We established the Rachel Foundation for Family Reintegration in October 2000 to help abducted and alienated children reintegrate with their families. We were supported and encouraged by caring professionals and agencies like (and including) the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. All said there is a crying need for the reintegration programs and services we proposed.
Little did we imagine that within one week of incorporation, our first case would be referred to us by the Federal Court of Maryland. We’ve been working non-stop ever since. We’ve fielded hundreds of inquiries and directly assisted hundreds of families through the reintegration process. Working with a core group of dedicated experts, we’ve developed a basic reintegration program and, most important, we’ve proven that it works.
So when that parent asked me “Is there hope?” the Rachel Foundation for Family Integration's answer is “Yes!” We look forward to sharing our stories with you.
Director
of Programs,
The Rachel Foundation for
Family Integration
Damascus, MD
Pamela
Stuart-Mills Hoch is a teacher who, since 1991, has worked to develop
reintegration programs for parents and children separated by abduction,
alienation and high conflict divorce. Her primary focus is to move reintegration
out of the field of pure research and into practical programs that are
affordable and available to all who need them. Through the Rachel Foundation
for Family Integration she
leads the way in formalizing reintegration as a separate and distinct field of
professional competence.
Her
commitment to her life work stems from her personal experience as a mother,
coupled with her training and experience as an educator. She has become a
national expert and trailblazer in reintegration issues.
She designed and presents the reintegration component of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s training course on reunification.
She first formalized the concept of residential reintegration programs as
early as 1992 and with the help of core experts, has developed and implemented
the Rachel Reintegration programs.
Personal Background
In
1989, Pamela’s four children, aged 6 to 13, were abducted and severely
alienated from her. In 1991, her long struggle to reunite with her children
resulted in an historic Canadian judgment that gave her custody of her two
younger children. The two older children were deemed beyond hope of ever
reconciling with her.
When the younger children were returned to her care
after 2 years, Pamela had to overcome the “Abduction of the Mind” and
rebuild loving bonds with children who had been taught to hate her. In 1991,
there existed little understanding of alienation, and even less about family
reintegration. Her unique success formed the basis of her life work. She never
gave up hope of reuniting with her other children. In 1999, at age 22, her
oldest daughter returned.
Named
as a Canadian “Woman of the Heart”
in 1992, documentation of her work
received the Award of Honor from the
Canadian Association of Mental Health in 1993. She was the Recipient
of the Award of Merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children (NCMEC) for “Outstanding
Commitment to the Protection of Children and International Child Abduction
Issues” in 1999. She is the founder of PAIN Parental Alienation
Information Network (1991) and former executive director of the Parental
Alienation Syndrome Research Foundation. She is a teacher with post-graduate
certification in education theory and history, general and special methodology,
educational psychology and sociology, children’s health and behavioral
development.
Pamela
is married to Bob Hoch and they share ten children and two grandchildren.
Copyright © 2003 The Rachel Foundation