To purchase or for more information:
http://networkedblogs.com/p24378963
Friday, January 15, 2010
Shirts for Shoes: Be an Orphan's Valentine
To purchase or for more information:
http://networkedblogs.com/p24378963
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Survey Finds Most Adopted Children Are Healthy and Happy
According to extensive national data collected on adopted children and their families in the United States, the majority of adopted children are in good health and fare well on measures
such as social and emotional well being.
The report, entitled “Adoption USA: A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents,” was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by Child Trends researchers. Researchers found that 85 percent of adopted children are reported by their parents to be in excellent or very good health. Parents also reported to researchers that 88 percent of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.
The report was based on questions in the firstever National Survey of Adoptive Parents, a
federal survey of about 2,000 families that had adopted children through foster care, private domestic adoption or international adoption. The report describes adoption experiences, and well-being of these children and their families, making comparisons between
adopted children and the general population of children in the United States and among children adopted through different types of adoption.
Researchers found that more than half of adopted children perform at excellent or very
good levels in reading and math, according to their parents.
The report also found that adopted children are more likely to have been diagnosed
with depression, ADD/ADHD or some sort of behavior disorder. Although researchers
found that adopted children are for the most part in good health and show positive social
behaviors, 54 percent of children adopted from foster care have some sort of special health
care need. Thirty-two percent of children in domestic adoptions and 29 percent of those
in international adoptions also have special health needs.
Also, 87 percent of adoptive parents in the survey said they would “definitely” make the
same decision to adopt their children and 97 percent of all adopted children five and older
knew they were adopted. For private domestic adoptions, 68 percent reported post-adoption
contact with birth family; that is partly because 41 percent of families in this category adopted a relative’s child. For more information, visit
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/NSAP/chartbook.
Reported by Adoption Today magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
such as social and emotional well being.
The report, entitled “Adoption USA: A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents,” was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by Child Trends researchers. Researchers found that 85 percent of adopted children are reported by their parents to be in excellent or very good health. Parents also reported to researchers that 88 percent of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.
The report was based on questions in the firstever National Survey of Adoptive Parents, a
federal survey of about 2,000 families that had adopted children through foster care, private domestic adoption or international adoption. The report describes adoption experiences, and well-being of these children and their families, making comparisons between
adopted children and the general population of children in the United States and among children adopted through different types of adoption.
Researchers found that more than half of adopted children perform at excellent or very
good levels in reading and math, according to their parents.
The report also found that adopted children are more likely to have been diagnosed
with depression, ADD/ADHD or some sort of behavior disorder. Although researchers
found that adopted children are for the most part in good health and show positive social
behaviors, 54 percent of children adopted from foster care have some sort of special health
care need. Thirty-two percent of children in domestic adoptions and 29 percent of those
in international adoptions also have special health needs.
Also, 87 percent of adoptive parents in the survey said they would “definitely” make the
same decision to adopt their children and 97 percent of all adopted children five and older
knew they were adopted. For private domestic adoptions, 68 percent reported post-adoption
contact with birth family; that is partly because 41 percent of families in this category adopted a relative’s child. For more information, visit
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/NSAP/chartbook.
Reported by Adoption Today magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
Earthquake Relief for Haiti
For His Glory Adoption Outreach supports an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince. They are in desperate need of cash donations. They will also need construction and medical volunteers. For more information or to help: http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/earthquake_relief
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Liberia Begins Issuing Exit Clearances on Pending Adoptions
From Adoption Today Magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=29697&p):
Liberia recently informed the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia that it will soon issue exit clearances, on a case-by-case basis, to children whose full and final adoption was completed prior to Jan. 26, 2009 and approved by Liberia’s Ad-hoc Central Adoption Authority. Prospective adoptive parents who believe their case might fall into this category should contact the Consular Section at adoptionsmonrovia@state.gov to discuss next steps in the visa process. Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers are reminded that a consular officer is required, by law, to complete a Form I-604 (determination of orphan status) before issuing a visa in all IR-3 and IR-4 adoption cases. In some cases this may require only a conversation with the birth parent, but in others it may require a full field investigation possibly lasting several weeks. Because verifying the parent-child relationships in Liberia is difficult, the State Department also expects that in most cases where the child was relinquished by the birth parent, DNA testing will be recommended in order to establish a blood relationship between the adopted child and claimed birth parents.
