Our "What's New" Page is a great place to find out about adoption related news
for both NJ ARCH and the greater adoption community. Please check in on our
What's New Page often, as it will be continually updated.

To jump to a specific entry, simply click on one of the links below:

07/29/08

Governor signs historic Family Leave Insurance legislation

Adoptees from across the country rallied at the National Conference of State Legislators in New Orleans Tuesday morning while some local adoptees called for action here in New York State. They are calling on state lawmakers for help. “Open the records,” said Emily Daszkiewicz. “Unseal these records.” Local adoptees and birth mothers joined together in the genealogy section of the main library in Downtown Rochester this morning. It’s a place many of them have done research to find their birth parents.
To read the entire article please click here

07/23/2008
Where Did I Come From? One Adopted Woman's Journey to Find Her Biological Mother

Cynthia Guditus was adopted in New York 43 years ago, but never chose to look for her birth mother until two years ago. She says she had a happy childhood and dearly loved her parents; the parents who raised her.
But when her son, Connor, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 9, doctors advised her it might be important for her to learn about her
own medical history. So for Connor's sake, the happily married mother of three began to search.
To read the entire article please click here

This site has lots of information about Kid safety and cars. http://kidsandcars.org/
It also has links to several technological gadgets to help prevent kids from being accidentally left in a car.
To read the entire articles please click here and here

Cynthia Guditus was adopted in New York 43 years ago, but never chose to look for her birth mother until two years ago. She says she had a happy childhood and dearly loved her parents the parents who raised her.
But when her son, Connor, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 9, doctors advised her it might be important for her to learn about her own medical history. So for Connor's sake, the happily married mother of three began to search.
To read the entire article please click here

07/15/2008
Mickey Duxbury, author of "Making Room in Our Hearts" on speaking of

Next on Speaking of Adoption,hosted by Donna Montalbano Listen via the live stream at www.onworldwide.com My guest for Tuesday, July 15th is Micky Duxbury, an adoptive parent, licensed marriage and family therapist.
Micky and I will be discussing the unique challenges, responsibilities and joys of parenting adoptive children when you’re older.
Micky is also the author of Making Room in Our Hearts: Keeping Family Ties through Open Adoption
For more about Micky, her book and how to order it, click on the "Required Reading" page of www.speakingofadoptionradio.com
An important reminder: you must watch this Monday night, July 14th, at 9 pm ET the shocking documentary "China's Stolen Children" on HBO

07/15/2008
Archeology of Adoption, August 27- September 24, 2008

AHL Foundation – a not-for- profit arts foundation - is proud to present Archaeology of Adoption, an Exhibition for Korean Adoptee
Artists. AHL attempts to focus on artists who deal with relatively relegated issues through their experience as Korean adoptees. This
exhibition addresses the issue of adoption, something the artists have taken for granted, and shares it with audiences who may not have
thought about it. Moreover, adoption, in itself, jeopardizes all the social constructs on memory, nostalgia, and on what composes a
family. The artists in this exhibition raise questions such as how one can trace something that they never experienced or whether
nostalgia for a specific place could be strong to those who had spent a very short time there.
To read the entire article please click here

07/09/2008
Teens Hope to Win Hearts of New Parents

Moved from the maternity ward to his first foster home 16 years ago, the soft-spoken, handsome young man is still holding out hope that he'll be adopted. "Why not?," he asked. "I'm a good speaker. Why not adopt me?"
But as one of New Jersey's "100 Waiting Children" who have been in foster care the longest, Henry knows the deck is stacked against him.
To read the entire article please click here

My guest for Tuesday, July 8th is Elizabeth Brundage, author of Somebody Else's Daughter; a psychological thriller of secrets, dark motives, and an adoption buried in the past.
(Secrets, dark motives and lies, oh my! That's "adoption" all right!)
At the center of Elizabeth Brundage’s new novel lies an adoption under stressed and tragic circumstances. Willa, brought up in elegant prosperity, is now a student at the prestigious Pioneer School. But her biological father, a failing writer and former drug addict, can’t
live with himself without seeing her again.
In this idyllic Berkshires landscape, Willa’s adoptive parents have fled a mysterious past; a feminist sculptor initiates a reckless affair; teenagers live in a world to which adults turn a blind eye; and the headmaster’s wife is busy keeping her husband’s disastrous history and current indiscretions well hidden. The culmination of these forces is the collision of two very different fathers— biological and adoptive—and a villain whose ends and means slowly
unfold with the help, witting and unwitting, of all around him. Somebody Else’s Daughter delivers an electric, suspenseful tale of richly conflicted characters and the disturbed landscape of the
American psyche.

