Tag Archives: foster children

Should You Consider Adoption Part 3

When I am trying to think of reasons that I have heard some that people don’t consider adoption is they want a healthy baby. If you are having a child the old fashioned way can you guarantee a healthy baby with no complications? Here are some scary statistics about births in America: 1 in every 618 births in America is premature * That is about 440,000 per year born premature *50 babies are born premature every hour of every day * 25,000 babies born as stillborn every year * One in 33 are born with birth defects My point is … Continue reading →

Should You Consider Adoption Part 1

Would you be surprised to know there are about 115,000 children in the foster care system in the United States waiting for a family to call their own? I am not sure what I can do just as a regular person to help people consider giving these kids a family. I am not sure where the hesitation comes from for people to adopt. I am going to go through some of the deterrents that I have heard. Adoption not only benefits the children you give a family but it also give you such a gift of the love of a … Continue reading →

Are all Foster Homes the Same?

When you think of a foster home you think that they would be pretty much the same however that could not be further from the truth. Our two sons were placed in foster care around the same time but they were not placed in the same home. First I really do not understand that, siblings should be together. I understand there are some large sibling groups that finding a home to accept the entire group may be impossible, but we are talking about two kids. When they were placed in foster care one was a month and the other was … Continue reading →

Book review: The Handle and the Key

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Seldom do we find books written from the perspective of a foster child. In The Handle and the Key, one of the few adoption books for children in between the picture book stage and the teen novel stage, John Neufeld manages to get inside the head of the young boy, Dan, who is being adopted. He shows us little things, like Dan not knowing what is meant when other boys ask him to play “tag”. Indeed Dan is not sure what to do when told to “play” at all. In his previous foster homes he had to work. He longs … Continue reading →

A Week at Royal Family Kids’ Camps

These are some excerpts and prayers from my journal during my first week ever at Royal Family Kids’ Camps. Royal Family Kids’ Camp is a one week camp for abused and neglected children. The experience is intense and incomparable to anything I’ve done. . .including the last 10 years in the inner city. During this week, my job was to be a ‘roving counselor’. Roving counselors pick up the slack when there are things that need to be done, and they also help if two kids are too much for one counselor. *All kids’ names have been changed. Kevin, who … Continue reading →

Services Provided for Former Foster Children

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Most people in Texas are aware that there are many children in the foster system that are available for adoption. It is sad to note that many of these children will remain in foster status until they are eighteen years old and released into society. Many of these children will have been moved numerous times. The fortunate segment of foster children will spend all or mostly all of their time in one long term home that provides a loving and caring environment. Unfortunately, many of the children who are moved a lot will be in at least some homes that … Continue reading →

How I Became Your Mother: Thanksgiving and LeRoy’s Boys

Continued from: The Journey of How I Became Your Mother: The Story of Joe and Eddie. When I was growing up we always seemed to have Extra children in our family–especially during the Holidays. As a young Minister Uncle Eddie was called to be involved in the local boys home. The 1970’s version of an orphanage. Our Thanksgivings had so many children it was almost like a fair! And, because I grew up in California our Thanksgivings were warm and dry. We would have three-legged-races, and potato bag jumping, football and ice cream. My parents house and yard were bigger, … Continue reading →

The Campaign to Encourage Adoption of Teens from Foster Care

November is National Adoption Awareness Month and this year the theme is: “You don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. There are thousands of teens in foster care who would love to put up with you.” Every year an estimated 300,000 children in the United States enter the foster care system. The current reports indicate there are 518,000 children in the foster care system today and approximately 118,000 are waiting for an adoptive family. Each year nearly 9,000 foster children “age out” of the system without having a family to call their own permanently. No family to … Continue reading →

November is National Adoption Awareness Month.

Every year in the United States, the month of November is set aside to promote awareness about the adoption of children from the foster care system. National Adoption Month, has been celebrated for over 20-years and started in May 1976, when Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued the first state Adoption Week proclamation. Later in the same year 1976 President Gerald Ford officially proclaimed National Adoption week by way of a letter to the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) conference. During the following years, Adoption Week was observed during the week of Thanksgiving in November. In 1986, NACAC coordinated … Continue reading →