Adoption Literacy: A Shared Language to Empower Families, Elevate Voices, and Transform Care
As a Korean American adoptee and licensed clinical counselor, I help all types of organizations - from child welfare to Fortune 500 companies to school districts - healthcare systems to faith communities - build truly inclusive environments where diverse stories don’t just exist, but actually drive innovation and growth.
The challenge? Every organization leads and cares for team members with dynamic backgrounds - trauma survivors, immigrants, adoptees and former foster youth, individuals who navigate complex and non-traditional family systems. Yet most institutions can unknowingly silence these experiences, missing out on incredible insights, perspectives, and opportunities for transformation.
Adoption Literacy is a simple yet powerful and flexible framework to actively support how organizations lead and care for people with different backgrounds, creating better experiences that amplify potential and elevate what we can accomplish together.
Access Adoption Literacy NewsletterWhat is Adoption Literacy?
Want to understand the framework behind my approach? Adoption Literacy (AL) is my peer-reviewed framework for understanding and responding to the short- and long-term needs of people who've experienced changes in permanency through family separation, foster care, kinship placements, reunification, and adoption. AL is designed to help professionals, adoptees, and families move beyond the confusion of traditional "grateful adoptee" narratives to clarity, empowerment, and adoptee-informed care coordination.
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Want to see the framework in action? Check out these resources that explore Adoption Literacy in practice.
Why Adoptees Need a New Kind of Village
In his TEDx talk, Cam introduces Adoption Literacy for understanding the emotional and societal impacts of adoption - so communities can help adoptees reclaim their narratives, heal, and thrive. He shares four key relational cues to equip parents, professionals, and allies to be part of lasting positive change.
The Adoptee's Journey
Cam explores the nuances and complexities of the adoptee experience, revealing how history and faith communities have shaped adoption practices and outcomes over time. Through Adoption Literacy, Cam offers a path for adoptees to discover agency, embrace identity, and strengthen meaningful relationships across all their family systems.
Community Awareness
In the interview with WCCO - CBS Minnesota, Cam shares about his personal journey from isolation to connection, and reflects on identity, grief, and healing in adoption. He discusses his return to Korea and the experience of meeting birth family in his book The Adoptee's Journey, offering hope and guidance for adoptees, families, and communities alike.