About the Author
Elizabeth Brundage is the author of The Doctor’s Wife and holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a James A. Michener Fellowship. Before attending Iowa, she was a screenwriting fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Her short fiction has been published in the Greensboro Review, Witness magazine, and New Letters.

And you can still listen to my interview with Wendy Kramer of the Donor Sibling Registry who is also making an upcoming appearance on the Oprah Show on July 11th!

Click on the following links to listen to a program from this website!
To listen to a live show, click on www.onworldwide.com and click ON@WORK.
To listen to an archived show, go to www.onworldwide.com and click ON DEMAND then on the show name.

Donna Montalbanohost of "Speaking of Adoption"
Tuesdays from 2 to 3 pm Eastern Time
1240 AM WOON Rhode Island
www.onworldwide.com
toll free studio line: 800-449-1240
www.speakingofadoptionradio.com

06/172008
NASW Statement On Foster Care and Adoptions

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) supports a child welfare policy designed to provide the best care for all children in need of foster care and adoption services. Presently, there are more than 500,000 children in foster care and a disproportionate number of these children are African-American. Every child has the right to a permanent, continuous, and nurturing relationship with adults who convey to the child an enduring sense of love and care. Children should be able to perceive themselves as valued family members. The paramount concern of social workers is the health and safety of the child and determining the child’s best interest. NASW supports laws and policies that facilitate the fostering and adoption of children through kinship care when feasible, with adequate financial support so that children may remain within their family of origin.
To read the entire statement please click here

06/12/2008
Poem by adult adoptee expresses hope

Dawn Hurtt welcomed Angel Cina into her heart, her home and even her clothes closet. But state law prevented her from making the young woman an official part of her family.
Hurtt, 42, a veteran of foster-parent and adoption circles, was undaunted. So was Angel, then 18 and legally beyond adoption age, who wanted to put down roots with Dawn and her husband, Gordon.
The two women are the impetus behind a new state law that allows adoption of consenting adults up to age 21, even if there are no blood or foster-family ties.
To read the entire article please click here

Guatemala annuls 15 adoption cases

Guatemala's attorney general said Wednesday he has annulled 15 pending adoptions to U.S. couples after finding evidence of fraud or other irregularities.
Attorney General Baudilio Portillo suspended all of Guatemala's 2,286 pending adoption cases in early May to investigate them. So far officials have looked into 160 cases. Of those, 145 have been cleared to move forward and 15 have been annulled.
To read the entire article please click here

The official act took only a few minutes, but afterward Angel got to sit with Superior Court Judge Terence Flynn and show him some photographs. Flynn listened as mother and daughter showed off their memories of the past 14 months.

"She has changed so much over the past year," Brown explained to Flynn, pointing to photos taken the day Angel arrived at Brown's home after state officials were forced to remove the little girl from an abusive home.
To read the entire article please click here

The U.S. Department of State's Office of Children's Issues has released a flowchart for Intercountry Adoption cases under the Hague Convention. This document has been posted on the Joint Council website, accessible both via our homepage and our Hague-specific webpage. We hope that this information will be useful to adoption service providers, as well as potential adoptive parents.

Donna Montalbano brings on the experts to discuss the issues affecting the "triad" (adoptee, birth and adoptive parents)

open adoption
foreign adoption
foster care
kinship adoption
search and reunion
safe haven laws
adoptee access to original birth records
gay and lesbian adoption

Log onto http://speakingofadoptionradio.com/ to hear interesting adoption related topics.

