November 2015 UPCOMING EVENTS November 3, 2015 SWMO Resource Provider Support Group. Topic: Tax Benefits for Foster and Adoptive Parents, Misty West Location: Ridgecrest Baptist Church, 2210 West Republic Rd., Springfield, MO. Time: 6pm - 8 pm Free dinner! Childcare provided with a suggested donation of $4/child. There will also be activities and homework help at the Springfield Support Group for ages 9-18! Contact Ginny at virginia@mfcaa.org or 417-866-3672 to register. November 10, 2015 38th Circuit Support Group Topic: Mandated Reporter training – Micki Lane, Outreach Coordinator at Child Advocacy Center Location: United Methodist Church, 2850 MO-14, Ozark, MO Time: 6 pm - 8 pm Free dinner! Childcare provided with a suggested donation of $4/child. Contact Julie at juliem@mfcaa. org or 417-866-3672 to register. December 5, 2015 Jingle Bowl! Enjoy bowling, food and a visit with Santa! Limited availability so register early. Location: Sunshine Lanes, 1500 W Sunshine St. Springfield, MO Time: 2 pm - 4 pm To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ mfcaa-jingle-bowl-tickets-19089439026.v
From Lori Ross Dear Friends, As you likely already know, November is National Adoption Month. Adoption is defined as the act of taking some thing on as your own. During the month of November, in our local, state and national communities, we are celebrating the formation of families through the process of adoption. Sometimes as we move forward, it’s good to look back. On the adoption history website at the University of Oregon, I found lots of interesting information about the history of adoption. Ellen Herman, author of The Adoption History Project, shares an insightful history, some of which I want to share and discuss. Since ancient times and in all human cultures, children have been transferred from adults who would not or could not be parents, to adults who wanted [those children] for love, labor, and property. . . . In the United States, state legislatures began passing adoption laws in the nineteenth-century. The Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act, enacted in 1851, is widely considered the first ‘modern’ adoption law. Adoption reform in other western industrial nations lagged. England, for example, did not pass adoption legislation until 1926. Observers have frequently attributed the acceptance of adoption in the United States to its compatibility with cherished national traditions, from immigration to democracy. . . . Americans seemed to favor relationships based on choice (adoption being one) over relationships based only on bloodlines. And adoption has always had a symbolic importance much greater than the actual number of children and families it affects. Americans, after all, were a nation of immigrants who adopted the United States as their new home country. During the twentieth century, numbers of adoptions increased dramatically in the United States. In 1900, formalizing [adoption] in a court was still very rare. By 1970, the numerical peak of twentiethcentury adoption, 175,000 adoptions were finalized annually. ‘Stranger’ or ‘non-relative’ adoptions have predominated over time, and most people equate adoption with families in which parents and children lack genetic ties. Today, however, a majority of children are adopted by biological relatives and step-parents, a development that corresponds to the rise of divorce, remarriage, and long-term cohabitation. Conservative estimates suggest that five million Americans alive today are adoptees, 2-4 percent of all families have adopted, and 2.5 percent of all children under 18 are adopted. . . . Although national data on adoption is hard to come by, we do know that adoptive family relationships are not the same as birth familyrelationships. . . . . Families touched by adoption are significantly more racially diverse, better educated, and more affluent than families in general. We know this because in 2000, ‘adopted son/daughter’ was included as a census category for the first time in U.S. history. . . . . Since World War II, adoption has become more global in nature. From Germany in the 1940s and Korea in the 1950s to China and Guatemala today, countries from which children are available for adoption have been devastated by poverty, war, and genocide.
Because growing numbers of adoptions are transracial anvd/or international, many of today’s adoptive families have literally made adoption more visible than it was in the past. But total numbers of adoptions have actually declined since 1970. In recent years, approximately 125,000 children have been adopted annually by strangers and relatives in the United States. Since 1950, a number of major shifts have occurred. First, ‘adoptability’ expanded beyond ‘normal” children to include older, disabled, non-white, and other children with special needs. Since 1970, earlier reforms guaranteeing confidentiality and sealed records have been forcefully criticized and movements to encourage search, reunion, and ‘open adoption’ have mobilized sympathy and support . . . Adoption is visible in popular culture, grassroots organizations, politics, daily media, and on the internet. What was previously a private and taboo subject is now a family arrangement that is supported by an astonishing variety of adoption communities and communications. Although adoption has very recently suffered some negative light as a result of the practice of “re-homing” and criticisms of international adoption agencies that were unethically and illegally removing children from their homes and communities for the business of “selling” them through private adoptions, today adoption remains a very solid and legitimate way that families are formed. For children in foster care, adoption is the preferred means by which children can achieve permanency when they cannot be reunified with their birth parents. The evolution of a variety of post adoptive support services is still underway as we write, with new and exciting types of supports becoming available each year so that children with significant trauma histories can have the same kind of stable and committed family support that all children need and deserve. For MFCAA, adoption is part and parcel of who we are. We are an agency of adoptive parents and adoptees. We live and breathe the business of helping families find their way to each other and supporting them ongoing as they move through the journey of their lives together. Our history and our passion is solidly built on the lessons that we have learned in our homes and from the professionals who set out more than a century ago, recognizing that children need families in which to grow, to open up that opportunity for all children. We work today with the innovators, the visionaries, and the brave front line parents and professionals to not only place children with families who will commit to them forever, but to strengthen those families and bolster those communities so that together we can transform lives. Adoption is transformation. Adoption is love. Adoption is family. This month, please take a moment to share your own adoption stories with your friends on social media or in person, and ask them if they’ve ever considered expanding their family through adoption. Connect your friends and neighbors with organizations like MFCAA that work to support adoption all year long. Celebrate with your family this Thanksgiving and give thanks for the opportunity to have grown the places at your table through adoption. Participate in one of the many local events which will recognize National Adoption Month. But mostly, pat yourself on the back. You are adoption. Thank you for all that you do. Regards,
Lori Ross
Missouri Customer Service Partnership Program
M
issouri Customer Service Partnership program is a partnership between Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) and Community Partnership of the Ozarks. The purpose of this program is to encourage foster youth and youth who have been through the Division of Youth Services (DYS), ages 17-21 that are not presently engaged in school or a career path to begin a meaningful, entry-level career. Eligible youth will complete a 10- week training program through OTC. Upon completion they will have 3 professional certificates and 6 college credit hours, along with the confidence and skills they will need to be successful in meaningful employment. They will also have access to higher education opportunities with OTC to continue post-secondary education. Once the youth complete the 10-week program, they will receive help finding employment. Youth will receive on-going support for 12 months post completion. Additionally, the Missouri Customer Service Partnership program will be recruiting career mentors that will support the youth once they are employed to ensure youth are supported with their career track – not just “in a job”. If you would like more information regarding MCSP please contact Amanda Coleman: 447-3515 or acoleman@commpartnership.org
We’ve Moved!
Have your kids outgrown their clothes? Have you updated their rooms and have gently used beds or dressers that you no longer need? Are you an extreme couponer who has a stockpile of hygiene items that you could part with? Sammy’s Window is always accepting donations of gently used clothing and furniture. Sammy’s is often one of the first stops in the journey of a child in foster care to get clothes to wear, hygiene items of their own and other items to make them feel good about themselves. If you have items or maybe you have a group or organization that can organize a drive, the kids in care would sure appreciate it. For more information, contact Mark at 417-849-7941 or mark@mfcaa.org.