

https://tacfs.org/

https://www.instagram.com/txalliancecfs/

https://www.facebook.com/texasalliance/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Secondary trauma can build up within us without us noticing. Even veteran therapist Bessel van der Kolk who's the author of the bestselling book The Body Keeps The Score wasn't aware of his secondary trauma until very recently. And secondary trauma is common amongst adoptive parents. Do you want to heal for your kids? Be triggered less often? At peace more? Listen in as adoptive mother Jaycie and Executive Director shares her learnings on healing secondary trauma, choosing love over grief and much more.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayciebias/

https://www.facebook.com/WVFosterParents/

https://wvfosterparents.org/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Are you advocating for your child or change? As every parent knows systems can be very tricky to navigate and change. The better we can understand them, the better we can relate with the people we deal with and more likely we are to get what we want. Listen in as

Director of Foster Care and Permanency Michelle shares her inside knowledge on systems, change and more.

Here is a bit about Michelle from her website:

"I'm often asked what brought me to this work; child protection, public service, and anti-oppression efforts. The answer is the same for all: my community's needs, desires, and experiences gave my career direction. Describing myself as a mixed kid from the projects doesn't always get a favorable reaction, but it's the truth and holds no shame for me. Neither do any of the other identities that make me the person I am today.

I hold a Master's degree in public administration from Metropolitan State University and an undergraduate in psychology and women studies. My public services career started with my first professional job out of college as an alternative response case manager on the east side of Saint Paul. That position was my introduction to child protection; quickly discovering the disparities, I realized the change needed would have to come from within the system causing these poor outcomes. Finding my way to spaces and fighting for a seat at the table among decision-makers was not the solution I thought it would be.

As a child protection worker, I found that policies, practices, and statutes interfered with my ability to make decisions in the best interest of families. As a supervisor, I found some of the same challenges, and the team I supported described transgressions in moral code during supervision. As a manager, I started to draw the connection between staff retention and outcomes for families. It became clear that staff supported in making decisions that align with their values remain in high-stakes decision-making positions. The unnamed emotions and blame the system placed on professionals led me to the term Moral Injury. Once I found the name of my experience, I felt empowered, becoming driven to inform the workforce and hold systems responsible."

Here are some links for more info

https://mn.gov/dhs/partners-and-providers/program-overviews/child-protection-foster-care-adoption/african-american-child-well-being/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-d-seymore-42b0983b/

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/260.692#:~:text=The%20African%20American%20Child%20and,in%20the%20child%20welfare%20system;

https://www.michelledseymore.com/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Does fear hold you back? Fear of the unknown? Fear of things not working out? Sometimes life requires us to make a leap of faith. Listen in as Terri talks about leaps of faith, unconditional love and more...

Listen to her first interview here https://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/helping-kids-feel-loveable-loved

As an adoptive mom, Terri knows how fortunate she is to have her daughter, and also how very rare her story is. Not quite ten years into raising her daughter, she did some research and found that less than one percent of girls facing unplanned pregnancy choose adoption for their babies. Digging into the reasons why that is so, Terri conducted several focus groups in her home and discovered that most women facing unplanned pregnancy simply don’t realize that adoption is an option. They believe they must choose between parenting and terminating their pregnancy.

As a seasoned marketing executive, Terri has deep and broad experience in communicating a precise, value-based message to affect change. For over two decades, she has consulted to Silicon Valley companies and led their strategic marketing and communications efforts. (See MarketSavvy Inc.)

She founded Unplanned Good to promote adoption as a viable option for women facing unplanned pregnancy. This is in response to contemporary beliefs in our society that young women have only two choices; abortion or parenting.

All too often, young women face unplanned pregnancies. When they do, they typically see only two choices: to become parents, often in their teens, or to terminate their pregnancies. It’s rare that they consider the alternative path – seeing the pregnancy through to delivery and placing the baby for adoption.