Merrill Lynch ranked No. 24 on this year's list of the top 100 Adoption-Friendly Workplaces in the United States, according to a survey by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
The Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces in America list, announced on May 1, includes the top 100 organizations that provide exceptional support to employees who adopt. Rankings are based on the amount of financial assistance and paid leave provided. The foundation compiled the results from survey data collected from 919 U.S. employers.
Merrill Lynch offers benefits that include as much as $5,000 per adoption to cover "qualified adoption expenses" ($8,000 for a "special needs" child); up to 13 weeks of paid leave for a primary caregiver and one week for a non-primary caregiver. Details are available from the Adoption Assistance Program and Paid Childcare Leave sections of the Human Resources employee website.
Wendy's International, Inc., headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, was the 2008 winner. The foundation is not an affiliate of Wendy's, although the nonprofit public charity was established by the founder of Wendy’s Restaurants in 1992. Dave Thomas, an adoptee and adoption advocate, died in 2002.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc., of Providence, Rhode Island, topped the list among financial services companies for the second year in a row and ranked No. 2 on both the top 100 list and among businesses with more than 1,000 employees nationwide.

Program International Relations Initiative

Date June 6, 2008

Regarding Guatemala

Dear Colleagues,

In the past week, we have received a number of inquiries regarding the status of the approved cases in the PGN. We will continue to update our membership on the latest developments in Guatemala, as well as our continuing advocacy work. Joint Council, along with our Guatemalan representative, continues its daily efforts on behalf of the Guatemalan children in need of permanency. We are pleased to announce that a large number of Guatemalan children will soon be united with their families.

Release of Cases

Joint Council has learned that today, Friday, June 6^th, 2008, PGN will release approximately 230 adoption cases. At this time, there is no estimate of the number of cases with previos, versus the number of cases without. Upon the release of cases by PGN, Joint Council will be providing estimates of the number of cases without previos. Joint Council extends its appreciation to PGN for its release of these cases. We will continue to work with PGN and key stakeholders in Guatemala on the review of the adoption procedure.

Sincerely,

Anna Rough

Child Advocacy Program Manager

The Joint Council on International Children's Services

annar@jcics.org

NJPC Youth Group 2nd Annual Prospect Point Benefit Basketball Tournament - June 7, 2008

On June 7, 2008, the New Jersey Parents Caucus' Statewide Youth Group will hold their 2nd Annual Basketball Tournament Fundraiser. The Basketball Tournament will be held in Lake Hopatcong, NJ between 12PM and 7PM. There are 2 Age Divisions- 12 to 16 & 17 and up and a $5 entry fee per person (including substitutes). Winners of their respective divisions will get 1/4 of the proceeds from the event! Refreshments and Barbeque items will be available For more information on the Basketball Tournament or to sign up a team of 3, please contact David Crosby at 973-294-8143 or Jordan Jett at 973-518-2499. To view information and pictures from last years event, please visit http://www.newjerseyparentscaucus.org/htmls/youthgroup.html.
To see an announcement please click here

06/02/2008
An Evening with "The English American"

Don't miss out on seeing Comedienne and Best Selling Author Alison Larkin at BritsRock4Autism An Evening with "The English American"

Saturday 7 June , 8pm - 10pm
Luna Stage 695 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair NJ
Advance Tickets $30/ $40 door
Join Alison Larkin as she entertains and reads excerpts from her best selling novel, The English American.

Advance Tickets are on sale NOW at
The London Food Company,
416 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair NJ 07042.
Payments: Check (Cheque) , Cash or Money Orders or call 973 820 5795

A charity weekend of British music, comedy and soccer to raise money for children with autism.
www.shopontheavenue.com/britsrock4autism

Press Kit and Media Information: Yomi Karade/ Louise Shallcross
email britsrock4autism@gmail.com
Visit www.britsrock4autism.com

A portion of the proceeds for the above events will go to Spectra Academy Inc, a non-profit Montclair based organization that provides
programs for children with high functioning autism.
Visit www.spectra-academy.org

06/02/2008
The Heart Gallery Display will be at the Shiloh Baptist Church, Trenton

The children featured in the Heart Gallery are deserving of dignity and respect and, most importantly, a possible ticket to a new life. It is our hope that these portraits will touch prospective parents across the country and encourage them to adopt. Doesn't everybody deserve a family? Please visit this display at:

Shiloh Baptist Church
340 Rev. S. Howard Woodson, Jr. Way
Trenton, NJ 08618

For more information on the Heart Gallery, log onto www.heartgallerynj.org

05/29/2008
"Unlocking the Heart". Trailer on YouTube

I am happy to tell you that a 5 ½ minute trailer of the documentary UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION is now up on YouTube. You can watch it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UknFCgunhV8

The 56 minute documentary UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION bridges the gap between birth and adoptive families through diverse personal stories of adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents in same race and transracial adoptions interwoven with the filmmaker’s story as a birthmother revealing the enormous complexities in their lives with fascinating historical background.

