Too many children experience abuse and neglect with negative lifelong consequences. Too few children get the services and supports they need to heal. Yet, proven and promising practices can reduce maltreatment and ameliorate harm. Taking these practices to scale will require federal investment and leadership in five strategic areas. We must: (1) increase prevention and early intervention services that help keep children and families out of crisis; (2) increase specialized treatment services for those children and families that do experience crisis; (3) increase services to support families after a crisis has stabilized (including birth families, as well as kinship and adoptive families created when parents are unable to care for their children); (4) enhance the quality of the workforce providing services to children and families; and (5) improve accountability both for dollars spent and outcomes achieved. Together these efforts will improve the lives of millions of children across the nation
On October 7, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351). It delinks adoption assistance from the old AFDC program, enables federal payments for kinship care guardians, and will allow states to extend foster care services to young people up to age 21. The Child Welfare League of America has the details.
The Maryland-based Kennedy Krieger Institute is actively recruiting foster, respite and adoptive parents. The Institute offers specialized training, emergency coverage, 24-hour assistance, monthly support groups and more. (If you like the model but don't live in Maryland, here's a chance to learn more and get something started in your state.)
Fourteen years ago, an abandoned air force base was transformed into a vibrant intergenerational community, Hope Meadows, to help move children from foster care to adoption and turn seniors into active givers of supports and services. Now, as sites across the country replicate their approach, Hope Meadows is adapting to the new challenges that come with long-term success.
This 2008 factsheet from the Child Welfare Information Gateway offers general
information about legal issues to consider and steps to take when adopting a stepchild.
This provocative collection of 20 essays by adoptive parents about their widely varying experiences was edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe. (Publisher: Riverhead, 2005) Kruger and Smolowe join us for a discussion of the book—and some of the authors will also chime in to answer your questions.
Althea Izawa-Hayden, a former Connect for Kids intern, wrote about what her Korean heritage means to her in this article, reprinted with permission from Adoption Today magazine.
National Adoption Month is an opportunity to raise awareness about the 129,000 children in foster care nationwide waiting for permanent families. Recruitment efforts are highlighted throughout the National Adoption Month website to encourage America's families to "answer the call" to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of our children.
The mission of this organization is to find and support foster and adoptive families, and to educate communities of the Capital Region of New York State about the need for foster and adoptive homes.
Adoption is a fundamental, life-altering event for everyone involved. But many adoptive parents are still surprised to find their joy mixed with sadness and uncertainty. Ninotchka Beavers talked with some experts about what some are calling Post Adoption Depression.
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