September/October,
2001
|
|
September/October,
2001
|
National Adoption Month Approaching
With the month of September in full swing, the signs of Autumn are unmistakable: children are back in school, the leaves on the trees are changing colors, and the extra-curricular activities in our personal and professional lives may be starting up again after a slower Summer pace.
The arrival of Autumn also means something in the world of adoption: National Adoption Awareness month is just around the corner.
Formalized, time-specific adoption awareness campaigns date back to at least 1976 when then-Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts issued the first state Adoption Week proclamation; later that same year President Gerald Ford officially proclaimed the week in a letter to the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) conference. As years went on, Adoption Week came to be observed during the week of Thanksgiving in November.
In 1986 NACAC helped coordinate a national “Calling Out” event based on an idea from Larry Gellerstein, then president of the Adoptive Parent Committee of New York. That year, groups across North America braved late November weather and simultaneously assembled on state and provincial capitol steps to read statements about waiting children, and to call out the names of waiting children in their state or province.
In 1990 NACAC decided to expand opportunities for raising awareness, and began advertising Adoption Week as National Adoption Awareness Month (November). Since 1993 presidential proclamations have been issued every year recognizing November as National Adoption Awareness Month.
The first state-wide “Calling Out” ceremony in Michigan in 1988 was sponsored by MARE and continued every year until 1999. Other regional and local awareness and recruitment events events have since taken its place.
In early October MARE will again send out Adoption Month “Care Packages” to more than 100 adoption agencies in Michigan. The packages will include adoption promotional items such as magnets, pins, and bumper stickers, PSA’s, the national recruitment poster produced by NACAC and the Dave Thomas Foundation, and an updated full-color adoption information booklet, also from the Dave Thomas Foundation. The North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) also produces the National Adoption Awareness Month Guide which features information on how individuals and groups can raise awareness and celebrate adoption in their communities, churches, schools, and homes during November and year round. For more information about this excellent resource contact NACAC at (651) 644-3036 or by email at info@nacac.org
The Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange strongly encourages the many dedicated agencies and workers in Michigan to take advantage of this important opportunity and start making plans NOW to promote adoption during the month of November. Please do not hesitate to call the MARE office if we can be of any assistance. We are here to help!
Some of the information in this article was taken from the NACAC web site at www.nacac.org
It’s all in our name. The Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange exists (in part) as a service to adoption professionals and potential adoptive families, providing recruitment and educational resources that promote adoption of children in foster care.
Our responsibilities and the resources we offer have grown considerably in the 13 years that MARE has been in existence, so much so that even the most seasoned adoption professionals may not know all of the various resources that are available through MARE. With that in mind, we have taken the opportunity to highlight some of the many resources that we provide.
Web Site - First launched in February 1997, our home page alone has received over 300,000 “hits.” The backbone of the website features photos, descriptions, and video clips of waiting children. A wealth of other adoption -related information can also be found on the web site including a listing of Michigan Adoption Agencies, how the adoption process works, “Frequently Asked Questions,” links to other adoption web sites, and a special section for adoption workers. The site is designed and maintained by MARE staff member Nancy Jennings. Log on at www.mare.org
Child Waiting Columns - A handful of newspapers across the state feature articles about adoption-eligible children on a regular basis. MARE assists by providing the photos and descriptions of the children directly to the newspapers, or to the local agencies who are coordinating the effort.
Photolisting Book - Our oldest and most widely used resource, this monthly publication features photos and descriptions of hundreds of Michigan children who are available for adoption and for whom no adoptive family is identified. The September ‘01 issue features 465 children. Over 700 copies are distributed monthly at no cost to adoption agencies and public libraries in Michigan. Paid subscriptions are also available to individuals who wish to receive the photolisitng book at home.
Training for Families - Six training opportunities per year are offered to families (at no charge) who are considering adopting older children from foster care. Using the Parents As Tender Healers (PATH) curriculum developed by Spaulding for Children these 1-1/2 day trainings have proved wildly successful, usually filling up at least two months in advance. Contact Steve York for more information.
Promotional Items - Pens, buttons, bumper stickers, magnets and posters, as well as our booklet “Something to Think About” (exerpts from the PATH curriculum) are all available for the asking to agencies and advocates for special recruitment events and other uses.
Videotaping Services - MARE will assist agencies/workers in creating video tapes of the children in their care to be used for recruitment purposes. Contact Steve York for more information.
Lending Library - Available to adoption professionals, adoptive families, and anyone with an interest in adoption-related issues. Books, videos, and other materials are available on loan free of charge. For a list of available resources, contact Beverly Belcher at MARE.
Training for Workers - MARE staff will gladly come directly to agencies to train adoption staff on their contractual/policy obligations as it relates to MARE. This is a valuable opportunity not only for new adoption staff, but also to be used as a “refresher” for experienced staff & supervisors. Phone MARE to request a training session.