Recipient of the 2006 Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Angels in Adoption Award, UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION is on the National Title IV-E List of Recommended Child Welfare Films. This film is currently being used as an educational tool by adoption agencies, and colleges and universities worldwide.

05/27/2008
Spence-Chapin's Adoption Resource Center Presents Adoption Forum for Teens

ADOPTION FORUMS FOR TEENS

410 East 92nd Street (between 1st and York Avenues) New York City, NY

Dating and Relationships
Saturday, May 31, 2008
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
A panel of young adult adoptees will candidly share how being adopted may have impacted who they chose to date, who they chose as friends and how they see themselves.

Search and Reunion
Saturday, June 7, 2008
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
The choice to search for and maintain a relationship with a birth family is a unique aspect of being adopted. Adult adoptees will discuss their experiences with regard to search, why they searched or did not, and what happens after one meets their birth family.

Advance registration is required.

Program Fee: $30 per forum. To register, please contact Eneida at 212-360-0287 or email: arcworkshops@spence-chapin.org.
For online registration, visit: http://www.spence-chapin.org/workshops.html
All discussions will be facilitated by Joy Lieberthal, LCSW, an adult adoptee and Spence-Chapin social worker.

Minority children in foster care are being ill-served by a federal law that plays down race and culture in adoptions, a report released on Tuesday said.

The report, based on an examination of the law’s impact over a decade, said that minority children adopted into white households face special challenges and that white parents need preparation and training for what might lie ahead.

But it found that social workers and state agencies fear litigation and stiff penalties under the law for even discussing race with adopting couples. As a result, families often do not get the counseling they need. It also found that states have ignored an aspect of the law that requires diligent recruitment of black parents.
To read the entire article please click here

The U.S. Department of State has expressed concerns related to corruptive practices associated with intercountry adoption between the U.S. and Vietnam. In response to their concerns, the Department of State will allow the functional closure of adoptions on September 1, 2008 and thereby end one of the most basic of human rights: the right to a safe, permanent and loving family.
To read A Child's Right Campaign - Recommendations, please click here
To read A Child's Right Campaign - Latter to family and friends, please click here

The Adoptees' Birthright Bill is assigned to the Assembly Human Services Committee, where we have the support of most of the members of that committee. The chair is a strong supporter, a true champion of adoptees' rights to know the truth of our origins.

For a bill to be posted in committee, the Speaker of the Assembly has to approve its being heard. The Speaker also has the prerogative of deciding whether the bill is posted for a vote by the full Assembly. Because of the huge number of bills filed, the M.O. of the NJ Legislature is that bills allowed to be heard in committee are generally expected to be released from committee to the floor; and bills posted for a floor vote are expected to pass.

Since we have such strong support on the committee, as well as in the Assembly at large, the major decision to be made will be by Assemblyman Joe Roberts (D-Camden), Speaker of the Assembly.

We would like Asm. Roberts to receive 100 letters either by email, hard copy or even handwritten, postmarked by June 1, week from this coming Sunday. This deadline is critical because of the legislative calendar which has one more meeting of the Human Services Committee before the legislators break for the summer. There are voting days between June 12 and the end of the month, which could possibly allow the bill, if posted and released on the 12th, to move forward.

Would you please make every effort to write a personal letter, no longer than a single page (however you send it), to

Assemblyman Joe Roberts, Speaker of the Assembly

Brooklawn Shopping Plaza,

Rt. 130 South & Browning Rd.

Brooklawn, NJ 08030

Please refer to the bill as the Adoptees' Birthright Bill rather than by number. There are several bills and what is likely to come out is a "committee substitute" which will have elements of each of the bills.

If you write your letter on the computer, would you kindly send a copy of it to me at pamhasegawa@gmail.com :-). Please email it to me AFTER emailing it off to the Speaker if that is how you send your message. If you send it by snail mail (which I think will have more impact just because so much of today's communication is done electronically), please just cut-and-paste or attach a copy of your letter to an email addressed to me.

Many, many thanks, friends. And if you have friends n the Camden region who are sympathetic to our cause, please ask them to write as well.

