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

Navigating through life is a challenge for all teenagers. Obstacles are everywhere. A teenager in the foster/adoption system encounters extra obstacles. A life book is a wonderful tool that can be used to assist youth in dealing with the issues they face.

In our 17th year of business, Adoption World Publishing continues to be a player in the lifebook market. Our  title, The Real Me teen life book was the company’s top seller in 2010.

Introduced in 2002, the chapter topics- Who I am Today, Where I Came From and What My Future Holds – remain as relevant today as they were when the book was written. Authored by the mother/daughter team of Theresa McCoy and Donna Barnes, their years of experience working with youth in the foster and adoption system contribute to the creditability of the book.

The Real Me teen life book is currently being used by agencies, families and organizations in at least 24 states and Canada. It is sold exclusively by Adoption World Publishing at 319-365-3454 or www.adoptionworld.net.

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

Preparing a child for adoption is vital to a successful placement. Adoption workbooks and life books are valuable tools to help kids through a difficult time.

My Adoption Workbook by Theresa McCoy, LBSW, addresses not only the mechanics of adoption, but also the feelings, fears and questions that often arise.

My Growing World by Kathleen Carroll is another great source of information and comfort. Colorful, friendly characters help kids work through issues.

Learn more about these books at www.adoptionworld.net

Early this fall I took a road trip to Texas to watch my son graduate from Air Force Basic Training. It was a long trip–20 hours one way! I needed something to occupy the time so I asked a friend with a large personal library for a book. She was so excited I asked! She just finished reading ‘Choosing to SEE’ by Mary Beth Chapman and insisted that I read it. I was hesitant to take it because I knew it was going to be a tear jerker and my poor husband was going to have to put up with my blubbering in the car. I packed lots of tissues and my husband and I started the long car ride.

Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Christian song writer/singer Steven Curtis Chapman. The book is a result of the unexpected and brutal loss of their youngest adopted daughter, Maria. Mary Beth honestly shares her personal journey from childhood, to the challenges of married life, to the wrestling match with God about adopting children. The couple had 3 children when God nudged the family to adopt. Mary Beth had many reservations about adopting, including whether or not she could love the adopted child as much as her biological children. She fretted needlessly because as soon as she saw the tiny Chinese girl, her heart melted and love poured out so strongly that she knew this little girl was hers.

The Chapman family adopted two more girls from China. The youngest was Maria. She was five when she was tragically struck in the Chapman driveway and died from her injuries. Mary Beth recalls the anguish, struggles and grief of losing a child. Through the journey of grieving, the family has chosen to SEE with faith and hope.

Mary Beth has told her kids for years that ‘God doesn’t make mistakes.’ Through the tears, weeping, praying and hoping came the act of honoring God with a care facility for Chinese, special needs orphans called Maria’s Big House of Hope. Maria’s death has given hundreds of orphans hope for desperately needed surgeries and medical attention. Visit www.showhope.org to learn more about Maria’s story and how Show Hope is changing the lives of Chinese orphans.

To read more about Mary Beth Chapman and her ministry visit www.marybethchapman.com.

Susan Readnour

I recently became aware of a series of TV ads promoting adoptive and foster care. These clever TV spots feature foster or adoptive parents in “parenting” situations where their performance is less than “Leave It to Beaver” perfect. The ads close with the slogan, “You Don’t Have to be Perfect to be a Perfect Parent.”

The ads do an excellent job of presenting the need for foster or adoptive parents in a humorous manner, while still getting the message across that these kids want a home with parents whose love for kids and desire to open their home to them is far more important than parental perfection.

These TV spots, along with radio and print ads, are part on an ongoing, award winning national adoption recruitment campaign done in partnership with AdoptUsKids, the Ad Council and the Children’s Bureau. You can find the ads on YouTube by searching for “adoption PSA.”

AdoptUsKids’ mission is two-fold: to raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public welfare system and to assist in the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive families and connect them with children. Their web site is www.adoptuskids.org.

The Ad Council is a non-profit organization that produces, distributes and promotes public service announcements (PSA) on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas that include improving the quality of life for children, among many others. Go to www.adcouncil.org for more information.

