Most Americans who adopt children from other countries find joy. But others aren't prepared for the risks-and may find themselves overwhelmed. To read the entire article please click here

12/06/07
FosterClub’s Guide for Young People in Foster Care

Lots of people talk about how stressful the holidays can be. But we REALLY understand just how tough it can be for young people in foster care. How do we know? Because we’ve been there. So we’ve put together 10 tips for youth in foster care, developed by young people who know first-hand what it’s like. To read the entire article please click here

12/05/07
A Normal Family

Ten years ago, 58 percent of Americans had a family member or close friend who

had adopted a child, were adopted themselves, or had placed a child for adoption,

according to a national survey by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in

New York. By 2002, that figure had risen to 63 percent. It’s surely higher now.
To read the entire article please click here

12/05/07
Blood ties and Acts of Love

As an adopted person my context for the way babies come into the world is through adoption, not birth. Of course I understand birth, but that is not the way I came into my family. I did not grow up knowing the people who gave birth to me. But I do not doubt the labor my adoptive parents went through to get me. It consisted of mounds of paperwork and home studies that stretched over two

years. I thank God pregnancy is just 9 months.
To read the entire article please click here

12/03/07
A Home for the Holidays 2007

To raise awareness and bring attention to their plight, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Children’s Action Network, and CBS Television will present the ninth annual CBS-TV special, A Home for the Holidays, on Friday, December 21 at 8:00 p.m. A Home for the Holidays is a nationally televised entertainment program designed to raise awareness about foster care and adoption as well as enhance recruitment efforts nationwide. Its key objective is to promote a positive image of foster care and adoption and the children who wait.

To read the entire press release please click here

11/29/07
Interview with Rose Zelter of CAFS

This holiday weekend, full of family get-togethers, we're also celebrating national adoption month.
With us this morning is Rose Zeltser, the senior vice president of Children's aid and Family Services in New Jersey.
She's joined by adoptive parent Maria Perdomo and her daughter, Carmen. The Perdomos have five children, three of them adopted and have had seven foster children over the last 10 years. This year, the Perdomos received the prestigious "Angels in Adoption" award by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. They were nominated for the award from Congressman Steve Rothman.
To read the entire article please click here

11/28/07
South Korea and it's Children

I was 24 when I first returned to my birth country. Stepping onto the plane that would carry me back to a country I had left 21 years before, I felt dizzy at the convergence of my past and present. Once again I was the 3-year-old girl, traveling halfway around the world to an unknown future in a foreign land — now a woman returning, a foreigner again.
To read the entire article please click here

11/28/07

The Administration for Children and Families names 15 US agencies to receive the National Adoption Excellence Awards

The National Adoption Excellence Awards presented by the Administration for Children and Families recognizes outstanding accomplishments in achieving permanency for America's children waiting in foster care. The Adoption Excellence Awards honor States, local agencies, private organizations, courts, businesses, individuals and families who are making key contributions to increasing the number of children from the foster care system who are adopted or placed in other permanent homes. The awards are presented in November, National Adoption Month. The President's Proclamation of National Adoption Month is also available.

To view the list of 2007 recipients, including Children’s Aid and Family Services, log onto http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/current_initiatives/aeawards07.htm

11/14/07
DCF Plans 200 Adoptions to Commemorate National Adoption Month

For Immediate Release:
November 13, 2007

CONTACT: (609) 633-8507
Kate Bernyk
Andy Williams

** MEDIA ADVISORY **

DCF Plans 200 Adoptions to Commemorate National Adoption Month

The Department of Children and Families will celebrate National Adoption Month this week by participating in nine events to honor adoptive families and finalize adoptions of 200 children currently in foster care. A 10th event, in Middlesex County, will be held later in the month. This week’s events, stretching from Salem County to Hudson County, will be held over a three-day period, culminating on Saturday, November 17, with the state’s largest National Adoption Day celebration held annually in Newark. DCF’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), the state’s largest adoption agency, expects to have 200 adoptions ready to be finalized during this week’s events, and approximately another dozen adoptions for the Middlesex County event on Tuesday,
November 27. These adoptions will help DCF reach its target goal of 1400 adoptions by the end of this calendar year. A complete list of the scheduled events is attached. Adoption court hearings are closed to the press, but family celebrations and other
events following the court hearings may be open to the media and the general public. Reporters or photographers interested in covering one of these events or being connected with an adoptive family in their area should call the DCF Press Office, 609-633-8507, for further information. National Adoption Day was initiated in 2000 by the Alliance for Children’s Rights, with support from organizations including the Freddie Mac Foundation and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

For more information on adoption, call 1-800-NJ ADOPT (992-3678) or visit the DYFS adoption Web site at www.njadopt.org .

