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

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.

Memory Book for Children in Foster Care from Adoption Lifebook company Adoption World Specialties.

Professionals agree that all children need to have their story documented and accessible. This is especially true for “system kids” who shuffle from home to home, losing their stories along the way.

Until now, “documenting” has been easier said than done. When given a blank scrapbook, foster parents often feel overwhelmed or “creatively challenged”, and, consequently, put this task aside…or forget altogether.

Here at Adoption World, we want to provide you with all of the materials you need to make connections with a child. Whether the child is in foster care or adopted, preserving the details of their life is so important. There are many ways to keep their precious memories safe. One way is to scrapbook. It is a fun and interactive way to document all of the child’s milestones.

Our book called “Your Foster Care Memory Book” is an easy to use scrapbook for the foster parent. It allows concise, practical documentation of a single placement. The book starts with a place for the child’s name so they can keep it with them always. Then onto an intro letter that explains to the child what the book is for. The pages of the scrapbook guide you seamlessly through the process. The information and photos that you collect will be treasured by the child for years to come.

The “Your Foster Care Memory Book” comes with a large “Stuff to Save” envelope that allows the child to keep their treasures together in one place.

Adoption Life Books Company Adoption World Specialties presents this article on The Foster-to-Adopt Parent Booklet.

The Foster-To-Adopt Parent Booklet

The Foster-to-Adopt Parent booklet consists of valuable advice aimed at parents who are thinking of adopting their foster child. There are many decisions about adopting, adoption is a big step! You already have a relationship with your foster child and understand his/her situation. And, you have invested much of yourself in the child’s well being and future. Parental rights are finally terminated… so, why not adopt and give this child the love and security of a permanent family?

Like marriage, adoption is a lifetime commitment that affects the lives of many people. It must be considered carefully before taking such a big step. Adoption World Specialties publishes this foster parent booklet, serving to provide perspectives for you to consider; make pre-adoption suggestions; alert you to post-adoption changes that you might experience, and offer suggestions for working through some of the issues that might surface.

You may already have a foster life book or foster story book. There is a supplemental chapter if you decide to adopt, which includes a storyline encompassing the adoption process. You can order this chapter from Adoption World Specialties, link below.

The topics our Foster-to-Adopt Parent booklet touches on are as follows: Is adoption the right choice for you? For the child? At this time? Then it lays out many questions you might want to consider. This booklet explains how you may want to handle birth parent issues. It touches on how important attachment can be. It asks what might the future hold for your child? For you as adoptive parents?

So you’ve given it serious thought and want to move ahead into adoption. What’s next? As adoption day nears, be prepared for “pre-adoption “ jitters! After finalization, be prepared for child’s grieving or a change in behavior. After adoption, what will be different… what will be the same? Should you continue to foster parent?

Please discover our world of information on foster life books, foster-to-adopt guides, adoption life books, and adoption workbooks at www.AdoptionWorld.net because this is an important decision for your family – please make it carefully!