Liberia recently informed the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia that it will soon issue exit clearances, on a case-by-case basis, to children whose full and final adoption was completed prior to Jan. 26, 2009 and approved by Liberia’s Ad-hoc Central Adoption Authority. Prospective adoptive parents who believe their case might fall into this category should contact the Consular Section at adoptionsmonrovia@state.gov to discuss next steps in the visa process. Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers are reminded that a consular officer is required, by law, to complete a Form I-604 (determination of orphan status) before issuing a visa in all IR-3 and IR-4 adoption cases. In some cases this may require only a conversation with the birth parent, but in others it may require a full field investigation possibly lasting several weeks. Because verifying the parent-child relationships in Liberia is difficult, the State Department also expects that in most cases where the child was relinquished by the birth parent, DNA testing will be recommended in order to establish a blood relationship between the adopted child and claimed birth parents.
Want to Know What It's Like to Be a Foster Child?
New Book for Those Who Have or Are Adopting from China
The Dragon Sisterhood is an education workbook for Chinese adoptive families. It covers the adoptive family wellness topics of historical origin, racial identity, attachment, adoption history, life books, educational scholarships for Asians, books, and documentary film resourcing. Each chapter includes a workbook page for adoptive parents in preparation for their child's adoptive life book.
100% of the sale of this book go towards the non-profit 503(c)(3) The Dragon Sisterhood, dedicated to educational opportunity scholarships for Chinese American adoptees.
Here is a link to The Dragon Sisterhood blog - http://www.dragonsisterhood.blogspot.com/
Monday, January 11, 2010
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Every 2 minutes, a child is forced into slavery somewhere in the world, robbing them of their childhood forever.
One of the girls we were able to help, Sveta, has grown up to become a veterinarian. But her life started with an unthinkable choice...her parents decided that they had enough girls already and abandoned her to the orphanage.
Read more about Sveta: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/01/htad2010.html
Please encourage others to take action against trafficking, and let others know that you are doing something to fight for the millions of children who have lost their childhoods to human trafficking.
For the Fatherless,
Tom
CEO, HopeChest
One of the girls we were able to help, Sveta, has grown up to become a veterinarian. But her life started with an unthinkable choice...her parents decided that they had enough girls already and abandoned her to the orphanage.
Read more about Sveta: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/01/htad2010.html
Please encourage others to take action against trafficking, and let others know that you are doing something to fight for the millions of children who have lost their childhoods to human trafficking.
For the Fatherless,
Tom
CEO, HopeChest
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Update on Guatemala from the Joint Council on International Children's Services
The Guatemalan government's announcement invited other governments to submit a letter of interest in participating in the pilot program. The U.S. Department of State, along with other Western governments, submitted a letter by the deadline in December. Many families, with hopes of providing a permanent home for a Guatemalan orphan, flooded Joint Council and other advocates seeking information and hoping for a positive reply.
For these families and more importantly, for those children living in Guatemalan orphanages, there is little hope.
Guatemala, having implemented the Hague Convention two years ago and having received considerable financial and technical assistance, remains out of compliance with the Hague Convention. As a result, the U.S. government, while hoping to participate in the pilot program, cannot approve any new Guatemalan adoptions nor issue a visa. If the pilot program was to begin tomorrow, no children would be adopted by a U.S. family.
For those children whose intercountry adoption was started over two years ago, before the 2008 Guatemalan Adoption Law took effect, most have found a permanent family. But many have not. They have been referred to a family, they have adoptive parents waiting and committed, but after two years of investigations, reviews and more investigations and reviews, they remain living outside of permanent parental care. They remain in foster care or in an institution. And they remain without a transparent process to finalize their adoption and to live in a family.
It is our understanding that despite universal claims of adoption corruption, the Guatemalan government, with one of the highest impunity rates and highest corruption rankings in the world, has yet to convict a single person of child trafficking. In 2007, UNICEF claimed that up to 80% of intercountry adoptions were corrupt. If true, that computes to over 3,200 claims of abuse, yet in 24 months not one adult is serving time in jail.
The disparities between the hundreds of children waiting over 26 months to finalize their adoption, the lack of child trafficking convictions, the non-compliance with the Hague Convention, the lack of progress in national adoption and family preservation and an announced intercountry adoption pilot program, calls into question how the best interest of children and families is being served.
The Guatemalan government's solution has not been to convict the guilty or to preserve families, but to subject innocent children to the proven detrimental affects of life outside a permanent family. With only seven government run orphanages, the vast majority of children live in private orphanages - many with depleting resources. The termination, rather than true reform, of intercountry adoption may have ended corruption and made for good PR, but it was not a solution in 2007 and it remains a travesty for thousands of children in 2010.