The Children’s Bureau is one of two bureaus within the Administration for Children and Families, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Their mission is to provide for the safety, permanency and well being of children through leadership, support for necessary services and productive partnerships with states and local communities. The web site for the Children’s Bureau is www.acf.hhs.gov.

Dan Nekvinda

Since being introduced to the Lifebook market a little over one year ago, Adoption World Publishing’s My Growing World is making differences in many young people lives. The publication which targets Foster and Adoptive children, ages 5 -10, has been sold and distributed to agencies, organizations and private homes in eighteen states and Canada.

A review in the January/February 2010 issue of Adoptive Families magazine sang the praises of both the author Kathleen Carroll and the book’s illustrator Lucy Mara Taylor.

The review by Jane Schooler, coauthor of Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact Adoptive and Foster Families, highly recommended My Growing World “for any child journeying through the welfare system.”

My Growing World was also chosen in the Spring 2010 issue of Foster Families magazine as the editor’s choice.

My Growing World is sold exclusively from the publisher at www.adoptionworld.net or can be ordered by calling 319-365-3454.

Adoption Lifebooks from Adoption World Specialties

Adoption World Specialties is exactly what its name describes – we are specialists on the subject of adoption and foster-to-adopt situations. Discover our world at www.AdoptionWorld.net and you’ll see the variety of bibliotherapy products we have which encompass the child, the parent, the social worker. Our adoption life books and foster life books as well as our teen adoption life books are distinctly different from all other literature on the subject. Each family’s situation is unique and special – our life books help to document the story of the child as he or she enters the world of foster care or adoption.

I am President of Adoption World Specialties, and proud to invite you to our adoption life books and foster care books website. I am excited to be a part of such a wonderful cause, and join the dedicated staff at www.AdoptionWorld.net!

My background is in business development for a printing and publishing company. I jumped at the chance to lead this special adoption life book company because it’s a cause that is close to my heart. Both my daughter and son are adopted. I know, first hand, how adoption life books can open up conversations that help heal.

I am so excited to represent our adoption life book authors Donna Barnes and Terri McCoy. They are a mother/daughter team that started writing adoption books for foster and adopted children in 1992. Donna’s expertise comes from raising 4 foster / adopted children. Her daughter Terri has many years of professional experience as a social worker in the adoption field.

This new adoption lifebook and foster book web site is part of our effort to be more accessible. I would like your feedback. Write to me at kmobley@adoptionworld.net and tell me what you like and what you would like to see changed about this website and our adoption books.

I look forward to learning more about you and helping you meet your adoption book needs!

Positive Adoption Language – Adoption Lifebook Pamphlet

At www.AdoptionWorld.net you can download a free “POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE” pamphlet, an essential language tool for professionals and clients. In addition to Adoption World Specialties’ wide array of adoption life books, adoption memory books, foster life books, teen life books, and foster-to-adopt literature for parents and children, we offer this language guide free on our website.

Words can build or destroy relationships, self-esteem and opportunity. Those of us connected to adoption and foster care have a special responsibility to use positive language in regards to this circumstance. It’s important to use positive adoption language to correct media’s negative adoption images and terminology, and to sensitize educators and other professionals. Using positive language is a choice… we hope you will join us in promoting the positive language outlined in this pamphlet.

As an example, “adoptive” parent can be seen as negative or offensive language. The positive or preferred language for this example would be “Mother” or “Father”. It isn’t wrong to say that you’re an “adoptive” parent, but extended use by you or others (especially in front of our children), continues to qualify your parental status.

Another example would be “Hard to Place”. This implies that the child is less than desirable, less than normal. The positive or preferred language suggestions include “child with special needs” – NOT “special needs child” and/or “waiting child”.

For sixteen years we have been a trusted resource for adoption life publications dealing with the memory books, adoption life books and foster books process. Our Adoption Life Book and Memory Book products are used nationwide and beyond. Social workers, therapists, adoptive/foster families and their children enjoy our delightful adoption life books. Regardless of where you fit into the scene, we are likely to have something affordable to help make your job a little easier.

Our website has an entire section named “Information Articles”. The “POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE” pamphlet is printed literature for your use. The articles posted on our site are there for you to use as a resource for the many facets of the adoption and foster care processes. Please visit www.AdoptionWorld.net and discover our world.