11/12/07
Unseal Adoptees Birth Record

It's among the most divisive questions in the realm of adoption: Should adult adoptees have access to their birth records, and thus be able to learn the identity of their birth parents?
In a comprehensive report being released Monday, a leading adoption institute says the answer is "Yes" and urges the rest of America to follow the path of the eight states that allow such access to all adults who were adopted.
To read the entire article please click here

For the Record: Restoring the Legal Rights for Adult Adoptees”
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute today released the most comprehensive examination to date of one of the most
controversial, emotional issues in the modern adoption world: whether adopted people, once they become adults, should have access to their
original birth information. This report suggests that all states change their laws so that the answer is "yes. Click link to download the study:

http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/2007_11_For_Records.pdf

11/08/07
Observers Impact of Guatemalan Adoptions

For years, this predominantly Catholic Central American country has been known as an epicenter of international adoptions. The proximity to the United States and lack of red tape has made Guatemala the largest per capita source of adoptions in the world.
Adoptions have helped finance the operations of many of the country's orphanages, who say they provide a service for an estimated 370,000 orphans otherwise ignored by the government in this impoverished country.
To read the entire article please click here

10/29/07
Unknowns of adoption

Many parents think that when they adopt, a stable home and love is all a
child needs. But in reality, that's not always enough. On the surface, Pinellas School Board member Nancy Bostock's decision to give
up custody of her troubled son seemed like an extreme case. However, child advocates say it happens more than you might think.
Adoptive parents faced with challenging children and limited support services often reach the heart-wrenching conclusion to give up custody of their kids.
To read the entire article please click here

10/29/07

Looking for Their Children’s Birth Mothers

A few months ago, in an office near Guatemala City, a woman known as a searcher spread out a large map across her coffee table. The map was dotted with about 250 tiny, hand-drawn circles, each one representing a place where the searcher had tracked down a birth mother who had placed a child for adoption. Sometimes she found a birth mother after knocking on a few doors in Guatemala City. In other cases, she traveled for three or four days to remote indigenous areas in Guatemala or farther afield to Nicaragua, Honduras or El Salvador.

To read the entire article please click here

10/25/07
Identical twins discover each other after 35 years

Bernstein, who grew up in Rye Brook, always knew she was adopted. But she and her adoptive parents were never told about her identical twin sister, who was placed with another family on Long Island the year the girls were born.
To read the entire article please click here

10/24/07
2008 Foster Youth Internship Program

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute is pleased to announce the 2008 Foster Youth Internship Program. This prestigious program matches college students who have grown up in foster care, with a Congressional office for a summer internship in Washington, D.C.

To read the entire article please click here

10/162007
Guatemala Adoption update

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will, effective October 15, 2007, place a ceiling on the number of initial orphan petition submissions in Guatemala. Under the new procedures, USCIS will accept only one initial application packet to adopt a child from Guatemala (Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) per prospective adoptive parent, attorney, or representative, per appointment.
To read the entire article please click here

10/09/07
Couple's Secret Has Surprising Outcome
Couple's Life Changes 25 Years After Placing Baby for Adoption

Until the summer of 2006, Laurie and Chuck Thompson had shared a secret for a quarter of a century.
The secret dated back to their school days in 1980, when Laurie was a sophomore at Fort LeBoeuf High School in Erie, Pa. She played saxophone in the school band, and she had a horse named Lady that she rode and relied on for company whenever she had a bad day.
To read the entire article please click here

10/09/07
Guatemala seeks to slow exodus of babies to U.S.

Guatemala has long been a source of relatively fast, uncomplicated adoptions, but adoptions to U.S. parents are supposed to cease as of January 1, 2008. Officials in both countries are concerned about abuses in the adoption system, still, the U.S. says last year's 4,000-plus adoptions are untainted.
To read the entire article please click here

10/02/07
College Cost Reduction and Access Act

Earlier today, President Bush signed into law the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (HR 2669), the bill that includes the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act amendment, making it possible for teens in foster care to be adopted without losing access to college financial aid. Under this new law, youth who are adopted after their 13th birthday will not have to include their parents' income in the calculations for determining their need for financial aid.

