Last November, I had just started this blog and I wrote this post about National Adoption Month. I encouraged readers to visit their state’s adoption resource exchange Web site to learn more about children in foster care who are available for adoption. I’d like to encourage that again (here’s the link to the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange). I hope you will visit the site (or your state’s site), but the reality is, that even if you do, it’s unlikely that you will decide to pursue adoption through the U.S. foster care system. If that’s the case, please consider doing something else – support a cause that has become very important to me over the last year: family preservation.
I’ve said many times, that in an ideal world, our children would not need us – they would still be with their first parents. Adoption is traumatic, and I’ve seen that it a very personal way. If we can do anything for adoptees, let’s try to make adoption less common and less necessary. Please consider visiting the one of the three organizations below and supporting their work. Each one of them works to keep families together. Or, if you know of other organizations supporting family preservation, please list them in the comments.
“The AAC believes that all children have the same core of basic needs, and that these needs can be met most easily when children can grow up in the family into which they were born. Every effort should be made to preserve the integrity of this family. ”
“The circumstances leading to the surrender of a child are often temporary and can be overcome with caring support. A temporary lack of finances or support should not be a reason for a loving parent and child to be separated. ”
Child Welfare League of America
“Our agenda has focused on developing services that enable families to stay together, to successfully reunite, and to make decisions that will assure family continuity and permanency for children.”
Shannon Mackie 