International adoption vs. local adoption

After a family decides to adopt they next have to decide whether they want to adopt nationally or internationally. There are children all over the world who are in need of forever families and many Americans have made the decision to adopt internationally.

Because of pop culture it seems as if everyone is adopting internationally. Celebrities such as Brangelina, Madonna, Meg Ryan, and most recently Charlize Theron. The TV show Modern Family also features a gay couple who adopted a daughter, Lily, from Asia. But, despite all the attention in pop culture, recent statistics came out that showed that international adoptions in America are at a 15 year low.

The number one scare about adopting international i s the fear that the child might be a victim of child trafficking. The fact that by adopting a child parents helped to take their child away from their family rather than just trying to provide a better life for a the child. The latest international adoption gone wrong involves a young Guatemalan girl who was allegedly kidnapped as a child and brought to the U.S. to be adopted.  Currently the United States refuses to return the girl because at the time of the adoption the U.S. and Guatemala had not signed the Hague Abduction Convention. I can only imagine what the adoptive parents are going through knowing that their daughter had a mom who loved her combined with the thought that their daughter might not be able to be their daughter anymore. It's enough to make any prospective adoptive parent nervous.

Dr. Jane Aronson, the CEO of Worldwide Orphas Foundation, sites a Glopbal Orphan Crisis as being the trouble with international adoption, not trafficking. She believe that instead of pouring money into good adoption practices the money should go towards helping the mothers or families giving up their children.

There are a lot of opinions, both positive and negative, about international adoption. No matter where you stand on the issue the fact stands that there are thousands of kids all over the world who are waiting to find their forever families and adoption should always looked at as a positive.

That being said, how do you feel about international adoption vs. domestic adoption?

Family Finding

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."  ~Jane Howard

Families come in all shapes and sizes but there is no denying the impact they have on our lives. They are there for you during your highs and lows in life. Unfortunately not all children are fortunate enough to have caring and supportive families and often times these same kids end up in foster care.

Too often kids that enter into the foster care system loose connections to any family members, friends or important persons from their lives before they entered the system. This is why family finding programs such as the ones run by our organization are so important. Our family finding program aims to help keep children in contact with people who were in their life before they entered foster care. Such as extended family members, teachers, coaches, etc. Case workers for these children do try and reach out to these children's families but they are usually more focused on finding placements. Our program serves as an extra means of support for both the case workers and the children. We focus on finding extended family members and friends that will serve as a support system for the kids, not necessarily to find a placement for them.

We instituted our program the year we were founded. It is modeled after the Family Finding program by Kevin Campbell founder of the Seneca Center. He created the strategy in 1999 and since then has inspired and helped many other organizations to implement similar programs such as the United Nations.

Here is a video that explains more about the family finding program at A Family For Every Child:

Other organizations that use similar family finding programs include the Children's Home Society in Charlotte N.C, EMQ Families First of California and the Children Service Society of Wisconsin. The Duke Endowment is also helping organizations in North Carolina by putting more than $3 million dollars towards research for family finding programs. 

Princess For A Day

Our 4th annual Princess For A Day event is rapidly approaching. For those of you who have not heard about this event it is a day for Oregon girls to be treated like a Princess. It is a gift to girls in foster care and a fun outing for girls part of the general community.

We partner with other community media outlets and business partners in order to raise awareness of foster children in Lane county.

It is an opportunity for girls, ages 2-18 to dress up in and take home a crown, gown and slippers. Princess also receive the "royal treatment" which means they get their hair, nails and make up done in addition to their own photo-shoot. She is then escorted to the royal tea party where the princess and her King/Queen (parent or guardian) are treated to lunch. 

Here is a look at last years event:

This is a gift for foster care children so they are able to attend for free. Those who are a part of general admission have to pay a $50 fee but it goes directly towards sponsoring a girl in foster care. 

To learn more about the event or sign up your child go to our page at: 

http://www.afamilyforeverychild.org/Announce/Princess_Event/2012PrincessIndex.php

Last year we were able to serve over 325 Princesses throught the generosity of Families all over the country. This year we hope to reach even more children so we can pamper both girls who are in foster care and those who are not.

For those of you who don't have a child to bring or are out of stat you can still become a Fairy Godparent by sponsoring a child.

Although there are a lot of dedicated people who volunteer their time and services we are always on the look out for more help. We are appreciative of any type of princess gear (clothing, shoes, accessories, make-up etc.), volunteers and donations of any amount.

We are so grateful of everyones continued support of this event and look forward to March 4th!

Foster Parent Resources

Today we were informed about some great resources for foster parents; a book titled The Foster Parenting Toolbox.  The handbook, which is edited by Kim Phagan-Hansel of Fostering Families today Magazine, contains contributions from professionals in the field and foster parents. All who have come together to write about an assortment of topics about foster care.

It is currently for sale on Amazon. There is also a passage; "The Jigsaw Puzzle Child" available for PDF download on their site.

The passage, written by Eileen Mayers Pasztor, DSW, talks about the 10 developmental stages of children and how those stages relate to children in foster care. She gives personal examples from her time as a social worker and as a foster parent. Her main tool in describing the developmental stages in children is called the Jigsaw Puzzle tool. It is used to analyze the differences in development between children who are fortunate enough to experience a good family environment and her son, who was placed in foster care and eventually adopted by her and her husband.  She then goes on to describe the consequences of children whose Jigsaw Puzzle doesn't fit together and how foster parents can utilize this tool to help them with their parenting and understanding of their children.

A Letter to the World From My ADHD Son

A Letter to the World From My ADHD Son