This interview is with Kenna Hamm, LMSW, Assistant Director, Texas Adoption Center.
Could you introduce yourself and the scope of your adoption care work today as an Assistant Director in individual & family services?
I am the Assistant Director of Texas Adoption Center, where I combine my clinical background in social work with strategic leadership to support ethical, compassionate adoption services. I hold both my undergraduate and master’s degrees in Social Work, and my career has consistently centered around serving the mother and baby population.
I began my work as a perinatal social worker, supporting women and families during their delivery and hospitalization. That experience deepened my passion for walking alongside expectant parents during some of the most vulnerable and life-changing moments of their lives. I later transitioned into domestic infant adoption, working directly in the community as an adoption specialist. In that role, I supported expectant parents as they explored their options and, when adoption was chosen, guided them through every step of the process with education, advocacy, and emotional support.
In my current role as Assistant Director, I continue to stay closely connected to the heart of the work while also leading agency operations and growth. My responsibilities include contract oversight, staff hiring and training, program development, and strategic initiatives to expand outreach and accessibility. I am deeply committed to maintaining ethical practices, strengthening community partnerships, and ensuring our services are responsive to the evolving needs of the adoptive triad. I am driven by a commitment to informed choice, dignity, and lifelong support for the families we serve.
What path led you to your current Assistant Director role in adoption services?
My path into adoption began in the hospital setting, where I worked as a Perinatal Social Worker on the following units: Labor & Delivery, Antepartum, Mother/Baby Postpartum, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Supporting parents in those hospital rooms, during moments filled with uncertainty, love, grief, and hope, solidified my passion for this work. I witnessed firsthand the importance of compassionate guidance, clear information, and advocacy during such pivotal moments.
From your case management experience, what intake-to-placement practice have you refined that most improves a child’s transition into an adoptive home?
Through my case management experience, the intake-to-placement practice I have refined most is advocacy-centered coordination combined with intentional post-placement support. From the very first intake conversation, I train our team of adoption professionals to approach each case with a strong advocacy lens to ensure expectant mothers receive clear, unbiased options counseling. I’ve continued to strengthen our agency processes so that we are both thorough and emotionally supportive.
I believe what most improves an adoptee’s future is what happens during and after placement. I focus on developing and expanding our post-placement support resources. Adoption is not a single event, and Texas Adoption Center wants to treat it like a lifelong process. Ongoing support for birth parents is vital. Our team routinely provides structured post-placement touchpoints, counseling referrals, birth mother support groups, and education for adoptive parents around openness. Setting expectations, establishing plans for communication post-adoption, and preparing adoptive families for open relationships create healthier outcomes for the child.
I believe strong advocacy during the pregnancy and intentional, structured support after placement are the two practices that most directly improve stability and long-term success in adoption. Birth mother and adoptee voices help guide our processes.
Drawing on your work in culturally sensitive care, what did you learn from a specific case where you navigated cultural identity or transracial dynamics in an adoption?
At Texas Adoption Center, we recognize that transracial adoption comes with both beautiful opportunities and profound responsibilities. Cultural sensitivity is not optional; it is essential.
Our agency believes that a child’s racial and cultural identity must be actively honored, preserved, and celebrated. Adoptive parents pursuing transracial adoption are prepared through intentional education, ongoing training, and honest self-reflection. Texas Adoption Center empowers adoptive families with resources, such as A Practical Guide: Transracial Adoption. This guide combines Isaac Etter’s personal journey as a Black adoptee with practical steps for navigating race and identity in the home. It also features a powerful chapter from his mom, Julie Etter, offering an honest, heartfelt look at what it takes to grow as a transracial adoptive parent.
When you train staff or speak publicly, what single training module would you require for every new social worker entering adoption care to create real-world impact?
I believe everyone who interacts with expectant parents considering adoption should be trained in positive adoption language. From the obstetrician to the labor and delivery nurse, from the pregnancy center counselor to the hospital social worker, every professional voice matters. An expectant parent may only remember a few sentences from that time in their life, but those sentences can stay with them forever. The weight of our words is enormous. If a medical professional casually says, “Are you giving the baby up?” that phrasing can reinforce shame or failure. But if they say, “Are you creating an adoption plan for your child?” it acknowledges intention and care. That shift may seem small, but emotionally it is significant. Positive adoption language preserves dignity and reduces stigma.
Texas Adoption Center models respect across all members of the adoption triad. It’s about empowerment and ethical practice. When everyone uses consistent, respectful language, we create an environment where expectant parents feel supported rather than judged. If we truly want real-world impact in adoption care, it starts long before placement paperwork. It starts in exam rooms, hospital hallways, intake offices, and everyday conversations.