Putting the Pieces Together: The Significance of the Child’s Story

NCFA Releases Adoption Advocate No. 114 | Putting the Pieces Together: The Significance of the Child’s Story

Source: http://www.adoptioncouncil.org

Throughout a child’s life, they will have questions about their past, whether they were adopted through foster care, infant, intercountry, kinship, or transracial adoption. In the December issue of the Adoption Advocate, Debbie Wynne anticipates some of those common questions and poses ways in which adoptive parents can proactively and lovingly support those needs, build a safe and trusting relationship with their child, and provide healthy opportunities for their child to learn and grow.

Download the PDF of Adoption Advocate No. 114 or read the web version.

Panel of Parents Adopting Older Kids: Surviving that 1st Year – Creating a Family

Source: https://creatingafamily.org/

Adopting and fostering older kids is hard for both the child and the parent, especially the first year. A panel of moms who have adopted older kids share their tips for surviving the first year home. Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews Melissa Basham, mom to 4 boys adopted from foster care; Abigail Betancourt, mom to 2 kids adopted from foster care; Jan Egozi, mom to one child adopted internationally; and Shelley McMullen, mom to 1 child adopted internationally.

Listen to podcast.

September 2017 | News and updates



Foundation Announces 2017 Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces

For the 11th year, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption surveyed the nation's employers in search of those with the best adoption benefits. The Foundation compares financial reimbursement and paid leave given to adoptive parents. This year, there is a new company topping the list.
American Express ranked number one, moving up 30 spots on the list from 2016. The company offers U.S.-based, regular, full-time and part-time employees up to $35,000 to aid with the cost of an adoption (up to a maximum of two events per employee). The company also offers up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave to women and men welcoming a child through adoption.

Click here to view the complete Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplace list. The Foundation also recognizes employers by size, industry, best leave and foster care benefits. The 2018 survey will open in January.

The Wendy's Company was the original advocate of the Adoption-Friendly Workplace program. The company put in place robust workplace adoption benefits more than 25 years ago. In 2016, The Wendy's Company was awarded Forever Family status, which is an emeritus position on the Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplace list that recognizes their continued commitment to these crucial benefits.



Survey: More Americans are considering children in foster care when looking to adopt
By the time Olivia was 10 years old, she'd spent more than half her life in foster care. "It was painful because I never knew what was going to happen," she said. "I never knew if I was going to get to stay or if I would have to move again."

Unfortunately for Olivia, she was forced to move from house to house for seven years while living in foster care. Just as she was getting settled, she'd have to pick up and leave. Until the day she met Dwain and Lorie Hargis.

"I had never even imagined adoption, not at any point in my life," said Lorie. "But this felt absolutely natural, like she belonged here and was meant to be a part of our family."

The transformation that took place in the Hargis home in Cecilia, Kentucky, reflects a shift in attitudes across the country. According to a new national survey conducted by Nielsen on behalf of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, 25 percent of those who have not adopted in the United States have considered adoption. Of those individuals, nearly 80 percent have considered foster care adoption, which is up 7 percent from 2012 and an all-time high.

Click here to view the press release and full survey results.

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Supporter Spotlight: "We want the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to be part of our legacy."

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is grateful to be supported by so many generous donors. This month we are highlighting Joe and Cathy Turner, Wendy's franchisees who choose to give back to the Foundation through personal giving in addition to in-restaurant campaigns.

How did you first get involved with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption?
When the Foundation began 25 years ago, we were early adopters of every fundraising program that we could do in our local Wendy's to make people aware of the Foundation and its work. It is with great pride that our franchise, First Sun Management, has been one of the major contributors to the Foundation over the years. It is because of our belief in its mission and our personal commitment to this cause that we recently included a gift to the Foundation in our estate plans. We want the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to be part of our legacy.

Why do you support foster care adoption and the Foundation's mission? We support foster care adoption because of what Dave Thomas said - that everybody deserves a good home. What Dave experienced as a child led him to create an organization that could help children nationwide, and today the work of the Foundation is doing exactly that.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about making a donation to the Foundation? We want everyone in our communities to understand that foster care adoption is about changing lives. If any one of us just changes one child's life, the impact that person can have as an adult can be unbelievably positive. Now, imagine that impact as the Foundation works to change the lives of thousands of chilidren by increasing the number of adoptions from foster care across the country. The Foundation has done a phenomenal job so far. It is true - everyone deserves a good home.

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Thank you Wendy's and Frosty 5k Participants!