In hope,

Pam

05/20/2008
"Operation Babylift" available in "Speaking of Adoption" audio file

Here's information for accessing Lana Noone's recent radio Vietnam
"Operation Babylift" radio broadcast: Go to the WOON web site at:
www.onworldwide.com/museumlinks2.html Click on the "Speaking of Adoption" link on the home page. That should bring up the audio file of the radio program. It will automatically load the audio/video player software and played the audio file.

05/20/2008
New Child Welfare Information Gateway

Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families.

To visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway website please click here

05/15/2008
Finding the missing pieces to my family puzzle

For 28 years my life had been a series of too many questions filled with too many emotions. It was a continuous loop that seemed to have no end, no beginning. Was she even living, and if so, did she ever think about me the way I had thought about her? Too many times I would walk through a mall, wondering if she was that woman over there. Or maybe she was the one on the corner who sort of looked like me. During those years I often engaged in soul-searching conversations with myself. One thing was constant: If I ever found her, I knew I would never call her "mom." After all, my mom was the woman who raised me from when I was 8 months old. She was the one who was there for me every step of the way, from my first day of school to when I, myself, became a mother.
To read the entire article please click here

As an active supporter of international understanding, you help families bridge cultural divides in order to provide loving homes for children from around the world. Youth For Understanding joins in that work and helps provide students from over 60 countries the opportunity to live and learn while immersed in American culture.
Youth For Understanding (YFU), one of the oldest and largest exchange programs in the world, is seeking families who are willing to open their homes and hearts to one of our international students for the 2008-2009 academic year. For families interested in adopting a child from another country, hosting a foreign exchange student is an excellent introduction to the culture from which that child may come.
All kinds of families make wonderful YFU host families, including singles, parents with or without children, empty nesters, and members of the gay community. Host families may choose to host as a welcome family for six weeks, a semester, or a full school year.
f you are interested in this opportunity to further connect your families with the international community, here are some options:
Ø      Offer information or make an announcement at your next meeting or event.
Ø      Request hosting materials to distribute to your families
Ø      List our website and contact information in your newsletter or bulletin.
Ø      Forward an invitation to your families to attend YFU events and orientations in your local area.
If you are interested, please call our office at 1-866-493-8872, Ext. 110 or e-mail Theresa Nowak at tnowak@yfu.org. We would be more than happy to answer any questions you have and to provide you with more information. You can also visit our website at www.yfu-usa.org. Please help us by passing this information on to the families that your organization serves.
Warm Regards,
Theresa Nowak

Antipsychotic medications may impair the body’s ability to regulate it’s own temperature. During hot and humid weather individuals taking antipsychotic medications are at risk of developing excessive body temperature, or hyperthermia, which can be fatal. Individuals with chronic medical conditions are especially vulnerable e.g. heart and pulmonary disease, diabetes and alcoholism, etc. Heat exhaustion is the most common heat-related condition, which is most likely to occur in people who are involved in physical activity outdoors during heat waves. Heat stroke is a more serious condition of dehydration and salt depletion which can be life threatening.
To read the entire article please click here

PARAMUS - A rapper from the group Run DMC is giving his time to foster and adopted children in New Jersey.
An adopted child himself, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels has signed on to represent Children’s Aid and Family Services of Paramus, an organization that supports foster and adopted children. McDaniels says the experience helps him truly connect with kids. “For me, I was fortunate to be adopted,” he says. “But my role for these kids is to represent them and let them not feel alone.”
As the organization’s spokesman, McDaniels believes he can give a voice to children who need the encouragement. “I tell them, ‘You can do anything that you wanna do, don’t let your situation define you,’” he says.
McDaniels believes his fame can help get the message out. He says rap helps him send the message straight to the children. McDaniels once did a song with musician Sarah Mclaughlin about his journey through the adoption process—a song that made Wafiq, a child at the organization, feel good.
For McDaniels, children like Wafiq are what make his time feel well-spent.
To see the entire video please click here

I write to point out misstatements and misrepresentations by individuals and groups who are trying to eliminate an important privacy for birth mothers — a privacy that has been protected by law for decades. Those who want to eliminate a mother's privacy claim that New Jersey's adoption law protects only the adopted child. That claim is wrong. New Jersey's adoption law protects all of the parties: the child, the birth mother and the adopting parents.

