Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Grant Deadline for HelpUsAdopt

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GRANT DEADLINE: Becky Fawcett @helpusadopt.org is now accepting adoption grant applications for the FEBRUARY 2015 grant cycle. HelpUsAdopt.org supports ALL families including Muslim, Jewish, LGBT and single parent families.

Click for a FREE application. Please share-- someone you know might need help with the cost of their adoption.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

As If Parenting is Not Hard Enough

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/7-things-i-can-do-that-my-black-son-cant-99408985077.html

By Calvin Hennick

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The writer with his son. Photo courtesy of Calvin Hennick.

In the days after the Michael Brown shooting, I wrote an essay titled “I Hope My Son Stays White,” detailing my fears about what might happen to my biracial three-year-old son if he grows up to have dark skin. The upshot: America, to its shame, is still a place where black males are feared, and I don’t want that fear to turn itself on my son in a way that leads to his arrest or death.

I published the piece on Ebony.com, and the reactions from black readers ranged from “sad but true” to allegations that I myself was engaging in the very racism and colorism that I was decrying. But buried among these was a comment from a white reader who accused me of “sucking up to black folk” and then went on to list the supposed advantages of being black in America. (Apparently, according to this reader, my son will have an unearned fast track to a career as an air traffic controller. Um, okay?)

Read more.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

I Don't Expect You To Understand Why I Parent The Way I Do

Source: http://goo.gl/qsWzjb

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Being the parent of children with special needs, our style and means of parenting are quite different than most parents. There are big reasons why we do the things we do, expect the things we expect, and redirect the way we redirect:

My son’s coach meant well. He really did. His fatherly instincts told him to comfort my son and try to remedy the situation by loaning him his gloves. The temperatures at game time were a brisk 30 degrees. The sun was up, but slow to melt the frost that fell in the early morning hours when it was the coldest. My son stood on the sideline shivering, crying, snot running down his upper lip, and looking as if he were close to death.

I stood on the opposite sideline, glaring at him as he played up his sob story, feeling no sympathy.

In fact, through the fumes that clearly radiated from my face I reflected back on the night before, when I was digging out knit caps and gloves in preparation for his game. Because I’m a college-educated person I paid attention to the evening weather report (which a kindergartener could do). I listened when the reporter said, matter-of-factly, that the next morning would be below normal. He even went as far as to say, “If your son or daughter is playing soccer, football or fall baseball, you will want to dress them warm!” Imagine that!

Read more.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Worth the Trip to NYC! - See you soon Brenda and Mike.

Source: http://goo.gl/64cWEo

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At first, it seems like a joke. There's no way they can be serious, you think, as the giant flatbread is deposited unceremoniously before you. It's shaped like a football, with puffy crusts surrounding a moat of molten white cheese called sulguni. On top of the cheese is a barely cooked egg, its yolk peeking out over the sea of dairy. And then the waiter gives a little nod, leans over, and starts mixing the egg into the cheese, leaving you with an enormous, delicious bread boat to contend with. This is khachapuri adjaruli, and it's serious business indeed.

Khachapuri adjaruli makes up just a small part of Georgian cuisine, but it's probably the most craveable, though the oeuvre of other khachapuris—some cheeseless, others filled with beans or corn—is vast and equally tempting. Still, if you're going to seek out Georgian food at two newish Georgian restaurants downtown, save room to go beyond simple carbohydrates.

Read more.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

FRUA Memberships Drive

The Family Focus - Digital Edition               
FRUA e-Newsletter supplement to The Family Focus

October 2014
Vol. 1, Issue 1

We are excited to launch the first issue of The Family Focus - Digital Edition.

The Family Focus digital edition and printed journal are membership publications. Our printed journal has more in-depth articles. Our new digital edition is meant to be a quicker read with online links to information.

Thank you for being a part of the FRUA adoption member community. We journey together with our successes and challenges.

FRUA Membership: Hope, Help, and Community

Fall Membership Drive - Special Offer - NOW

This is FRUA membership month! Until November 8th, we are offering a special promotion for those who renew their FRUA memberships for one or three years. Next month, we will focus on National Adoption Month and attachment issues. 

Renew through November 8th, and receive a FREE educational course or webinar from Adoption Learning Partners.   


 

Recent News

FRUA National news update . . . from our Chair.

Follow along with Jan Wondra on her recent trip to Moscow for FRUA. . . FRUA National Board Blog.

FRUA regional chapters recently hosted representatives from several of our children's birth countries. Events were held in the DC area, Minneapolis and Seattle. . . FRUA regional events.

FRUA advises about its global outreach programs in e-blast (9/5/14). . . FRUA Increases Global Outreach , Global Outreach FAQ.

