In honor of foster care month coming up in May, the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Care Association is holding its 4th annual “Stride for Foster Care.” This fundraiser is a 3.2 mile walk that will benefit the 5000 children in Iowa foster care. Money raised from the Stride for Foster Care Walk will provide funds for children in foster care to get those special “extras” in life which they otherwise would not receive, such as musical instruments, senior pictures, sports participation, summer camp, etc. Funds raised will also help with developing new trainings for Iowa’s foster, adoptive and kinship parents.

If you are interested in this event, you can find more information on their website, IFAPA.

Can’t make it to West Des Moines? You can participate in their Virtual Walk, walk in your own community and still fundraise for your chance to earn great prizes!

We here at Adoption World Publishing, applaud the IFAPA for their great work.

Today is my Adoption Day

Adoption World Publishing has recently updated our Adoption Day button.

They are available individually or in bulk.

Contact Kate for more information, 319-365-3454.

According to the 2007 National Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, many Americans have misperceptions about adoption from foster care.

Here’s the truth.

45% of Americans think children in foster care have entered the system because of juvenile delinquency.
Truth: Children enter the system after experiencing neglect, abandonment or abuse.

46% of Americans mistakenly think foster care adoption is expensive.
Truth: Foster care adoption is not expensive, and financial support is available.

67% of Americans considering adoption think the biological parents could take the child back.
Truth: Once a child is legally available for adoption, the birth parents no longer have parental rights to the child.

On any given day in North America, more than 500,000 children are in the foster care system, and nearly 145,000 of them are available for adoption, just waiting for the right family to find them.

• There are 423,773 children in the U.S. foster care system; 114,556 of these children are available for adoption. Their birth parent’s legal rights have been permanently terminated and children are left without a family.
• More children become available for adoption each year than are adopted. In 2009, 69,947 children had parental rights terminated by the courts, yet only 57,466 were adopted.
• Children often wait three years or more to be adopted, move three or more times in foster care and often are separated from siblings. The average age of waiting children is 8 years old.
• Last year, 29,471 children turned 18 and left the foster care system without an adoptive family.
• Adopting from foster care is affordable. Most child welfare agencies cover the costs of home studies and court fees, and provide post-adoption subsidies. Thousands of employers offer financial reimbursement and paid leave for employees who adopt and Federal and/or state adoption tax credits are available to most families.
• Nearly 40 percent of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child, according to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey. If just one in 500 of these adults adopted, every waiting child in foster care would have a permanent family.

Learn more at the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Adoption World Publishing also has materials available for use with foster-to-adopt children.

Your Foster Care Memory Book

My Adoption Workbook

Foster-to-Adopt Information

I just recently heard of The Red Scarf Project. It is the brain child of Orphan Foundation of America (OFA).

The Red Scarf Project sends red scarves in care packages to college students so that they have a hand-made item to wear. While they wear the scarf, they know that they are loved.

OFA put the first red scarves into Valentine’s Day Care Packages in 2005. That year we received 3,500 scarves to send to OFA students away at colleges and vocational schools. The next year, thanks to the support of online knitting blog sites, they received an amazing 15,000 scarves. And the program just keeps growing.

I love this idea. People are always wondering how they can make a difference. This project allows people to work on a small scale but leave a big impact on a foster child.

Kudos to the Orphan Foundation of America.

If you would like to be involved in this worthwhile project, click here
http://orphan.org/what-we-do/programs/red-scarf-project/

In September of 2010, HHS awarded $39 million to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing adoptions from foster care.

“All children deserve loving, safe and permanent homes,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “It is gratifying that most states continue to excel in promoting the adoption of children from foster care. I sincerely thank every adoptive family that has welcomed a child into their home.”

States received $4,000 for every child adopted beyond their best year’s total, plus a payment of $8,000 for every child age 9 and older and $4,000 for every special needs child adopted above the respective baselines. The year 2007 is the baseline.

“America’s communities benefit when children grow up in stable families,” said David A. Hansell, HHS acting assistant secretary for children and families. “We’re very pleased that the adoption incentives program is helping states improve their programs and place more children into homes that are theirs forever.”

