All Children - All Families

 

On Tuesday, February 5, NAC teamed up with the Human Rights Campaign’s All Children - All Families (ACAF) division to enhance LGBT cultural competence among child welfare professionals through a 5-hour training workshop. HRC’s Ellen Kahn made for a lively, open ended, day of training as the group learned new things about LGBT adoption from the workshop as well as each other.

Many who entered the workshop, including myself, felt as though they were already very knowledgeable in the field and had more to offer than to learn. We participated in many interactive activities, watched a few shorts, and discussed many different topics of interest that were presented by Ellen as well as the group. By the end of the day, everyone left on the same note feeling much more confident in the information they gathered and much more prepared to apply the practices in their field. 

I was very grateful to have the opportunity to sit in on such an event and thoroughly encourage all organizations to work towards receiving the HRC’s All Children All Families Seal of Approval. HRC continues to support equality for LGBT Americans by lobbying elected officials, mobilizing grassroots supporters, educating Americans, investing strategically to elect fair-minded officials and partnering with other LGBT organizations.

NAC’s LGBT Initiative strives to expand adoption opportunities for children living in foster care by targeting prospective adoptive parents who identify as LGBT.

Adoption is for all.

LBGT Adoption

In a New York Times article this summer, writer Sabrina Tavernise traced the recent increase in gay and lesbian couples adopting across the country. This is in the face of legal hurdles in many states that make adoption by same-sex parents an especially daunting process. What’s behind these numbers? And will the upward trend continue? In fact, advocates point to two primary reasons for the increase: the need for homes for children who are waiting for adoption, and growing acceptance among Americans of gays and lesbians. According to data from Gary Gates, a demographer from the University of California, Los Angeles, 19 percent of same-sex couples who were raising children in 2010 reported an adopted child as a member of the household, up from just eight percent in 2000. Gates estimates that four percent of the adopted population in the United States -- about 65,000 children -- live in homes in which the head of the household is gay or lesbian.

Researchers from the U.S. Census Bureau recently examined the demographics of same-sex couple households with children. By analyzing Census data, it was found that 26.5 percent of lesbian couples had children in their household in 2008, up from 22 percent in 1990. For gay couples, the figure rose from five percent to 13.9 percent. Of course, not all of these children were adopted, but the numbers do point to an increased tendency among same-sex couples to raise children, and adoption is one way to do that. The sad fact is, the barriers remain even though research shows that sexual orientation does not impact one’s ability to be a good parent. Research findings provide favorable evidence to encourage the continued increase in adoptions by same-sex couples.

Currently there are 107,000+ children in the U.S. foster care system waiting for families. Total foster adoption numbers had been on the rise each year until 2010, when fewer than expected took place. But as the number of adoptions by gay and lesbian couples grows, there may be new hope for many of our nation’s waiting kids.

If you are in the Philadelphia-area and would like to learn more, we are holding an LGBT Adoption Cafe September 20. Details here.

Award and Seal of Approval

Today we feature a guest blog from one of our Adoption Coordinator's Sheina Martinez.

Hello all, and happy Friday!!!!My name is Sheina Martinez and I am the Center’s Wednesday’s Child Coordinator and an Adoption Coordinator.

On Friday May 29th I visited Chicago for the Adoption Exchange Association's award luncheon. The center was presented two honors at this annual event. The first was as runner up National Wednesday’s Child feature story award. This competition judged entered Wednesday's Child television features from around the country. Philadelphia's entry with Vai Sikahema was voted second best of over twenty Wednesday’s Child nominees!

In the picture you can see from the left is Freddie Mac Foundation’s, Senior Community Relations Manager, Renette Oklewicz; me, Sheina Martinez; Wednesdays Child Philadelphia's host, Vai Sikahema; and NBC 10’s producer Lydia Reeves.


The second honor I received on behalf of the Center was the All Children All Family Seal of Recognition. The Center is the first adoption exchange to receive the seal. The seal confirms that the Center has met the ten bench marks HRC has defined to ensure that the staff of the agency is competent in working with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Although I didn't get to see much of the city, Chicago was wonderful The awards luncheon was great! And I was proud to accept such honors on behalf of the Center.

LGBT Cultural Competency for Foster Care and Adoption Agencies

For the past two days our entire staff, including volunteers and interns, along with members of Philadelphia's Department of Human Services have been involved in All Children, All Families training. This training was run by Ann McCabe, a consultant to the All Children, All Families Campaign and a licensed Family and Marriage Therapist and Ellen Kahn, Family Project Director at the Human Rights Campaign. The training provided us with training on LGBT Cultural Competency for Foster Care and Adoption Agencies. Modules included Foundations of Effective Practice with LGBT Parents, Putting Out the Welcome Mat: Establishing Agency Communications, Spaces and Recruitment Practices that Embrace LGBT Families.

Over the course of over 10 hours we were exposed to and got to explore the issues which face the LGBT community in general and specifically when going through the adoption process. We discussed the potential barriers to adoption, like the explicit prohibition in 9 states, and ways we could address the concerns of those facing these challenges.


On the positive side, we also looked at the strengths that LGBT individuals bring to the table when choosing to adopt. Many of those in the community have had to overcome obstacles, grief and loss like so many of the children and youths we see. This compassion and understanding can create a strong bond.


We will be using the training we went through to implement strategies to plan outreach to prospective adoptive/foster parents from the LGBT community. Center staff will also review all agencies materials to assess if the Center materials convey the message that the Center is a welcoming environment for LGBT prospective adoptive parents.