IN THE NEWS. . . A recent article in The Washington Post noted a pending New York court case involving two minors who are Russian adoptees. FRUA has been asked by members about its position regarding this issue. . . FRUA Issues Position Statement on NY Court Case (10/20/14).


 

Resource Links

FRUA National & Regional 

World events, and ensuing media attention, can negatively impact our children, and attitudes from others. FRUA developed an education document to help parents and teachers talk with children who may have worries about what is happening in Ukraine and Russia. Our parent-educator tool has been recently updated. Parent-Educator Tool for Ukraine Crisis

We now have ten regional chapters in the U.S. covering all fifty U.S. states, so every FRUA member is now associated with a region based on where they live. Regional Chapters List and Contacts

Outreach

It is important the voices of our FRUA members are heard with key national adoption leaders. Continuing our mission of awareness building, FRUA is in regular contact with opinion leaders at adoption organizations around the country. National Adoption Policy Groups

Kazakhstan Post-Placement Reports Update

For more information about inter-country adoptions:

  • U.S. State Department, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Children's Issues, adoption.state.gov

Web links of Interest

As noted below in our disclaimer below, and in The Family Focus printed journal, FRUA does not endorse or recommend resources, but rather provides information about resources. What works for one family may not work for another.


Member Reminders

from FRUA National Board Chairs . . .  

National Board Chair: Please remember to submit your post-placement reports.

Vice Chair: Reach out. You are not alone. Talking with other families who have already made the journey is extremely helpful. This is why I am here, as a parent and a FRUA volunteer.

Education: We are looking forward to celebrating National Adoption Month in November, and focusing on attachment issues, with a members-only live webinar with Deborah Gray. More details to follow.    

Membership: Receive a FREE educational course or webinar from Adoption Learning Partners when you join or renew your FRUA membership by November 8th. Fall Membership Drive - Special Offer

Development: Help support FRUA's mission. Donate Now

The Family Focus: Our next printed issue of The Family Focus is FRUA's 20th Anniversary Edition due out in January 2015. Click on The Family Focus Announcement form to learn more about submitting your photos or text for this issue.


Disclaimer: In providing links to non-FRUA sites, FRUA does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information, services or products on these sites. Resources are provided by FRUA members for information purposes only.

New Program: Welcome to Guyana!!!

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Hopscotch Kids in The News: Lusie!

Source: http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/meet-jon-schull-mhp-foot-soldier

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Hopscotch Kids in The News: Lusie appears in this MSNBC story about 3-D printing, meets with the global generosity of a local tech genius for kid-approved, custom colored new hands!

See Video.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Sexual Abuse Prior to Placement Webinar

Advice for Adoptive Parents

43 Wednesday, October 15, 2014
7:00PM Central
Q&A: 8:00PM

It is a terribly sad reality that children adopted internationally or through foster care may have suffered sexual abuse.

Join Mary Jo Bennett as she provides insight to parents on:

  • Recognizing signs of past abuse in your child
  • How to respond if you suspect or know abuse happened
  • Protecting the child you are welcoming home and other children in the home
  • How to talk to your child about sexual rules or norms in their new home

Sign up today

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Sexual Abuse Prior to Placement Webinar

Advice for Adoptive Parents

43 Wednesday, October 15, 2014
7:00PM Central
Q&A: 8:00PM

It is a terribly sad reality that children adopted internationally or through foster care may have suffered sexual abuse.

Join Mary Jo Bennett as she provides insight to parents on:

  • Recognizing signs of past abuse in your child
  • How to respond if you suspect or know abuse happened
  • Protecting the child you are welcoming home and other children in the home
  • How to talk to your child about sexual rules or norms in their new home

Sign up today

Thursday, October 2, 2014

UN Report Expresses Concern Over Protection of Vulnerable Children in Morocco

It is great to see that the UN is urging Morocco to support unwed mothers and to consider adoption as a viable option, along with kinship and foster/kefala/guardianship.  The UN notes that Moroccan children are vulnerable to be taken into domestic servitude, without stronger measures in place.  

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/09/140434/un-report-expresses-concern-over-protection-of-vulnerable-children-in-morocco/

By Colin Kilkelly

timthumb.php In particular, the committee is concerned that article 490 of the Moroccan Criminal Code punishes sexual relations outside marriage, resulting in dozens of babies being abandoned every day in the country.

The committee also expressed deep concern at the stigmatization and social rejection of single mothers in Morocco, of whom one third are adolescents. It also expressed concern over the serious consequences of this social rejection for their children, many of whom do not have identification documents or birth certificates, resulting in them having no legal existence.

The Committee’s report urged the Moroccan government to repeal article 490 and to provide unmarried mothers with support to enable them to take care of their children. It also called on the government to protect the rights of pregnant teenagers, adolescent mothers, and their children.

Read more.