Thank you to the 750 runners and walkers, supported by The Wendy's Company and other sponsors, who helped to raise more than $100,000 for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. We are so grateful for your continued support of our mission: to find a loving, permanent home for
every child waiting in foster care to be adopted.

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Foundation Partners with New Foster to Adopt Web Series

The Foundation is proud to partner with "The F Word," a new web series documenting one couple's journey through foster care adoption.

Check out the current episodes here and follow us on Twitter (@DTFA) to participate in our live Twitter chat with the series' stars at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 19.

Post Adoption Depression: Causes and Prevention

$20.00 ********FREE TO HOPSCOTCH PLACING CLIENTS!!!!!
Post adoption depression and parent attachment disorder are surprisingly common and seldom talked about. After all, since you’ve tried so hard to become a parent, many adoptive parents are ashamed to admit that they are struggling.

REGISTER NOW

Attention Alabama Families: IAC Presents "Adoption Boot Camp" – June 3rd, 2017

The International Adoption Clinic at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham (AL) will be hosting a live seminar entitled “Adoption Boot Camp” on June 3^rd, 2017 from 8:30am to 5:00pm in the Bradley Lecture Hall at Children’s Hospital.

The focus of Adoption Boot Camp will be on internationally and domestically adopted children or those children in the foster care setting. Discussed will be the awareness of medical, emotional, and developmental needs to expect once home.

While hosted on the same date, our domestic and international focused seminars are held separately so that the focus is on the specific needs of those families, whether adopting from the U.S. or another country. 

Please forward this flyer to any family going through the domestic/foster care or international adoption process OR families already home with their child who you feel would take great benefit from these topics.

The seminar is also opened to professionals within the field of adoption or who would like further education on these topics. CEUs will be available for both social workers and nurses. If you are a professional seeking to attend, please see the flyer noted “for professionals” flyer and pass along to others that will benefit from this educational seminar.

The deadline to register will be: May 20^th, 2017

Podcast Regarding Sibling Adoption

Creating A Family Podcast: Our guests to talk about sibling adoption are Kimberly Offutt, a social worker at Bethany Christian Services and Erin Q. Nasmyth, a licensed clinical social worker with Hopscotch Adoptions, who has spent spent the last ten years working with families and children in the foster care system, in child mental health, and supporting families in adoption.

Orphan No More!

Amazing testaments to how long children are waiting for the one thing every child should have – a forever family.

Adoption Means Love:Triumph of the Heart by Michelle Madrid Branch

Source:  www.amazon.com

Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the Heart is a powerful compilation of stories from people across the country and around the world, who have been personally touched by the miracle of adoption. The timely importance of this book cannot be overstated. Roughly 500,000 children are in U.S. are in foster care today. Millions more wait in orphanages around the world for their forever families. Each story, found within the pages of Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the Heart, reaches deep into the soul and compassionately uncovers the ribbons of truth that connect us all, Honestly and poignantly, the book celebrates the transformation and triumph that is adoption.

Learn more.

The Promise: Truth From The Trenches of Adoption by Christen Shepherd and Lisa Highfield

Source:  www.lulu.com

When Christen Shepherd adopted four children from foster care she jumped into the treacherous waters of raising traumatized children. Because of mammoth tantrums, explosive rages, destroyed rooms, and unending grief, the Shepherds enlisted the help of a Child and Youth Counsellor, Lisa Highfield. The Promise is a raw and compelling read. It offers insight into the behaviors of adopted and foster children, and gives hope to struggling parents who are at a loss after bringing wounded children into the family.
 
Learn more.

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Couter

Source: www.amazon.com

"Sunshine, you're my baby and I'm your only mother. You must mind the one taking care of you, but she's not your mama." Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes, living by those words. As her mother spirals out of control, Ashley is left clinging to an unpredictable, dissolving relationship, all the while getting pulled deeper and deeper into the foster care system.

Painful memories of being taken away from her home quickly become consumed by real-life horrors, where Ashley is juggled between caseworkers, shuffled from school to school, and forced to endure manipulative,humiliating treatment from a very abusive foster family. In this inspiring, unforgettable memoir, Ashley finds the courage to succeed - and in doing so, discovers the power of her own voice.

Learn more.

UNICEF Fostering Success Comes With A Price: Pemanency Denied to Unparented Children

Source: http://www.unicef.org

Having seen great foster care provided to children in Serbia, I can personally attest to how great this is for kids… EXCEPT…. UNICEF holds solidly to the goal for every unparented child is to have a “family environment” rather than making permanency planning the end goal for every child – a forever family – not just a family “environment”.

Read more.