To read the entire article please click here

05/08/2008
14 ways for a Birth mother or Birth Father to Honor and Remember a Placed Child

1. Journal about your experience as a birth mother or father. Write about the adoption of your child. Consider sharing your story with a close friend.
To read the entire article please click here

05/08/2008
Birth Mother Day 05/08

For many years there was no choice – either a birth mother was honored and recognized on Mother's Day, or not at all. In 1990, a group of Seattle birth mothers sought to correct that oversight and created a special day to honor those mothers who lost children to adoption. Birth Mother's Day had a variety of purposes – to educate, honor and to help heal.
To read the entire article please click here

On April 16-19, 2008, Joint Council and its Guatemala Caucus Co-chairs, including Bruce Mossberg of Bethany Christian Services, Chris Huber of FTIA, and Margaret Orr of Small Miracles, traveled to Guatemala to assess the current situation regarding permanency services, establish and strengthen working relationships with key stakeholders, and offer assistance to the government in developing their child protection and permanency services. The delegation met with the Executive Director and Vice-Director of the Guatemala Central Authority, the Director of Bienestar Sociale, the Director of SOSEP, the U.S. Consul General, John Lowell, and the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, James Derham. Additional meetings were also held with current service providers.
To read the entire article please click here.

InKAS is holding a summer school program for overseas Korean adoptees to experience and learn Korean Culture from 1^stof August (Fri) to 14^th of August (Thu), 2008. It is our desire to aid in finding Overseas Korean adootees' birth families and assist in understanding and experiencing the true Korean Culture during their visit.
The program is mainly coordinated for overseas Korean adoptees to experience Korean cuisine, custom, culture and language via opportunities of direct participation and experiences of Korean Living.

Governor signs historic Family Leave Insurance legislation

TRENTON -- Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed an historic family leave insurance bill (A873 / S786), propelling New Jersey to become only the third state in the nation to enact a family leave program for workers caring for sick family members, newborn and newly-adopted children. The state of California implemented its program in 2004 while the state of Washington passed legislation last year.
To read the entire article please click here.

05/05/2008
May is National Foster Care Month...You Can Change a Lifetime!

All children deserve a safe, happy life — including the 513,000 American children and youth in foster care. Young people in foster care especially need nurturing adults on their side because their own families are in crisis and unable to care for them.
Each May, we salute the compassionate people who make a difference by serving as foster parents, relative caregivers, mentors, advocates, social workers, and volunteers. Thanks to these unsung heroes, many formerly abused or neglected children and teens will either safely reunite with their parents, be cared for by relatives, or be adopted by loving families.

But some children in foster care are less fortunate. Most communities across the country are urgently seeking more everyday people to help these youth overcome their troubled childhoods and realize their full potential. No matter what their age, every young person in foster care benefits from a meaningful connection to a caring adult who becomes a supportive and lasting presence in his or her life.

Take a closer look at the number and diversity of people who were once in foster care. It might surprise you. In fact, there are an estimated 12 million foster care alumni in the U.S. representing all walks of life. Behind this startling statistic are countless stories of children who grew up to be thriving adults while others struggled with life’s challenges all alone. The difference between triumph and tragedy will become very clear as you read about these foster care alumni. Success stories come about when someone takes the time to offer comfort, provide support, give advice, or simply share a milestone moment with a youngster enduring a difficult family situation.

Now is the time to get involved. No matter how much time you have to give, you have the power to do something positive that will Change a Lifetime for a young person in foster care.

More than 100,000 individuals who were born and adopted in New Jersey do not have access to their medical histories because they don't know who their birth parents area.
The New Jersey Senate passed a bill recently that would give adopted adults the right to access their own birth records; the bill now heads to the Assembly for a vote.
To read the entire article please click here

We are pleased to announce our call for papers.

We hereby invite professionals, researchers, scholars, practitioners and graduate students to submit papers and research manuscripts that address issues likely to affect adopted adolescents in their journey toward their identity formation. The topics should include comparison in identity formation between adoptive and non-adoptive adolescents and all members of the triad, including the biological and parents and biological and adoptive extended families, etc. Thus topics such as,

* Challenges to identity formation in international and transracial adoption

* Challenges to identity formation in transracial adoption

* Identity formation in an open versus closed adoption

* Differences in identity formation challenges in foster care vs. adoptive family setting

* Identity formation in a gay and lesbian context (whether the adolescent is adopted by a gay/lesbian parent or whether the biological parents may be gay/lesbian).