08/27/07
Illegal Guatemalan Foster Care Home Raid

Guatemalan police found 46 children, some just 3 days old, in an illegal foster home in the tourist city of Antigua on Saturday, the latest scandal for the country's corruption-riddled adoption system.
To read entire article please click here

08/04/07
Summer Interns Experience Life in DC

Twenty-two summer interns arrived in Washington, DC, in late May to assume a variety of internships in government, nonprofit associations, and the private sector. But unlike most of the college interns who descend upon Washington on a regular basis, these 22 outstanding college scholars also happen to be foster youth or former foster youth without permanent families or homes. Selected by the Orphan Foundation of America (OFA) to participate in the OFA's summer internship program, the 22 students recently wrapped up 6 busy weeks in Washington that included their full-time internships, as well as weekly workshops in professional development and leadership and meetings with members of Congress and the media.
To read entire article please click here

07/31/07
Mystery-Free Adoption

LEGISLATORS in New York and six other states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, are weighing whether to give thousands of accurate birth certificates to their rightful owners, adult adoptees who now have access only to falsified certificates.

Most of Americas six million adoptees are members of what one calls a witness protection program we didnt ask to be in. When their adoptions were made final, the birth certificates bearing their names and those of their parents were sealed by the state, and they were issued amended certificates portraying their adoptive parents as having borne them. In some cases, adoptees dates and places of birth were also falsified.

To read entire article please click here

07/23/07
National Public Radio has done a series of interviews and programs on various issues in adoption

National Public Radio has done a series of interviews and programs on various issues in adoption. They are collected on the following web pages:

The Many Faces of Adoption: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4239655

Racial Issues in Adoption: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12136864&sc=emaf

Once you have clicked the link, you can choose the interview you’d like to listen to.

07/23/07
International adoption not as easy as stars make it look.

When celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Madonna adopt children from desperately poor countries, they send a powerful message about the plight of these children and the need for inter-country adoption. But they don't necessarily set a proper example. Although the number of foreign adoptions by American citizens has doubled over the last decade, from 11,340 to upwards of 22,000, most Americans do not have the means or the access of a celebrity. For them, inter-country adoptions can be a harrowing process.
To read entire article please click here

06/18/07

Side by Side

They'd been working together for months, not knowing they shared a deeper connection.
To read entire article please click here

06/18/07
American Adoptive Father Launches Campaign to Help Unwed Korean Moms

Just one year ago, Dr. Richard Boas, the American father of an adopted Korean girl named Esther, was financially helping other Americans so they could adopt children from overseas. However, Boas' perspective radically changed after visiting South Korea late last year. Now, he is an activist for the rights of single and unwed mothers and their children. Moreover, he has become a staunch supporter of domestic adoption within Korea.
To read entire article please click here

06/14/07
Surge in Adoptions Raises Concern in Ethiopia

Ethiopia was not on Mark and Vera Westrum-Ostrom's list when they first visited Children's Home Society & Family Services here to explore an international adoption. Ukraine was first, because of their family heritage, until the couple discovered that the adoption system there was chaotic, with inaccurate information about orphans' health and availability. Vietnam was second, after they saw videos of well-run orphanages. But the wait would be at least a year and a half.

Then they learned about Ethiopia's model centers for orphans, run by American agencies, with an efficient adoption system that made it possible for them to file paperwork on Labor Day and claim 2-year-old Tariku, a boy with almond eyes and a halo of ringlets, at Christmas.

To read entire article please click here

06/12/07

In adoptions, anonymity is still the policy

If this bill could sing, it would likely belt out "I'm Just a Bill," a song from the mid 1970s kids' TV show "Schoolhouse Rock!" In the song, a tired bill slumped on the steps of Capitol Hill laments its arduous journey on the way to becoming a law. Starting as early as 1980, a proposed state law that gives adopted adults the right to access their birth records has traveled – in various versions -- through both houses of the Legislature, only to die along the way. But this year looked hopeful. Last December the state Senate passed a version of the bill, in a 26-12 vote, shifting its fate to the General Assembly, where it was scheduled to be heard by the Human Services Committee on May 21. But it stalled there
To read entire article please click here.

06/11/07
Information party

Have you ever thought about fostering or adopting a child?
What about being a mentor to a child? Charles Paragian and Daniel Sernekos, from the documentary “All Aboard Rosie's Family Cruise" and founders of Everybody’s Children Foundation, will be your hosts for an informative evening about becoming a foster and/or adoptive parent.
To see the flier please click here

06/04/07

South Korea's troubled export: babies for adoption

South Korea marked its home-grown adoption day earlier this month with incentives to encourage domestic adoption, telling citizens of the world's 12th largest economy its orphanages should not be filled with abandoned children.

