First to get a new look was the Positive Adoption Language flyer. Originally it was designed as a published piece to be used as a tool for productive discussions. In 2009 it was converted to a free download from the company’s website. To date, more than 350 downloads have been requested.

The One and Only Me life book kit has been a cornerstone of the Adoption World offerings since 1995. In 2009 the cover and title page received a fresh look. Graphic Artist Susan Readnour created new cover and title page incorporating the original book characters. The colorful illustration is perfect for the intended audience – children age 5-10. Late in 2010, the sticker packet that accompanies the book was revamped. Working with several of the original images, Readnour developed sticker sheets that will assist the child with the journey through the lifebook.

Like the Adoption World Publishing website which uses the images of photographed children, the front cover of My Adoption Workbook now is covered with photos of children. With diversity in mind, the new look helps to draw the child into the material of the book-all of which remains unchanged.

The most recent redesigned product is the Adoption Day button. It is included in the children’s version of the Foster- to-Adopt booklet series and marks the adoption milestone. The Adoption Day button can also be purchased individually and used for Adoption Day events.

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.

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

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/

“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

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 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

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 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!

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.

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