Anita Stevens – Founder and Executive Director

I am married, the mother or three children who are grown and married and the grandmother of two. I have a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. I worked for another adoption agency from 1987 to 1992 when I decided to begin Family Connections. So I have almost twenty years of experience in the adoption field. This experience has included domestic adoption placements in New York and in many other states, placement of children internationally from the United States to other countries and from other countries to the United States, and the preparation of home studies for twenty-one different countries. I have worked with families who have adopted new born infants to teenagers. I have traveled to Guatemala, Vietnam, Russia, and Kazakhstan and helped hundreds of families prepare their international dossiers. I am truly passionate about helping families and available children find each other, fall in love and work through the attachment process of adoption.

Mandy Brenlow, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving Long Island and New York City

Mandy received her bachelor’s degree in social welfare from Adelphi University in 1996 and then went on to earn a master’s degree in social work in 1997 from the same university. She has been working in the field since graduating. She has specialized in domestic violence and developmental disorders in children. She starting working in the adoption field in 2005 and finds it to be an extremely rewarding line of work. She is currently living on Long Island, NY with her husband and two sons.

Mary Capocefalo, L.C.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving Central and Southern New York

Mary Capocefalo is a licensed social worker with a degree from Syracuse University. She and her husband are the parents of three children. Their thirteen year old son was adopted from Russia when he was four years old. Mary has worked in the adoption field for the past ten years. In addition she also works as an adjunct professor at Crouse School of Nursing and LeMoyne College in Syracuse, and is a therapist in private practice.

Julie Dodge – Regional Adoption Support Coordinator

Julie and her husband are the proud parents of three children. They have two biological sons and a adopted daughter from Guatemala. Julie's adoption journey started over three years ago when they decided to adopt their little girl. She feels there is no greater gift than bringing a child into a family's life. A goal of Julie's is to help "Forever Families" be united together. She will be hosting informational meetings in Buffalo and Rochester and will be providing on-going support to adoptive families.

Beth Glass, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving the Hudson Valley

Impressed by Family Connection’s Home Study process in preparation for adoption of her baby girl, Beth pursued her desire to help others adopt. Beth has most recently worked as a therapist for children in need and their families. She currently volunteers for the Mental Health Association of Orange County, Inc.’s Compeer Program, which matches persons with mental illness in a friendship with volunteers. Beth has worked in the field of social work since 2002 and received her Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Fordham University in 2005.

Renee Hettich, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving Central and Southern New York

Renee is the mother of two daughters who were adopted from the People’s Republic of China and a son adopted from Guatemala. After her first daughter arrived home, Renee decided to dedicate her life to finding forever families for children throughout the world who have no families. She made a promise to the hundreds of thousands of children she had to leave behind in orphanages that she would work diligently to find them a mommy and daddy. She chose to leave behind her career as a school administrator and became a professional social worker in the field of adoption.

Renee earned a Master of Social Work degree from Marywood University in 2005. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Audiology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor’s Degree in speech/language pathology from Ithaca College. She is currently an adoption social worker with Family Connections, Inc. and supports families who are adopting domestically or internationally with home study and post-adoption support services. In addition, Renee is known for her professional lectures on “Ethics in Adoption”, “Risk & Resiliency of Children Adopted Internationally”, and “Transracial Parenting” and for her presentation on the “Joys and Challenges of International Adoption”. Renee has also published articles in Adoption Today (an adoption magazine).

Amy Jacobson, L.C.S.W.-R – Adoption Social Worker
serving the Hudson Valley

Amy earned her BA degree from SUNY New Paltz in 1986. She earned her Masters Degree in Social Work in 1994 from Adelphi University. She has worked as a psycho-therapist for the past 12 years and has specialized in working with children with attachment disorders as well as adoption and children in foster care.

She is dedicated to helping families through the adoption process. Amy has been conducting Adoption Home Study’s since 1999. Along with her work in the area of adoption, she has a full time psycho-therapy practice.

Toni Kapen, L.C.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving Long Island and New York City

Toni Kapen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received her Masters of Social Work from New York University in 1978. She has worked in the fields of Chemical Dependency, Mental Health and Adoption. Toni has also worked as Adjunct Professors at Adelphi University in the School of Social Work and at Farmingdale University in the Psychology Department. Adoption is very close to her heart as she has three wonderful adopted children.

Michelle (Shelly) Morgan, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
serving the Rochester area

Michelle (Shelley) Morgan, LMSW is a grduate of Syracuse University. She has worked as a contracted social worker for adoption since 2000. Adoption social work suites Michelle both professionally and personally as she has two internationally adopted children (Cambodia, Korea).

Sue Saur, L.C.S.W.-R – Adoption Social Worker
Serving Western New York

Sue has been supporting families in adoption since 1990. She has experience providing home study services, pre-adoption counseling, and post-adoption support services for families adopting domestically and internationally. Sue earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bucknell University and her master’s degree in social work from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Cornellia Spoor, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
Serving New York City

Cornelia holds a Bachelor’s in English from Rutgers University and was a Garden State Fellow in English before deciding that she wanted to focus her professional work in the field of protection and stability for children and families. She earned a Master’s in Social Work from Rutgers in 1993, and worked in international child welfare from 1994 to 1997, also serving as Field Instructor for Columbia University School of Social Work. She then moved into the field of international adoption and has served as Director and Social Work Supervisor for World Child in New Jersey since 1998.

Cornelia has advanced training as a Family Therapist, and has worked with a variety of families, both voluntary and court-mandated. She was ordained as Deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2002, and currently serves as Deacon at Grace-St. Paul’s Church in Mercerville, NJ. Her diaconal work has been as congregational coordinator for Interfaith Hospitality Network, a non-profit providing housing and support to homeless families with children at local churches.

In her spare time, Cornelia and her partner enjoy spending time with her 2 adult children, canoe camping in the Adirondacks, and working on the cabin they are building in the Tug Hill region.

Julia Werman, L.M.S.W. – Adoption Social Worker
serving the Long Island and New York City

Julia Werman, LMSW has been involved in Permanency Planning for several years as a Social Worker and Consultant. After graduating from Hunter College School of Social Work, she embarked on a career in Adoption for hard to place children. Most recently, Julia worked as an Adoption Specialist and Case Expeditor on New York’s Longest Waiting Children Project, an Adoption Opportunities grant. The project created a model for child care workers to actively plan for the hardest placed and longest waiting older children in the foster care system. Julia also began working as a contract worker for private adoption agencies to help families grow through domestic and foreign adoption. For the past four years she has had the privilege of working with a number of families through the home study and post-placement process. Julia is dedicated to helping the families with whom she works feel comfortable through what can be a challenging time in any families life.

Julia brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to her work.

Dorene Whitaker – International Adoption Specialist

Dorene has been working in the field of adoption since 1998. She starting working with Family Connections, Inc. in 2004. She is responsible to support New York State families adopting from Guatemala. She has assisted over 200 families and has escorted 16 children from Guatemala to their waiting families. Dorene considers her work in adoption the most rewarding work she has done.

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