To read entire article please click here

05/31/07
Korean Government Working to Encourage Adoptions

As part of its efforts to encourage adoptions in Korea, the government is marking the second anniversary of Adoption Day on Friday. Those efforts haven't produced tangible results yet since Koreans generally consider family lineage very important.
To read entire article please click here

05/30/07
DCF Commissioner Ryan Stresses Importance of Pool, Summer Safety

“Drowning is a leading cause of preventable child death every year,” said Commissioner Ryan. “Memorial Day is approaching, and we’re getting into the season when families will be at the shore or around swimming pools. We want to stress the need to be vigilant with children around water.”

To read entire article please click here

For the Department of Children and Families brochure on summer safety tips, visit the Web at:
http://www.nj.gov/dcf/news/publications/SumSafetyEng.pdf (English)
http://nj.gov/dcf/news/publications/SumSafetySpan.pdf (Spanish)

05/03/07
Adopted and Searching for Answers

Five people share their stories about looking for-and finding-their biological family.
To read the entire article please click here

05/01/07
The adoption Search

For some in their 40s, 50s and older, adoption searching has been a Pandora's Box; for others, there is newfound peace with closure. When an adoptee and the birth parent or other relatives reconnect and establish a relationship after years of absence, the experience can be overwhelming. To read the entire article please click here

04/13/07
Actress Discusses a Childhood in Foster Care

News & Notes, April 10, 2007 · Actress and foster-care advocate Victoria Rowell talks about her new memoir The Women Who Raised Me. She pays tribute to the many women who cared for her and inspired her to become a success.

To read and listen please follow the link below

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9495940&sc=nl&cc=movn-20070413

04/02/07
Share your foster or adoption story with us.

By sharing your family story with AdoptUsKids, you will help bring another family closer to the wonderful experience of caring

for a child through fostering and/or adoption. We will review your story and contact you if we have any questions and would like to be able to share your story on the website. For more info please click here.

03/23/07
Being prepared: Knowing How to Find Help for Your Child

Being Prepared: Knowing How to Find Help for Your Child - Contributed by American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Parents are often concerned about their child's emotional health or behavior but they don't know where to start to get help. The mental health system can sometimes be complicated and difficult for parents to understand. A child's emotional distress often causes disruption to both.
To read the entire article please follow the link below.
http://e-magazine.adoption.com/articles/666/being-prepared-knowing-how-to-find-help-for-your-child.php

03/20/07
Baby Boy # 3331: An Adoption Story

It has taken me almost 40 years to finally ask about you. For years now, I've had all the papers my adoptive parents kept. The papers call me simply "baby boy #3331." They came from the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers, as you knew it then, in Burlington, Vermont.
To read the entire article please click here

03/05/07
Adoptions in Guatemala face US ban

The U.S. plans to bar adoptions from Guatemala unless government officials in the Central American nation comply with an international agreement aimed at protecting potential adoptees. Last year Guatemala climbed to second on the list of countries providing children for adoption to the U.S.
To read the entire article please click here

02/06/07
Tax Information for Families with a Special Needs Child

According to parent attorney Mike O'Connor, "It's likely that 15-30 Percent of families with a disabled child have one or more unclaimed tax benefits." Did you know that "tuition costs for a special school that has a Program designed to educate children with disabilities and amounts paid for a child's tutoring by a teacher specially trained and qualified to deal with severe disabilities may be deducted"? Did you know that "Special instruction or training or therapy, such as sign language instruction, speech therapy, and remedial reading instruction"
May be deductible? Did you know that related books and materials can qualify for the medical expense deduction"? Did you know that "Parents who attend conferences to obtain medical information concerning treatment for and care of their child may deduct some
of the costs of attending a medical conference relating to a dependent's chronic health condition"? n 2006 Tax Benefits for Parents of Children with Disabilities, Mr. O'Connor provides a summary of the most significant federal income tax
benefits. He advises you to print out this guide and provide your tax adviser with a copy. We agree with this excellent advice!Download your copy of 2004 Tax Benefits for Parents of Children with Disabilities by Mike O'Connor, Esq.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/tax.2006.benefits.oconnor.htm
More articles on dozens of special education law and advocacy topics.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/topics.htm

01/31/2007
February is Black History Month

February marks the beginning of Black History Month - an annual celebration that has existed since 1926. Much of the credit can go to Harvard Scholar, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who was determined to bring Black History into the public arena. Woodson devoted his life to making "the world see the Negro as a participant rather than a lay figure in history." Woodson organized the first "Negro History Week", which took place during the second week of February. He chose this date to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln- two men who had a great impact in the black population. Over time, this celebration evolved into the Black History Month we know today. If you have a child of color in your adoptive or foster family, consider taking time to celebrate this event with your family. Something as easy as visiting the library, renting a movie, or visiting educational websites can go a long way in helping your child understand more of their heritage, and possibly shape their future.
For more information and to view video clips on Black History Month, log onto http://www.biography.com/black_history/index.jsp and/or http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory/ and/or contact the NJ ARCH Warm Line for a list of appropriate movies.

