SPEAKING REVIEWS

Evaluation Summary for Keynote Speaker Shane Salter
Out of the 87 evaluations we received, 80 participants rated the keynote a "5" on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the top rating, 6 rated the keynote a "4" and "1" rated the keynote a "3". Comments included:

• Very moving, very powerful
• Eye opening. I really needed to know what it was like to be a youngster growing up in the system.
• Shane was just awesome. Hearing his journey" helped me to understand some of the "bumps" in the road that my daughter has experienced. (and may experience in the future!)
• What an amazing story, my eyes watered numerous times because of sadness and happiness. Thank you for asking him to speak. I look forward to reading his book.
• Shane salter is a very genuine and amazing speaker, very inspiring
• Very moving. Made adoption seem to be the only logical course of action.
• Shane Salter was amazing and very moving.
• Shane’s story is moving - what a gift he gave us all.
• This was a great real life story. It was very motivating for me as a future adoptive parent.
• You need to bring boxes of tissues next time. He was great and very inspirational
• Wow! Powerful
• Very moving success story
• Gives me the motivation I need to keep meeting the challenges my special needs child presents and to go forward with her adoption.
• Very inspirational
• Well versed, able to connect with the audience
• Heartwarming and endearing testimony to the pain of his childhood and his rise above it to become a committed parent and a strong advocate for all children.
• Brought tears to my eyes
• His life story is truly an inspiration. It makes me really want to go through the adoption process, no matter how difficult.
• Wonderful story! Allows me to see that all the issues that kids have can turn out okay.
• It was eyeopening and confirmed some thoughts I had—behavior is the language of children.
• Wonderful mix of humor, emotion and information. Could have listened to him all day.
• Wow!
• Wonderful to hear the perspective of a survivor who is thriving.
• Proof that we can and must do all possible to overcome the "hard stuff" in life.
• Not a dry eye in the hall. Excellent presentation.
• Excellent and then some.
• Evokes emotion yet instills hope at the same time. Fabulous speaker who touches our hearts by touching the heart of the matter.
• Get him back!

Keynote Address: "Trouble Don't Last Always"
Surviving Abandonment, Abuse and the Child Welfare System.

Shane Salter gave a powerful personal account of life in the child welfare system. "I was four years old when I became a parent," he began. He described life for his brother and himself as they moved from foster home to adoptive family, and back to another foster home, to a group home, to another adoptive family . . . .

"As a little boy, I could not imagine what I had done that was so terrible . . . that I had to give up the opportunity to have a home, and to have a family, and to be in a place where I was loved, and nurtured, and supported," Salter said.

He continued, "I used to wonder 'Why me?' Why are all these things happening to me? Why do I have all this trouble in my life?"

Salter overcame his challenges and went on to become a college graduate and a successful professional. As an adult, he swore that he wanted nothing to do with the social welfare system. "In time, though" Salter said, "I came to realize that a major purpose in my life was to put a face on the child welfare system—to remind people that it is more than just 'children' we talk about. That these are human beings with incredible potential. And that when we fall short of doing our absolute best, we can do incalculable damage."

Commenting on the conference theme of different approaches, Salter stated, "It is important that you have clients at the table, helping you to learn from their experiences so that you don't make the same mistakes over and over again. That is how you truly demonstrate that you value different approaches to child welfare and service delivery."

Salter concluded by sharing his crowning accomplishment: he has a loving family with three birth children and two adoptive children. But looking at what his adoptive sons went through in the child welfare system rekindled his anger and frustration with the system. "It renews my commitment and my passion to make this the greatest priority of my life," Salter stated. "To remind people about the lives that we are ruining, and the human potential that is not being tapped."