Affording College

We often hear that potential adoptive parents, especially those already fostering children, are reluctant to adopt fearing college costs. The thought is that there is more support available if the child is never formally adopted than if he or she is.

If this concern is holding you back from creating a permanent relationship with a child, please read on. First there is The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act, which states that when a child age 13 or above is adopted from foster care, the adoptive parents' income does not have to be factored into any federal financial aid application. This means the student will be considered independent and only his or her income (if any) will be considered when figuring out financial aid. For more information go to this Voice For Adoption Factsheet.

Next there are also many scholarships available from both state and private programs. For a very complete listing click here for the Child Information Gateway's College Scholarship and Tuition Waivers page. An additional resource is here: CollegeScholarships.org

Read more about the Education Training Voucher (ETV) program here. ETV awards grants to current and former foster youth to help pay for college or specialized education. In most states, eligible students may receive grants of up to $5,000 per academic year.

And also, another great resource is to be found here, the Orphan Foundation of America. (This is for children from foster care, not the strict definition of orphans, i.e. biological parents may still be living.)

Hopefully this information will help you make the choice to adopt easier for your family!

Biking with Pfizer!

On June 29th, Pfizer ended its leadership conference, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Philadelphia. As part of the conference, there was a team bike building challenge partnered with Teamworx to compete in building 10 bikes. Everyone had a blast! The even more exciting part of the program was when Pfizer staff learned they had actually built bikes for 10 waiting children in the foster care system. The 10 children, coming from PA, NJ, and DE were all very happy to receive new bikes to take home as their own. The children also received helmets to keep them safe. Pfizer worked with Teamworx to make this successful event happen.


Most waiting children in the foster care system have probably never owned anything of their own as they unfortunately often get moved from home to home in effort of finding their forever family. If you would like to make a donation to the National Adoption Center in effort to continue its mission of recruiting for waiting children and supporting prospective families, please contact Ken Mullner to learn the different ways of making that a reality.

Thanks so much to Pfizer and Teamworx for their amazing dedication to some very special children in our community. Pfizer also graciously presented the National Adoption Center with a check of $2,500.

SMART

Reunification Day

Many cities across the country recently celebrated the first Reunification Day to recognize the accomplishments of those who help parents regain custody of children placed in the foster care system.

For years, the goal of reunifying children in foster care with their families has received short shrift. Even though most children come to the attention of child protective services for allegations of neglect, many are removed abruptly from their homes and placed with strangers. Once in foster care, they see their parents and siblings infrequently, change placements too often and receive inadequate medical and mental health treatment. Their parents rarely receive the help they need and they lack a meaningful voice in court.

Keeping children in a harsh and often dangerous environment at home, or placing them in a stranger’s care. The Adoption Center believes an expedited adoption is the ideal option. What do you think?