The states will be using the funds from this adoption incentive award to improve their child welfare programs. Many of the states mandate life books for their children and will be able to use this money to purchase these much needed items.

We applaud Secretary Sebelius and the 38 states and Puerto Rico. With the economy still recovering, these federal awards could not come at a better time. Many adoption agencies have been trying to make do with “piece-meal” lifebooks, or no books at all. With this money, children will be able to get quality books in their hands.

Congratulations

Like so many of you I have been anxiously awaiting the results of the mid-term election (and I’m glad it’s over!). While I don’t plan to get partisan here, I do want to express my concerns about how the results will affect the entire area of adoption & foster care funding.

Perhaps actions taken by the new Congress will stimulate and improve the economy, resulting in more revenue for government and private agencies involved with social services. Or, as I fear, government spending will be cut, with social and child services taking an especially hard hit.

In any case we are certainly facing uneasy times ahead. Hopefully our children and teenagers who need lifebooks and all of the other services needed to enrich their lives will not be forgotten!

Chuck Carpenter

The month of November generates awareness for our special foster and adopted children across the United States. On November 14 at 1:30 p.m., Linn County in Iowa will be hosting an event at the Courthouse to bring foster and adoption advocates together. Please join Adoption World Specialties at this special “Adoption Friday”!

Kathy Mobley, Chuck Carpenter and Jim Ketchum will represent Adoption World Specialties. Our company aims to help foster and adoption situations by providing children with a lifebook and therapeutic, enjoyable guides to life. These life books and resources help children, parents, agencies and social workers document the child’s past and help engage, excite and educate the child about their adoption experience. Please visit our website for further information about our authors, our publications and meet our staff. We look forward to joining you on November 14^th function, in an effort to help facilitate a healthy transition for foster and adopted children.

www.adoptionworld.net

*If you are interested in adding a link to our page or if we could add ours to your page, please let me know! We can help more children if we reach out!

Ann Boland

aboland@cornerstonepress.net

Animals and Me!

Adoption World Specialties has a plethora of ancillary pieces targeted at foster children and adopted children – or those kids and parents that are in the transition process. One piece from our product line is called “Animals and Me!”.

Often times children in foster care or those that have moved into an adoptive situation have made several animal friends along their lives paths. In some cases the animals in their lives are even more special to them than people. Many children have lived in multiple homes and the trust they’ve gained from human relationships is less than desirable. It is important for the child to keep a memory book dedicated to their animal friends.“Animals and Me!” is a booklet written especially for these animal-loving kids.

An excerpt from this booklet:

“Hi, my name is Gracie and I’m 10 years old. I haven’t always had neighborhood friends to hang out with, but I’ve had a bunch of cool animals around!My favorite was a collie named Lokey. He was wild and fun and lived 2 houses away. Kane was a tiny white puppy across the street. He was so soft and cute! Last time I visited my old neighborhood he was huge! He still remembered me! I mainly love dogs. Bo and Truffle were my dogs I had to say good-bye to. My cat Taz also went away. But now I have 3 cats and a turtle! Animals will always be special to me. I want to be a veterinarian. Maybe YOU have special animals that you can write about in this journal! Have fun!!!”

This adoption memory book allows the child to write about and draw the animals they have met in their life journey. They can write details about their favorite animal friends or pets, and also write about the animals they didn’t like so much. Animals are like people – lots of people are nice, and some don’t seem so nice.

“Animals and Me!” allows the foster parent or adoptive parent to discuss this fact. It touches on the idea of “stranger danger” as it pertains to animals. Animals are often the lure used by strangers to abduct children, and this booklet teaches the value of recognizing such dangers. Another learning tool detailed in this booklet is how to find information about the child’s favorite animals on the computer. There’s a world of information at their fingertips when searching out animal facts… what a great activity for child and parent to do together!

This is a valuable memory book for foster and adoptive children. Please check out the other ancillary pieces, such as “Positive Adoptive Language”, “Foster-to-Adopt Booklet for Child”, “Foster-to-Adopt Booklet for Parent”, and “Family Connections” at www.AdoptionWorld.net – discover our world!