Building healthy relationships between bio/birth families and foster/adoptive families ideally begins long before an adoption occurs, but various factors can make this difficult or impossible. This workshop explores how education can empower birth families and adoptive families to understand their distinct roles, rights, and responsibilities, laying the groundwork for open and respectful connections after placement. We will explore the facets of open adoption contact and the “homework” that foster and adoptive parents still have to do when contact is not currently safe or accessible. We will discuss the role that technology plays in open adoption and how everyone deserves to set boundaries, not just the power holders. Finally, we’ll confront the realities of building trust across socioeconomic and power divides and identify practical ways to create bridges of empathy, accountability, and mutual respect that truly honor the child at the center of the adoption constellation.