Author of Stop The Bounce: A Child's Journey Through Foster Care to Hold Book Signing at Book Revue in Huntington

Book Sheds Light on Struggle of Children in Foster Care

 
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) is proud to announce that Dr. Christopher D. Long, President of FREE and author of Stop the Bounce: A Child’s Journey Through Foster Care, will be holding a signing of the children’s book he authored. The signing will take place on Thursday, October 13, at 7:00 p.m. at Book Revue, located at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY.
 

When:
7:00 p.m. Thursday, October 13, 2016

Where:
Book Revue
313 New York Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743

***great visuals as Dr. Long’s children will join with hundreds of supporters of the movement***

As a father, Dr. Long was motivated to write this book after his experience of adopting five boys from the New York City foster care system. Stop the Bounce: A Child’s Journey Through Foster Care is the initial step in a bold new initiative to support those in foster care in need of a loving home by inspiring all to open their hearts. Stop the Bounce: A Child’s Journey Through Foster Care is available for sale in hardcover, paperback, and eBook here.
 
Copies of the book will also be available at the signing. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards funding the Stop the Bounce initiative.
 
Stop the Bounce refers to the “bounce” that many foster care children experience as they go from foster home to foster home without finding permanency. FREE has implemented work-readiness and life-skills programs for foster care youth ages 16-21 who are aging out of the system. Although they have been able to positively impact youth by providing them with the meaningful work-readiness experiences to give them employment preparedness and a sense of purpose, they recognize that a major void remains in their life: the lack of a permanent, loving, adoptive family.
 
Their vision is that Stop the Bounce will facilitate a reduction in the amount of time children spend in foster care and increase the number of long-term stable adoptions. Stop the Bounce supports existing foster care agencies by providing information to the public and potential adoptive parents to demystify the adoption process, and offering post-adoption parent support training. In addition, Stop the Bounce will provide a forum for those affected by the foster care system to share their stories, experiences and ideas through blogs, interviews, podcasts and more.
 
FREE seeks to create change on a broad level by assisting established foster care agencies in their adoption process and, most importantly, the foster children in them to connect with their adoptive families as soon as possible.
 

About Stop the Bounce
Our mission is to raise awareness, promote adoption, and connect potential families to long-term foster care youth seeking permanent homes. We hope to do this through education, engagement, and inspiring communities to open their hearts to create permanent, stable, adoptive families.
 
For more information on the Stop the Bounce initiative, please contact Dr. Christopher D. Long, President of FREE, at 516-870-1648 or CLong01@familyres.org; or Regina Savarese, Assistant Vice President of Youth & Education at FREE, at 516-870-1600, ext. 1863, or RSavarese01@familyres.org, or visit www.stopthebounce.org.
To connect with Stop the Bounce via Facebook, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Stop-the-Bounce-1595311457413699
To connect with Stop the Bounce via Twitter, please visit: https://twitter.com/stop_the_bounce
To connect with Stop the Bounce on Instagram, please visit: https://www.instagram.com/stop_the_bounce/
 

About the Author
Christopher D. Long, Ed.D, is the President of Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE), a not- for-profit agency that supports individuals of all abilities with community living opportunities, employment, day services, clinical, education and after-school support, and other assistance. Dr. Long joined FREE in January of 2010. He has been recognized as a professional whose exceptional skills and dedication profoundly affect the lives of people with disabilities. Throughout his career, he has held various administrative positions in residential/housing services, day services, schools, supported employment and professional development.
 
Prior to joining FREE, for 10 years Dr. Long held multiple executive management positions at several not-for- profit health-related and human service organizations. Additionally, Dr. Long has a considerable amount of higher education teaching experience. In 2009, he joined the adjunct faculty at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue and teaches graduate courses for the Child Study Department. Dr. Long is also an adjunct faculty member at Pace University in New York City, Iona College in Westchester and Stony Brook University in Long Island, NY.
 
Dr. Long has a doctorate degree in special education, a Master of Arts in special education, a master’s degree in educational leadership and Bachelor of Arts in psychology. He holds a New York State Special Education permanent teaching certification and a New York State School Building Leader certification.
 
Dr. Long was the 2005 winner of the prestigious Zella Bronfman Butler Award for outstanding contributions in the field of special education/human services. He is also the author of the inspiring book, “Swimming in a Pool of Peanut Butter,” written from the perspective of children with ADHD. Dr. Long’s second book, “Stop the Bounce,” portrays the experiences of foster children who are hoping to one day find their forever family.
 
Dr. Long’s diversified professional experience and passion for the human services and special education industries has provided him the skills necessary to be an effective leader, a confident visionary and an innovator.
 
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