Foster Care Chronicles: Wrongs of Passage premiers at NC Triad Stage’s Upstage Cabaret

UNCG’s Department of Social Work presents Debra LeWinter’s production crafted from the stories of the performers’ real experiences in Foster Care, April 14-24. 

“I come from a place where I was told wrong was right.“

“Foster Care Chronicles: Wrongs of Passage” Description

The goal of the “Foster Care Chronicles: Wrongs of Passage,” written and directed by Debra LeWinter, funded by the HRSA Behavioral Health Training Grant through the Department of Social Work at UNCG, is to help people in the Foster Care System create and perform a production based on their first person accounts. Regional youth aged 15-25 who are or were in Foster Care share their experiences through acting, music, and dance. The participants transform themselves and the future of our community as they teach others what it is like to walk in the shoes of a “Foster Kid.”

What goes into this project?

Youth chosen for this project share their individual experiences with other youth in foster care, a licensed social work therapist, three Masters of Social Work student interns, and a professional playwright. They will participate in two outdoor retreats to connect with each other and become a team. The playwright will then meld the incredible stories of the youth in foster care into a script and mount a full-scale production, Foster Care Chronicles: Wrongs of Passage. Professional set, sound and lighting designers, and a choreographer will help the youth bring their stories to life on stage. The youth’s eight performance run begins on April 14, 2016.

To Purchase tickets CLICK HERE

About the Play’s Author:
Debra LeWinter is a local expressive arts practitioner, playwright, director, and educator. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and a Masters in Theater Education from UNCG. As the child of a Holocaust survivor, Debra grew up hearing the stories of her mother and her mother’s peers; she learned the power of individual stories to spark empathy and inspire action.

Announcing NCFA's Annual Conference: September 22-24 in New Orleans

SAVE THE DATE: Announcing NCFA's Annual Conference, September 22-24 in New Orleans!

Visit fromhelpingtohealing.org for more information.

News: Meeting between the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice and the Accredited Organizations

Finally this practice is being recognized as detrimental to children!  I'm impressed by Bulgaria's recognition that permanently placing a child in a family environment institution and permanent foster care is not an acceptable path to true permanency and security within a family. Bulgaria recognizes that these programs were financially motivated to empty orphanages, but leave the children's fate of having a permanent family (or not), in the hands of the very persons that are financially benefiting by denying the child a permanent family. Bravo if they fix this!!

More News From Serbia: Meeting with Center for Foster Care and Adoptions of Belgrade, Serbia

  The meeting with the Center for Foster Care and Adoptions of Belgrade was excellent.  I have so much respect for their work and especially appreciated how they are using the P.R.I.D.E model in preparing and repairing children that have experienced loss, separation, neglect and abuse.

Reevaluating Child Welfare Priorities by Katie Jay

Katie Jay posted: "Children enter foster care because they are in danger. A child’s safety should be the first priority in any child welfare system, shouldn’t it? As a lawyer, I’ve been examining the role the judicial system plays in making sure children remain safe once.”

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A child’s safety should be the first priority in any child welfare system, shouldn’t it? As a lawyer, I’ve been examining the role the judicial system plays in making sure children remain safe once they have been removed from danger.

But when I look around at what our judicial system is actually doing, it becomes clear that our courts too often favor a parent’s right to autonomy over a child’s right to safety.

I don’t know why I am surprised. To give some legal background, our constitution is a “negative rights” instrument, which means that it obliges our government to not interfere with our lives unless necessary. So a parent’s right to privacy in how she raises her family is legally protected.

Read more.

The Changing Landscape of Adoption

Source: http://www.cafe.com/r/ca2ea311-d75c-4a1e-a071-3f83b4859fba/1/the-changing-landscape-of-adoption

Ana Cruz (left), Cynthia Juarez (right), and their four-year-old child Tonali celebrate the approval of gay adoption in Mexico City in August 2010   © Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty

According to the nonprofit organization National Adoption Day, "more than 100,000 children in foster care [are] waiting for permanent families." And as society has changed, even globally (just consider how the traditional notion of what makes a "family" has evolved both socially and legally over the last ten years), the practice of adoption has transformed.

I spoke with Megan Lindsey, the director of public policy and education at the National Council for Adoption, about the specific ways relationships among people involved in the adoption process have changed—particularly when it come to "closed" versus "open" adoptions.

Read more.

Sexual Abuse Prior to Placement Webinar

Advice for Adoptive Parents

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

Sexual Abuse Prior to Placement Webinar

Advice for Adoptive Parents

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

Sexual Abuse Prior to Placement Webinar

Advice for Adoptive Parents

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