Colorado Coalition for Adoptive Families (COCAF)

	Carla Bennett: Carla and Frank have raised two adopted sons and two birth daughters. In addition, they have been cradle parents for a private adoption agency since 1982 caring for more than 70 babies and toddlers whose birthparents are considering an adoption plan. Carla is the chair of COCAF’s Legislative Committee. She follows adoption and child welfare legislation at the state capitol and lobbies on COCAF’s behalf when appropriate. She also has been a volunteer lobbyist on children’s issues for the Colorado League of Women Voters since 1994.
	Frank Bennett (Secretary): Frank is the parent of four grown and almost grown children. Two of the children are biological and two adopted. In addition to his personal experience with parenting and adoption, Frank is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience in working with children with a wide range of mental health challenges. Because of his involvment with the public mental health system, he is a valuable source of information on mental health services, methods for accessing them, and avenues of appeal when services are denied.
	Deborah Cave (President): Deborah is on the Board of Directors of and is the Colorado state representative for the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), the national support organization for adoptive families. She has represented COCAF on multiple state-level committees dealing with children and family issues, has presented workshops on different adoptive issues, including adoption subsidies, has developed innovative programs providing support to families, and advocates for families at all stages of the adoptive process. Deborah, a senior-level scientist for an environmental consulting firm, and her husband Alan are the proud adoptive parents of two children.
	Juree and Peter Griffin: Juree and Pete are the parents of 4 children, 3 adopted and one expected in Summer 2005. The Griffins have experience accessing services through the Department of Human Services, as well as in the community. Peter has taught business classes for Denver Public Schools for 10 years. Juree is a licensed school psychologist and has a Ph.D. in service integration for families and children with a special emphasis on relationship quality between children and adults and its impact on educational outcomes. She has worked as a school psychologist for 11 years focusing in particular on students with significant emotional and behavioral support needs. She is also committed to educating teachers and families about the impact of emotional and behavioral support needs for foster and adopted children on their educational experiences. The importance of this dynamic for foster and adopted children is manifest in her professional passion for effective school based services.
	Beverly Holst (Treasurer): Beverly is the mother of four biological children and one foster child. She has a degree in nursing and certification in parent education, and was a therapeutic foster parent for 20 years. She served as office manager for the Colorado State Foster Parent Association for 10 years, and on the board of directors of the Jefferson County Foster Parent Association for 11 years. At present she is a foster parent and CASA volunteer, and serves on the Jefferson County Child Protection Team. She has been involved on state and local committees for the betterment of children in foster care, and strives to make life better for one child at a time.
	Roy Lindfield: Roy is the adoptive parent of two sons. Because of his adoption experiences, Roy has a zeal for improving the foster/adoption system so that it first and foremost benefits the children and their adoptive families. Roy has a BS and MBA in marketing, and works as an account manager for a global pharmaceutical company. He brings to the COCAF Board his experience serving as the past board president of an adult day care center.
	Suzy Lindfield: Suzy and Roy have been married for 13 years. Suzy is the parent of two adopted sons. She is experienced in both private and foster adoptions, and in raising special-needs children (ADHD and Reactive Attachment Disorder). Because of her good and bad experiences with the adoption process, Suzy has a zeal for improving the adoption process and increasing the awareness of adoption. Prior to becoming a full-time homemaker, Suzy graduated from Loma Linda University and worked as a highly successful medical sales representative.
	Gigi McLaughlin: Gigi has been a foster-to-adopt parent for two-and-a-half years. She has adopted one child, Hayden, and is a foster mom to an infant girl, Delaney. Gigi is president and co-chair of two Pueblo-based boards which serve families of children with disabilities, and sits on the Colorado Interagency Coordinating Council.
	Jeff McLaughlin: Jeff McLaughlin is both an adoptive and foster parent, and is on the board of Parent-to-Parent of Colorado, a statewide organization of families of children with disabilities. Jeff also sits on the advisory board of the Pueblo County Promoting Safe and Stable Families.
	Susan Price:
	Bill Stout: Bill Stout is a birth parent, and an adoptive parent through the foster-adopt program. He lives in Fort Collins with his two children, wife, and a small menagerie of pets. Bill is the chairperson of Kids at Heart, a coalition of churches serving foster and adoptive families in Larimer County. Kids at Heart advocates for foster and adoptive families, partners with government agencies to provide respite care, and recruits foster and adoptive parents from faith communities. Bill volunteers with the Larimer County Department of Children, Youth and Families in several capacities, and is the author of several books related to child abuse prevention and volunteer management. He has also trained not-for-profit and faith-based organizations located across the United States on these subjects.
	Colleen Tarket: Colleen is mother to eight children, four biological sons and four adopted children (two girls and two boys). Colleen and her husband, Bill, adopted the sibling group of four through the Colorado foster-adopt program. Two of the four children have mental disorders, which has forced Colleen to become well-educated in both the diseases her children have and how to access appropriate services. Colleen would like to find a way to provide easier access to services for all Colorado adoptive parents. Before choosing to be a stay-at-home parent in 2002, Colleen was a contract and compliance manager for a large international technology firm.

Page Last Updated: May 14, 2005