* Issues of search and reunion and how these issues impact on identity formation

* Discussions of specific factors in the adoption experience likely to impact on the final resolution of the identity formation

* Nature vs. nurture in the adopted self identity

* Factors in early childhood experience likely to impact on identity formation.

* Treatment and assessment issues

THEN SHE FOUND ME, a new film starring Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick that deals with parenthood, life choices as well as adoption opens in NY and LA on April 25th with a national roll-out throughout May. Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, the film marks Ms. Hunt's directorial debut.
THEN SHE FOUND ME, is a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth month (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.

Nearly 20,000 children living in foster care with relatives could leave foster care and live permanently with relatives if federal support was available to help with their care, as is now available for many foster parents who adopt children. Currently, relatives who become legal guardians to care for foster children permanently cannot receive the continuing financial assistance they need to help provide for the children they are raising.

The bipartisan Kinship Caregiver Support Act (S. 661/HR. 2188) would help children currently living with relatives in foster care leave the system for good through legal guardianships. It would also help relative caregivers find other services and supports to help them care for these children. Congress needs to hear that these children and families are a priority and deserve our help and support.

Simply follow the prompts, enter your ZIP code, and you will be connected directly to the offices of your Members of Congress.

03/25/2008
Measure would aid those seeking biological parents

More than 100,000 individuals who were born and adopted in New Jersey do not have access to their medical histories because they don't know who their birth parents are.
Rose Zeltser is senior vice president of Children's Aid and Family Services in Paramus.
The New Jersey Senate passed a bill recently that would give adopted adults the right to access their own birth records; the bill now
heads to the Assembly for a vote.
Without access to birth records, adoptees have no knowledge of their heredity or medical histories. This lack of knowledge has a lasting
physical and emotional impact. Adoptees are denied the right to full knowledge of their cultural and genetic identity, as well as the
potential health risks against which they otherwise could take preventative medical or lifestyle choice measures.
To read the entire article please click here

03/25/2008
Embassy of Kazakhstan Halts Processing of Adoption Dossiers

The Department of State has been informed that the Embassy of Kazakhstan is conducting a review of current procedures regarding intercounty adoptions. Until completed, this review will affect the processing of new adoption dossiers. Although initial indications were that no new cases would be processed during the review, we have learned that some new cases may have been accepted. We have offered to assist the Embassy with its efforts to ensure that adoptions from Kazakhstan to the United States are conducted in a transparent, serious and honest process. It is not known at this time how long this review will require.

03/25/2008
Oceans Apart, A voyage of International Adoption

An almost fatal bout of small pox. A sobbing farewell to her mother at Saigon's Tan Son Nhat International Airport. A traumatic flight to the United States with adoptive parents. An abusive childhood filled with neglect and emotional turmoil. Yet, despite these agonizing upheavals, within the lonely child lives an unwavering quest for survival.
Is this the fictitious plot of a best-selling novel? "Certainly not," says Mary Mustard Reed, author of Oceans Apart: A Voyage of International Adoption. "This is the uncensored story of my fight to overcome and triumph as one of the first Vietnamese children-if not the first-to be adopted in the USA in 1964.
To read the entire article please click here

Right now, there are 114,000 U.S. foster children waiting for permanent loving families through adoption. These waiting children tend to be older, brothers and sisters who need to stay together, or children of color. Almost all of them have significant special needs. The Adoption Equality Act would provide states with resources to support the adoptions of more of these children. Promoting more adoptions is an investment that can provide real savings. Research has shown that the roughly 50,000 adoptions from foster care each year save from $1 billion to $6 billion in government expenses.
To read the entire article please click here

What it's about: A debut novel about Pippa Dunn, 28, adopted as an infant by a British family, who visits America to meet her birth parents.
Why it's notable: Larkin was adopted at birth in Washington, D.C., and raised in England by her British parents.
Excerpt: "I came to America to meet the mother who gave me birth. … Two months ago I thought I was English. But I'm not. I'm a redneck."

Quick bio: Larkin, 44, lives in northern New Jersey with her husband, Jim, and their daughter, Eliza, 5, and son, Toby, 7. Her autobiographical one-woman show, The English American, has been featured at the London Comedy Festival.
On how the novel mirrors her life: "In terms of the emotional journey of Pippa, very closely. In terms of the facts, it doesn't. I wanted to turn it into the kind of fiction that I like to read."
The book's message: "I wanted to get everyone to understand why someone from a really happy adoptive family might still need to find the truth about the people she came from."
What's next: "I definitely feel another book coming, and I do believe it's a sequel. I'm not quite done with Pippa Dunn."

