National Campaign to Encourage Adoption
HHS
Secretary, Tommy G. Thompson (right), with Assistant Secretary for Children
and Families Dr. Wade F. Horn, at the Collaboration to AdoptUSKids conference
at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC, July 15. Families
from around the country that have adopted children from foster care helped
ACF unveil this new campaign to encourage the adoption of children [click
here for additional photos from this event].
With a significant number of children in the U.S. foster care system in
need of permanent, loving homes, a new campaign entitled “Answering
the Call: A National Campaign to Encourage Adoption of Children from Foster
Care” was unveiled to increase public awareness and encourage adoption
of children from the foster care system.
The new ad campaign is part of HHS’ five-year, multi-faceted initiative
which focuses on recruiting new families for the more than 129,000 children
in foster care waiting to be adopted.
PSAs highlight the adoption of older children (ages 8-17), who comprise
53 percent of children in foster care who are in need of permanent homes.
To view the PSAs, go to: http://www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/adoption/.
“All children need loving families,” Secretary Thompson said.
“Every time a waiting child finds a supportive, permanent home, it
helps not only the child, but the family as well. Our nation has a responsibility
to ensure that all children find a permanent home that provides the support
they need to realize their full potential.”
“Children need families not only while growing up, but throughout
their entire lifetimes,” said Assistant Secretary for Children and
Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. “There are many people who would make
really terrific adoptive parents but have not thought about it. With this
campaign, we’re trying to inspire and motivate more people to consider
adoption as an option for themselves and their families.”
Dr. Horn noted that there are many resources available to help prospective
adoptive parents educate themselves about adoption and the benefits of providing
a home for a child from foster care. For example, adoptive parents may be
eligible to receive support in the form of training, adoption subsidies
and Medicaid. And, in 2003, a new $10,000 tax credit went into effect benefiting
parents who adopt a child with special needs. “We want prospective
parents to know that we’ve streamlined the adoption process to make
it easier and of little or no cost for those who qualify,” said Horn.
The PSAs were developed in cooperation with the Ad Council, the country’s
leading source of public service advertising campaigns, and the Collaboration
to AdoptUSkids. The Ad Council began working with the ACF on this campaign
in May 2003.
The Collaboration to AdoptUSkids is a multi-faceted, five-year, federally
funded project; the goal of which is the recruitment and retention of foster
and adoptive families for children in the foster care system. The AdoptUSkids
project is managed by the Adoption Exchange Association (AEA), based in
Baltimore, through a cooperative agreement with ACF’s Children’s
Bureau.
Exchange Association (AEA), based in Baltimore, through a cooperative agreement
with ACF’s Children’s Bureau.
For more information about becoming an adoptive parent to a child from foster
care, please visit www.AdoptUSKids.org
or call toll-free at 1-888-200-4005.
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