01/24/2007
Birth certificate bill on fast track

After languishing for decades, the legislation recently lurched onto the fast track, the result of aggressive lobbying, a change in political leadership, and a growing national uneasiness over the secrecy long surrounding adoption. Last month, the bill passed the Senate 26-12. It moved to the Assembly with 18 bipartisan sponsors and the promise of nine more.

To read the entire article please click here

01/09/2007
Foreign adoptions by Americans plunge

After tripling in the past 15 years, the number of foreign children adopted by Americans dropped sharply in 2006, the result of multiple factors that have jolted adoption advocates and prompted many would-be adoptive parents to reconsider their options.

To read the entire article please click here

01/09/2007
Supporting Youth in Foster Care

http://www.meg.org/mentoring_month/about/foster_care.phpntorin

National Mentoring Month (NMM) 2007 spotlights the needs of young people in foster care. Spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project, MENTOR and the Corporation for National and Community Service, National Mentoring Month serves to spread the message that introducing a mentor into the life of a child in provides consistency, support, and encouragement, engendering trust and confidence in the future.On any given day in America over 518,000 children and youth are in foster care. Around 20,000 youth "age out" or transition from the foster care system. Many are only 18 years old. Yet, the system provides few services to help them through this difficult transition.

National Outcomes:

Earned a high school diploma - 54%, obtained a Bachelor's degree or higher - 2%, became a parent - 84%, were unemployed - 51%

had no health insurance - 30%, had been homeless - 25%, were receiving public assistance - 30%

One study found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care the incidence of incarceration and public assistance was much higher for these youth than the general population.

How you can help:

Young people need supportive adults in their lives. You can help a youth reach their full potential by becoming a mentor. Young people who have a caring adult in their lives are more likely to overcome the barriers that block their path to success.

Foster Care Mentoring Programs:

Programs have been established throughout the United States to link youth in care with volunteers from the community who want to become a mentor and make a difference in a young person's life. The programs provide training for new volunteers, and ongoing staff support is available to assist them.

Mentoring USA's Foster Care Mentoring Program serves youth 7-18 years of age who are in care in the New York City area. This program was the first mentoring program in the U.S. to specifically address the needs of youth in care.

AFC Mentoring, based in Boston, MA, provides one-on-one mentoring for youth in foster & adoptive care. The program pairs the youth with adult volunteers, who become positive role models, as well as friends to the youth. Some of these mentors have themselves been in the foster care system.

For more information, visit: www.fostercaremonth.org

01/03/2007
Listen Online for a Foster Care Discussion

Log on the WNYC website to listen online for a foster care discussion. Leonard Lopate talks with Betsy Krebs and Paul Pitcoff to discuss their new book Beyond the Foster Care System: The Future for Teens , and how Getting Beyond the System® helps teens learn self-advocacy and prepare for the future. This will air on Thursday, January 4^th at 1:20 pm. For more information log onto http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2007/01/04

12/23/05
U.S. plea on adoption fails in Romania.

BUCHAREST, Romania - Romania's prime minister on Thursday rejected U.S. calls to allow adoptions by foreigners of about 1,000 Romanian children. About 200 U.S. families and 800 European families had filed paperwork to adopt Romanian children before 2004, when Romania enacted legislation that effectively bans all foreign adoptions, except for close relatives of the child. The United States has asked Romania to exempt about 1,000 children from that ban. "The Romanian legislation will not be changed, as it accords with European and international law," Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said. Critics say the adoption ban has prevented many children from finding homes with adoptive families abroad as they languish in foster care or institutions. In addition, said Maura Harty, an official with the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, families in the U.S. and elsewhere have been left in the dark about the fate of the children they were trying to adopt.
Source: Adoption Today:
http://www.adoption.com/includes/frame.php?url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/23/Worldandnation/US_plea_on_adoption_f.shtml

11/09/05

National Adoption Day is November 19, 2005

National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the 118,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. Now in its sixth year, National Adoption Day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with courts, judges, attorneys, and advocates to finalize adoptions into permanent, loving families and to celebrate adoption. For more information, log onto:

http://www.nati

Looking for Their Children’s Birth Mothers 10/25/07 Identical twins discover each other after 35 years

China Tightens Adoption Rules, U.S. Agencies Say

Looking for Their Children’s Birth Mothers

Side by Side

Looking for Their Children’s Birth Mothers

10/25/07
Identical twins discover each other after 35 years