Guatemalan prosecutors have ruled out amnesty for birth mothers who used false identities to surrender their babies to an agency where 46 children being adopted by U.S. families were seized in a raid last August.
The probe of the Casa Quivira agency turned up a slew of irregularities, including at least five cases in which birth mothers were allegedly provided with false identities to avoid having to obtain permission from family members and a judge to give up their babies.
To read the entire article please click here

Dear members of Joint Council,

Tom DiFilipo, President & CEO of Joint Council, the Joint Council Board of Directors, and the Joint Council staff are proud to acknowledge our many member and affiliate organizations who have been recognized as Hague Accredited by the U.S. Department of State.

The Joint Council community has been actively involved with the implementation of the Hague Convention in the United States for over the past decade. We are especially proud that a majority of the organizations who have already been Hague Accredited are members and affiliates of Joint Council.

At the same time, we are confident that even more members and affiliates of the Joint Council community will be recognized in the coming weeks. The current published list (which is available on the Department of State’s website at http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/convention_4169.html#) is a small reflection of the many organizations that will be Hague Accredited in the near future.

The Hague Accreditation process has been complicated and demanding, and many other in-process organizations should expect to receive Hague Accreditation very soon. All of our member and affiliate organizations uphold Joint Council’s Standards of Practice and have demonstrated a commitment to practices that are in the best interest of children worldwide. Should any questions exist about a particular Joint Council member or affiliate organization pursuing Hague Accreditation, please do not hesitate to contact us at 703-535-8045.

While we are excited that another stage of Hague implementation is complete, Joint Council will continue our efforts to ensure that all qualified organizations are recognized as Hague Accredited, and that the Hague is successfully and comprehensively implemented in the United States.

Best regards,
Adam Schlicht
Child Advocacy Program Manager, Joint Council

Larkin is sitting in the second row of red seats inside the Bickford Theatre in Morristown on this clear-sky Thursday morning. She is laughing – not crying – poking fun at the trail that led her to a cozy seat in this 312-chair auditorium. She has an upcoming performance here, a debut novel ("The English American," which hits bookstores Tuesday) that Redbook and Vogue have included on their recommended reading lists and at least two movie studios allegedly circling to secure big-screen rights.
To read the entire article please click here

A key official at the state Department of Children and Families who was a leading candidate to run the agency resigned yesterday, state officials confirmed. The unexpected departure of Molly Armstrong, the department's director for policy and planning, leaves no clear choice to lead a department that must prove to a federal court monitor it is making progress improving its troubled child welfare system.
To read the entire article please click here.

02/25/2008
With Open Adoption, Anew Kind of Family

While there are no national statistics, open adoption is increasingly common, according to Harold Grotevant, a University of Minnesota professor who is one of the leading experts in the field. He’s been doing research with 35 adoption agencies for the last two decades and says there has been a clear-cut swing from confidential to open adoptions. Susan Caughman, editor of Adoptive Families magazine, started an Ask the Experts column last year on open adoption, which, she says, now gets more queries than any other column at the magazine
To read the entire article please click here.

02/15/08
As adopptees seek roots, states unsealing records

The State Department, which issued a warning on adoptions in Vietnam last month, maintains that the lack of controls on “baby finders” and unregulated payments — the average adoption cost is about $25,000 per family — are fostering baby buying. Six years ago, similar accusations led Vietnam to tighten controls on foreign adoption. At the end of 2005, Vietnam and the United States signed an adoption agreement, and nearly 1,100 Vietnamese children have been adopted by Americans since. To read the entire article please click here.

02/11/08
Transracial adoption surveys

Researchers at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah are interested in learning from black transracial adoptees and their white
adoptive parents in order to better understand:

--Identity formation of black children who grew up in white families
--Methods that parents used to socialize the children about their own race
--Racism they may have experienced in their lives
--Experiences that may have been important in the development of their
identity as a person of color

There are two surveys at http://www.racialadoptionstudy.com, one for adoptive parents and one for adoptees age 18 and older. Please share
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