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During the 2002-03
fiscal year, the Adoption Services Department continued
to reach out to the community to increase awareness of
adoption as an option for pregnant women; to increase
referrals to La Familia for pregnancy counseling, adoptive
parent recruitment and training; and to educate health
care professionals about adoption. The staff continued
to measure strategic program objectives against outcomes,
and to monitor program budgets to ensure program accountability. |
| Courage, it would
seem, is nothing less than the power
to overcome danger, misfortune, fear,
injustice, while continuing to affirm
inwardly that life with all its sorrows
is good; that everything is meaningful
even if in a sense beyond our understanding;
and that there is always tomorrow. |
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| – Dorothy
Thompson |
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In total, the department
completed 165 intakes, or initial re-quests for information,
from prospective adoptive parents. Of these, 33 completed
and submitted a formal application. Over the course of
the year, 31 home studies were completed for these families,
and 30 families were approved for adoption.
In addition, 31 pregnant women, many with their partners,
received counseling services at La Familia as they
considered the best outcome for their baby. Of these,
22 decided to parent their children, 1 decided to terminate,
and eight decided to relinquish their parental rights
so that a loving family could adopt the baby. |
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Support services,
such as referrals, training and respite, are available
to adoptive parents following finalization of the adoption.
Every birth mom is ensured access to counseling and support
services at no cost for as long as they are needed, even
years after relinquishment. Services may include referrals
for legal, educational or medical assistance; job and
com-munity resource counseling; grief counseling; and
financial assistance.
Like most nonprofit programs providing
services at low to no cost to the client, La Familia’s
pregnancy counseling program is sustained through fees
paid by adoptive families for specific services, including
home studies, counseling and birth parent expenses.
La Familia’s fees remain among the lowest in
the State, based on the agency’s commitment to
affordable adoption for qualified families.
Significant program funding comes
from two federal grants: Tapestries, a direct grant
from the U. S. Health and Human Services Department
Children’s Bureau, for $1 million over four years;
and Spaulding for Children, which received HHS Adoption
Opportunity Grant funding to subcontract with nonprofit
organizations in several states for $200,000 for one
year.
Tapestries
Awarded in 2001, the Tapestries grant funds the development of a web-based
training curriculum for transracial adoptions, specific research
into its effectiveness, and appropriate modifications to the curriculum
as needed.
FY 2002-03 saw completion
of the curriculum and web access through La Familia’s
web site. Thousands of “hits” were recorded
during the first year of operation, and many more
are expected as the evaluation process is completed. |
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People accessing the
Tapestries curriculum included prospective parents, social
workers, professionals in the adoption field, and other
interested parties.
During FY 2003-04 and 2004-05, the curriculum evaluation
component will be developed, tested and released to
the Children’s Bureau for final review. |
| If a child is to keep
alive his inborn sense of wonder, he
needs the companionship of at least
one adult who can share it, rediscovering
with him the joy, excitement and mystery
of the world we live in. |
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| – Rachel
Carson |
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Spaulding
for Children
In keeping with the goals of the Adoption Opportunities Grant program,
the one-year (FY 2003-04) Spaulding for Children grant will fund comprehensive
training to educate public health workers state-wide about infant adoption.
Research has demonstrated
that health care workers were least likely to offer
adoption as an option for a pregnant woman to consider
because they themselves did not understand the adoption
process. Many felt that adoption seemed complex,
confusing and time consuming and might lead to questions
they could not answer and requests for resources
they could not provide. |
Megan
Walsh, LISW
Director – Adoption Services |
How wonderful it
is that nobody need wait a single
moment before starting to improve
the world. |
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| – Anne
Frank |
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