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Adoptive
parents make tremendous differences in children's lives
by Charles E. Johnson
The Pilot-Independent
November 15, 2006
While recent international adoptions by celebrities such as Madonna,
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt generate media attention, hundreds of
Minnesota families are quietly helping meet an equally urgent need
much closer to home. Their commitment is cause for celebration.
Adoptive parents of children in Minnesota's foster care system make
an enormous difference in the lives of children. They offer the
security and stability that children in the foster care system may
never have had in their tumultuous lives. They provide the love,
structure and support children need to grow into healthy, productive
adults.
These adoptive parents can make the difference between children
growing up in multiple, temporary homes or permanent adoptive
families. They can make the difference between children struggling
in school or succeeding in college. They can make the difference
between children's wariness and mistrust of others or their
acceptance and faith in people especially adults once again.
We all know who these children are. They are the children who have
been abused and neglected. They are the children waiting in foster
homes, group homes, emergency shelters and residential treatment
facilities for someone to adopt them. They are the children
especially the teenagers who are dangerously close to "aging out" of
the foster care system with no financial, emotional or lifelong
support systems who need parents most. Of the 636 children
awaiting families immediately:
50 percent have been diagnosed with a psychological or medical
disability.
57 percent are siblings who need to be adopted together
66 percent are 6 to 18 years old
100 percent need a safe, loving, permanent family.
While we at the Minnesota Department of Human Services and in the
counties can provide the services, structure and financing to
encourage adoption, it is parents who make lifelong commitments to
children who are making the most significant difference in
children's lives. And they deserve the praise!
I commend all the parents who have adopted children from the foster
care system including 732 Minnesota children last year and
encourage others who are thinking of adoption to consider children
from the foster care system. This especially includes foster parents
who have already established a relationship with children in their
care.
While it is not costly to adopt children under state guardianship,
parents must invest time and energy in this life-changing decision.
In turn, the Adoption Assistance program is available to families
who adopt children under state guardianship. This monthly financial
assistance helps reimburse families for the costs of nonmedical
items and provides resources to purchase services for children with
special needs.
Counties and the private adoption agencies participating in the
Public/Private Adoption Initiative, and under contract with the
Minnesota Department of Human Services, do not charge fees to
parents adopting children under state guardianship. To learn more,
call your county social service agency or one of the nine
Public/Private Adoption Initiative agencies for information about
adoption, adoption process, home study process, child-and-parent
matches, and services following adoption.
These nine agencies are:
African American Adoption Agency: (888) 840-4084
Bethany Christian Services: (866) 321-1964
Children's Home Society and Family Services: (800) 952-9302
Downey Side Inc.: (320) 240-1433
Family Focus: (877) 759-6017 (Duluth office only)
HOPE Adoption & Family Services International Inc.: (651) 439-2446
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota: (800) 582-5260
North Homes Inc.: (800) 430-3055
Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH): (877) 624-7284
For information on children available for adoption, visit the
Minnesota Adoption Resource Network (MARN) Web site at
www.mnadopt.org or call MARN at (612) 861-7115.
Many people think only of the work and heartache involved with
raising children with troubled pasts. But, there is another side to
the story. Adoptive parents of foster children know that. They've
experienced the joy and fulfillment of parenting as well. And you
can too.
Charles E. Johnson is assistant commissioner of Children and Family
Services for the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
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