Despite the challenges, the lack of transparency and the suffering of children and families, many individuals, families, churches, organizations and governments remain committed to the children and families of Guatemala. Their efforts, along with Joint Council, continue to serve children and families in an ethical and legal fashion. We hope that the next Guatemala Update includes the fruits of those efforts...children living in families.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Adoption steps to the front lines of the culture wars
An article from Christianity Today - http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/7.12.html
Orphans on Deck
by Bobby Ross Jr.
Adoption is arguably one of the Christian social ministries most central to evangelical theology. It has—to a greater extent than church positions on issues such as abortion and marriage—avoided becoming entangled in politics. Until now.
A foster dad's court challenge to a Florida law banning adoption by gays and lesbians has made headlines in recent months. So has a proposed same-sex marriage law in the District of Columbia that the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington warned could force it to cancel its social service programs, including adoption.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark introduced a bill in October dubbed the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act." The California Democrat's proposal immediately drew the ire of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRF). IRF claims the proposed law could run "roughshod over the convictions of many faith-based adoption agencies" and "require every state to forbid every agency that it licenses from preferring mother-father families over gay families or single parents."
"Obviously, it's becoming a political issue," Marquette University political scientist John McAdams said of adoption.
"The fundamental problem is that secular elites—who basically don't like religious people at all—aren't willing to make any concessions at all to the consciousnesses of religious people," said McAdams, an evangelical Christian and Republican. In such a climate, children needing homes take a back seat to politics, he said.
McAdams points to Massachusetts as a prime example: In 2006, Catholic Charities of Boston stopped its 103-year-old adoption service rather than comply with a state law that made it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples when placing children into homes.
Russell D. Moore, a leading Southern Baptist theologian and author of "Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches," voices concern about "religious liberty concerns rising in the adoption arena."
"When states force Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant adoption services and children's homes to override their religious concepts of the family in placing children, the mission of the church itself is at stake," Moore said.
On the other hand, voters in Arkansas last year passed a referendum banning unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children—a direct attack on gay parenting. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat and active member of an Episcopal Church, voiced concern in November that the law hinders the state's ability to recruit qualified parents.
"It was just a matter of time before [adoption] was used as a lightning rod," said Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stark's proposal would increase the role of for-profit adoption agencies and minimize that of nonprofit and faith-based providers, Cnaan said. As a social worker and researcher, he would prefer a government policy that encourages all agencies to allow lgbt people to adopt but stops short of forcing organizations to do so.
"Marginalizing the uniqueness of faith-based organizations and forcing them to act secularly is the cookie-cutter type mistake," Cnaan said. "Not all adoption agencies should be molded to be alike, as many children and families have different needs that can be best met by allowing many different providers to co-exist."
On a broader scale, adoption is a legal process that always has been subject to politics, said John VanValkenburg, spokesman for Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the world with more than 80 locations in 32 states.
Both political parties, for example, have supported a federal tax credit for families who adopt—a benefit that Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Bethany hopes to see renewed or made permanent before it expires at the end of 2010, VanValkenburg said.
"Awareness of the importance of adoption has increased as a result of President Obama, who repeatedly mentions adoption as a part of a positive strategy to reduce abortions," he added.
But Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in McLean, Virginia, said he fears that children in need of families will lose the most as activists work to redefine marriage—and, in turn, adoption rules.
"If it limits the right of Christian agencies to serve in ways consistent with their convictions, government will ultimately lose many of its greatest allies in finding families for kids in needs," said Medefind, who directed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a special assistant to former President George W. Bush.
Like Medefind, Kay Ekstrom, executive director of the Phoenix-based National Association of Christian Child and Family Agencies, expresses concern about what she sees as the increasing politicization of adoption. Yet, in her view, the bigger headline is this: Tens of thousands of children remain stuck in foster care without permanent homes as Christians fail to step up to the challenge.
"If every Christian church in America produced one adopting family for an older child, we could wipe out the list of 'waiting children,'" said Ekstrom, who spent 25 years as president of the Christian Family Care Agency in Arizona. "And if God's people were responding to this need, the issue of adopting by gay people wouldn't be an issue. All the children would have homes."
Orphans on Deck
by Bobby Ross Jr.
Adoption is arguably one of the Christian social ministries most central to evangelical theology. It has—to a greater extent than church positions on issues such as abortion and marriage—avoided becoming entangled in politics. Until now.
A foster dad's court challenge to a Florida law banning adoption by gays and lesbians has made headlines in recent months. So has a proposed same-sex marriage law in the District of Columbia that the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington warned could force it to cancel its social service programs, including adoption.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark introduced a bill in October dubbed the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act." The California Democrat's proposal immediately drew the ire of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRF). IRF claims the proposed law could run "roughshod over the convictions of many faith-based adoption agencies" and "require every state to forbid every agency that it licenses from preferring mother-father families over gay families or single parents."