Newsletters - Two newsletters are produced on alternating months, and both are available at no cost. Recruitment News is targeted toward the adoption professional with news about MARE and other adoption and recruitment-related topics. Families Across Michigan (FAM) is targeted toward adoptive families and persons interested in adoption. Phone MARE to be put on the mailing list.
Lifebooks - Me, Myself, & I is a lifebook produced by MARE and available free of charge to adoption agencies to use with the children in their care. A lifebook can be an invaluable tool for helping children in care create a meaningful record of their personal histories. Phone MARE to place an order.
Desktop Publishing & Design - Creatively challenged? Wary of computers? Just don’t have time? Let the friendly MARE staff help you design your next flyer, brochure, etc. We can’t pick up your printing costs, but we will be happy to work with you to design a professional product.
Family Database - A database of studied and approved families who are willing to adopt waiting children is available to adoption workers in need of families. Workers can call and describe the type of child they are trying to place. That information is compared to the families’ information, and if certain criteria is the same or similar, a “suggested match” referral is made. Workers may access this database as part of their recruitment efforts at any time prior to MARE registration - and even after the child appears in the MARE book. “Suggested Match” referrals are also made on a monthly basis for all children currently listed in the MARE book. if there is a potential appropriate family in the database. Contact Nancy Jennings for more information
Directory of Resources - Published and distributed annually, the directory is a listing of Michigan adoption agencies and workers, and also includes a wide variety of other state and national adoption resources. One of our most sought-after products! We’ve also added a Directory of Post-Adoption Service Providers. Contact Beverly Belcher.
After 12 consecutive years, the “Kinship Adoption Festival” quietly faded away in 2001. But that didn’t mean that Kinship - a collaborative effort of metro Detroit area adoption agencies - was giving up on its mission to find adoptive families. This year a different approach was implemented that focused on the retention of families that had already started on their journey toward adoption. Out of this mind set, the “While You Wait” events were born.
With the idea of not wanting to “lose” families after they express interest in adoption, the “While You Wait” events serve to keep families engaged in the adoption process after their family assessment has been completed and while they are waiting to be matched with an appropriate waiting child. The two events that have been held thus far include dinner, a speaker/educational component, and the highlight of the evening - a video presentation featuring waiting children speaking about their likes and interests.
“We’ve found that families are hungry for information, and they just love the video clips of the children,” says Kirsta Grapentine, Program Director of MARE. “We’ve received plenty of positive feedback from families and workers, and the families have had lots of other creative ideas of how to recruit families and keep them interested.”
“While You Wait” events will be held in the Detroit area on a quarterly basis. For more information, contact Kirsta Grapentine or Amanda Marques of MARE.
The Pre-Adoption Orientation & Training sessions sponsored by MARE continue to be well received and are in high demand - as evidenced by the fact that our remaining training sessions for 2001 (in September and November) are already filled to capacity. Since offering our first training session in 1998, over 300 individuals have completed the training - a majority of whom went on to adopt. With such a high demand for the training and a limited number of available spaces for each session (around 30), we are simply unable to accommodate everyone who wishes to attend. Agencies should first try to serve interested families themselves - and then direct them to a MARE sponsored training if for some reason that is not possible.
The training and orientation sessions are intended for families who may be interested in adopting older children waiting in foster care (not infant or international adoptions), and who have little or no experience in raising children from the child welfare system (i.e. not experienced foster and/or adoptive parents.) Using a curriculum called Parents As Tender Healers (PATH), the 11-1/2 hour training (7:00 - 10:00 p.m. Friday evening and 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday) introduces families to the idea of adopting children from the child welfare system. Families will begin to understand the needs of these children and will also begin to identify their own unique qualities as potential adoptive families.
The training and orientation session is offered FREE to families (including overnight accommodations on Friday, if needed, and lunch on Saturday.) Participants must register in advance and receive a confirmation letter in order to attend. Based on past experience, it should be noted that the training sessions fill up one to two months in advance! Please keep this in mind and plan accordingly.
The dates and locations for 2002 are as follows:
The MARE website continues to improve and expand under the capable direction
of MARE staff member Nancy Jennings.One of the newest (and most exciting)
changes has been the addition of video clips of waiting children. Produced
by Steve York, these video clips are brief introductions of waiting children
in their own words that captures a glimpse of their personality and help make
them “real” to potential adoptive families.
There are currently 11 video clips featuring 16 waiting children available
for viewing. More will be added as our server space allows. Check them out
today!
Those wishing to view the videos must have the “QuickTime” player on their computer. The QuickTime player works on both Macintosh and Windows systems and can be downloaded for free at the QuickTime website - www.apple.com/quicktime/download/)