Kids Are Waiting
Voices for Reform

Forging the Bonds of a Forever Family

July 16, 2008 Massachusetts mother Kim Stevens and her husband had two children, ages two and eight, when they first considered adoption from foster care. While they originally envisioned adopting a little girl, they eventually became the adoptive parents of a 16 year old boy, five and six year old sisters, and a two and a half year old toddler. More...

Creating and Sustaining Permanent Families

July 01, 2008 Sheri Babcock and her husband Bud became licensed foster parents two decades ago. Parents of two biological children, they eventually adopted nine more children from foster care. In caring for their family and meeting the varied needs of their children, Sheri and Bud wanted to focus "not just on helping them grow but thrive and develop into productive adults. We wanted to make sure that our kids could and would succeed." More...
Adopting Older Foster Youth

Adopting Older Foster Youth

June 21, 2008 Craig and Becky Barrus of Trout Creek, Montana, have been foster parents for more than a dozen years. Over time, they have determined to provide the youth in their care - mostly older teenaged boys who have moved from foster placement to foster placement and experienced the instability and uncertainty of long-term foster care - permanence, by offering to adopt them. More...

Adoption assistance helps families succeed

June 17, 2008 As an adoptive mother of three young children from Michigan's foster care system and as operations manager at the Foster Adoptive Family Resource and Support Center, Kim Harris knows firsthand - both personally and professionally - the vital role that supports and services can play in creating and sustaining permanent, loving families, and ensuring that children can grow and thrive. More...

The My Story Project of Public Children Services Association of Ohio produced many of the videos featured here
Innovations January 24, 2008

What's working in Allegheny Pennsylvania

Allegheny County’s prevention efforts have resulted in a decline in the number of children in foster care. In January 1996, 3,318 children were in foster care; as of August 1, 2007, the foster care population was 2,402, a 28 percent decrease. More than 65 percent of the children that the Department serves remain at home with services for the entire time that they are involved with the agency. More...

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