"Obviously, it's becoming a political issue," Marquette University political scientist John McAdams said of adoption.
"The fundamental problem is that secular elites—who basically don't like religious people at all—aren't willing to make any concessions at all to the consciousnesses of religious people," said McAdams, an evangelical Christian and Republican. In such a climate, children needing homes take a back seat to politics, he said.
McAdams points to Massachusetts as a prime example: In 2006, Catholic Charities of Boston stopped its 103-year-old adoption service rather than comply with a state law that made it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples when placing children into homes.
Russell D. Moore, a leading Southern Baptist theologian and author of "Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches," voices concern about "religious liberty concerns rising in the adoption arena."
"When states force Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant adoption services and children's homes to override their religious concepts of the family in placing children, the mission of the church itself is at stake," Moore said.
On the other hand, voters in Arkansas last year passed a referendum banning unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children—a direct attack on gay parenting. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat and active member of an Episcopal Church, voiced concern in November that the law hinders the state's ability to recruit qualified parents.
"It was just a matter of time before [adoption] was used as a lightning rod," said Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stark's proposal would increase the role of for-profit adoption agencies and minimize that of nonprofit and faith-based providers, Cnaan said. As a social worker and researcher, he would prefer a government policy that encourages all agencies to allow lgbt people to adopt but stops short of forcing organizations to do so.
"Marginalizing the uniqueness of faith-based organizations and forcing them to act secularly is the cookie-cutter type mistake," Cnaan said. "Not all adoption agencies should be molded to be alike, as many children and families have different needs that can be best met by allowing many different providers to co-exist."
On a broader scale, adoption is a legal process that always has been subject to politics, said John VanValkenburg, spokesman for Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the world with more than 80 locations in 32 states.
Both political parties, for example, have supported a federal tax credit for families who adopt—a benefit that Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Bethany hopes to see renewed or made permanent before it expires at the end of 2010, VanValkenburg said.
"Awareness of the importance of adoption has increased as a result of President Obama, who repeatedly mentions adoption as a part of a positive strategy to reduce abortions," he added.
But Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in McLean, Virginia, said he fears that children in need of families will lose the most as activists work to redefine marriage—and, in turn, adoption rules.
"If it limits the right of Christian agencies to serve in ways consistent with their convictions, government will ultimately lose many of its greatest allies in finding families for kids in needs," said Medefind, who directed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a special assistant to former President George W. Bush.
Like Medefind, Kay Ekstrom, executive director of the Phoenix-based National Association of Christian Child and Family Agencies, expresses concern about what she sees as the increasing politicization of adoption. Yet, in her view, the bigger headline is this: Tens of thousands of children remain stuck in foster care without permanent homes as Christians fail to step up to the challenge.
"If every Christian church in America produced one adopting family for an older child, we could wipe out the list of 'waiting children,'" said Ekstrom, who spent 25 years as president of the Christian Family Care Agency in Arizona. "And if God's people were responding to this need, the issue of adopting by gay people wouldn't be an issue. All the children would have homes."
Wait No More Conference sponsored by Focus on the Family for children in Florida's foster care system
As you may know, we recently launched our Adoption & Orphan Care Initiative in an effort to raise awareness throughout the Church regarding the plight of orphans, with particular emphasis on legal orphans right here in the U.S. foster care system.
In Florida alone, 1,000 children and youth are waiting in the foster care system for adoptive families. Thankfully, with over 13,000 churches in Florida, there is every reason to hope that we can make a difference in the lives of these lonely children.
Consider the impact if families throughout the state's congregations welcomed these waiting children in foster care into their hearts and homes: We could see no children in foster care awaiting adoption! Such a goal is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility, and we are committed to doing everything possible to help bring it to fruition.
This gathering will provide detailed information regarding the adoption process via the foster care system. Additionally, those present will be given an opportunity to ask questions and to become acquainted with the faces and stories of some of the children waiting in Florida's foster care system who long for a family to call their own.
This is a free event, but we do ask that you take a few minutes to register. All participants who register in advance will be provided with a selection of complimentary resources as well as lunch. For additional specifics about Wait No More, visit iCareAboutOrphans.org.
In James 1:27 we're told, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans ... "in their distress ..." With that exhortation in mind, we urge you to join this informative and ground-breaking conference.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, January 30th. Again, please take a moment to register. Meanwhile, we would covet your prayers for this vital undertaking on behalf of Florida's waiting kids. May God's blessings remain upon you and your loved ones in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Jim Daly, President and CEO Focus on the Family
Wait No More®:
Finding Families for Florida's Waiting Kids
Saturday, January 30, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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