The mission of our organization is to promote adoption as a viable, reasonable option for those dealing with unplanned pregnancies, such that the result is good for all involved.

https://www.unplannedgood.org/

https://twitter.com/Unplanned_Good

https://www.facebook.com/UnplannedGood/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Can you open your heart more fully? Shamele has opened her heart to 4 kids through adoption, another through a special guardianship and over 300 more through fostering them. Listen in as we dive into helping our kids have fun, feel listened to and loved.

Find out more about Shamele:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamele-jenkins-bb9ab712/

https://www.facebook.com/shamele.jenkins/

https://www.mdcfapa.org/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Change is hard. Until an insight happens. Whether that's about how we feel, what causes those feelings, our behaviour or anything else. So changing is a seeing thing. Listen in as Steve shares some of the insights that have done the heavy lifting. We hope this interview catalyses some changes for you.

Steve joins the team at Hand in Hand with a background in non-profit organizations, the healthcare industry and higher education. He holds a B.A. in Public Relations, a Master of Divinity, and an M.A. in Psychology, all of which have allowed him to do what he is most passionate about: making a positive difference in the lives of others. Steve heads up operations for Hand In Hand and his outgoing personality makes him a fantastic spokesperson for introducing Hand In Hand to new families and organizations that we partner with. Steve and his spouse have five adopted children. Steve is always excited to share his family’s experience with others to show them the incredible ways that adoption can transform lives. He is an avid sports fan, enjoys going to games and can normally be found adventuring with his kiddos throughout California. Steve is not afraid to go outside of his comfort zone and has even run a marathon in Italy to raise funds for charity! He loves being a father, first and foremost, and enjoys being able to give that experience to other families through his work with Hand in Hand.

Find out more at:

https://www.hihiadopt.org/

https://www.instagram.com/hand_in_hand_intl_adoptions/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/HandInHandInternationalAdoptions/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

From rainbows and unicorns to adoption is trauma. Pendulums swing too far before they settle into balance. Listen in as we find a more balanced approach that's closer to the truth.

Ryan Hanlon became President and CEO of NCFA in May 2022 after serving as the Vice President of Education, Research, and Constituent Services since August 2017. Prior to joining NCFA, he served as the Executive Director of an accredited adoption agency that provided domestic and international adoption services.

Ryan is a frequent conference speaker, podcast guest, and go-to source for national and regional media on a range of adoption issues. He has expertise in accreditation and regulatory issues, state licensing matters, and adoption-related policy topics. Passionate about research and education, Ryan seeks to ensure that all those impacted by adoption have the resources and support they need to thrive in their families and communities.

See Ryan’s April 2023 appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.

Ryan holds four advanced degrees including an M.A. in Liberal Arts, an M.S. in Nonprofit Management, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Social Work. He has served as a social work field instructor and an adjunct professor of social work to both undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.

In 2022, Ryan received the Angel in Adoption award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Ryan lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and their four children including a son adopted internationally.

Here's the article we mention.

https://ifstudies.org/blog/beyond-hashtags-what-the-anti-adoption-movement-gets-wrong

Find out more about Ryan here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-hanlon-/

https://adoptioncouncil.org/

https://www.facebook.com/AdoptionCouncil/

https://www.instagram.com/adoptioncouncil/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

It takes courage to tackle the tough stuff in adoption. It takes courage to love our kids when that love isn't reciprocated. Listen in as Melody talks about courage, support from others and much more. Melody has five kids including one from adoption.

Melody Marshall is the Co-Executive Director of My Village Ministries, a local initiative focused on family preservation, and the Co-Executive Director of Upstream Collaborative, a nationwide network of family preservation ministries. After receiving a B.S. in Human Development and Family Science, Melody has pursued work that aligns with God’s calling to serve vulnerable families.

Melody’s professional journey has spanned various roles, from house parent for at-risk teens to paraprofessional for children with special needs. Her experiences have shaped her unwavering dedication to the marginalized, the orphan, and the widow. Guided by a deep faith, Melody has seen God’s hand at work in her life, leading her to a clear calling to mobilize the Church to preserve socially isolated families in crisis, helping them build sustainable support systems and pathways to healing.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melody-marshall-1b19712ab/

https://myvillageministries.com/

https://www.facebook.com/myvillageministries

https://www.instagram.com/my.village.ministries/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.