Working My First Match Party

written by Katie, our Development Manager, and now fully-initiated NAC co-worker

Last week I attended my first match party hosted by the National Adoption Center. Going into it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew was that match parties put youth seeking adoptive families and adults approved to adopt together in a pressure-free setting, in hopes that some “magic” will happen; that a family will form.

The match party was held at Arnold’s Family Fun Center in Oaks, PA – a giant warehouse-like building that boasts go-karts, laser tag, an arcade and bowling…in short, a kid’s dream world. This party was designed for older youth and teens, an age group that is often overlooked in the rush for babies and younger children.

Amid games of ski-ball and bumper car rides, I watched how the youth and prospective adoptive families interacted. I saw one couple in particular who really connected with two teens. They spent the entire day together – the wife and a girl of about 14 sporting ear-to-ear smiles while in line for laser tag and the husband battling it out on a seemingly never-ending video game with a boy who looked about 13. At the end of the party it was clear they had made an impact on one another. Pulling out of Arnold’s at the end of the day, I wondered if these sparks would catch; if I had witnessed the making of a family.

Hooray for April!

April is a very important month for the National Adoption Center. Not only are celebrating our 40^th anniversary, we’ll also be establishing our Adoption Hall of Fame, and inducting our initial two members: Carolyn Johnson, our founder, and Alba Martinez, formerly DHS Commissioner and  President of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. We couldn’t possibly have two more deserving individuals to bestow this honor upon.

April is also important because we’ve just completed nearly one year of strategic planning discussions. Our new Brand Promise – Creating Loving Families for Children in Foster Care Through Innovative Approaches to Adoption – is the ideas, feelings and beliefs we want people to associate with NAC. Our Brand Values are equally demonstrative of what drives our daily work: Innovation, Inclusiveness, Humility and Accountability. And our Brand Personality (our tone and style) is one of passion, optimism and approachability. Utilizing this Brand Architecture we look forward to expanding our footprint and continuing the legacy of finding homes for our most vulnerable children and youth.

Art of Adoption

We will be celebrating NAC’s 40 years of service at its 2012 Celebration of Family: the Art of Adoption Gala on April 25th. One of the most anticipated features of the gala is the reveal and auctioning off of ten masterpieces, all inspired by adoption, but each one created by a different renowned Philadelphia artist. These artists range in their media anywhere from paintings, to prints, to sculptures, and even mosaics. All artists have had the opportunity to meet with adoptive families and their children, who are now out of foster care; an opportunity that has become essential to the inspiration of each work.

Some artists, like Perry Milou are pulling from other sources of influence too. This pop artist, who has been praised for his vibrancy, forward-thinking, and glamorous pop art, has had some personal experience with the world of adoption himself. Having known the hardships of growing up with a single parent, Milou was later fortunate enough to be adopted, thus thoroughly appreciating the stability and love of a forever family. He is thrilled to be a part of this celebration of adoption.

Perry Milou’s portrait of his daughter Francesca

Milou recently met up with the Thomas family to learn about their adoption story as inspiration for his upcoming piece. Jonathan, 14, Alaina, 17, and Isaiah, 18, were adopted together by Jane and John Thomas only a few years ago, and the family is thriving. . . but it wasn’t easy. The teens had to overcome many past traumas of their foster care lives, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But now, with the support and guidance of their forever family, the three are as close to their adoptive parents as any biological child would be. And they’re happy! Alaina is always ecstatic about reporting the daily happenings of school to her mom each day, while Jonathan and Isaiah enjoy the typical brotherly rough-housing, especially with a new addition to the family, their baby brother Jordan.

Seeing these siblings begin to dream about the potential of their futures, Perry Milou is also dreaming up a work of art that could possibly capture and celebrate the extraordinary success of adoption stories that happen each and every day.

The Thomas family 

To learn about NAC’s gala and all of the participating artists go to the Gala's online home.

Is LGBT Adoption Controversial?

Some lawmakers certainly think LGBT adoption is controversial. For example, our last blog post described Virginia’s “conscience clause” which allows any adoption agency, including state-funded agencies, to turn away qualified adoptive parents based on an individual’s sexual orientation.

(More on that specific case can be found here.)

The Christian Post reported that White House spokesman Shin Inouye released a statement about the Virginia bill from President Obama. The statement read: "While the president does not weigh in on every single action taken by legislative bodies in our country, he has long believed that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals based on their interest in offering a loving home, not based on discriminatory and irrelevant factors."

We agree. When children are raised by loving, supportive individuals, they typically thrive – no matter what the parent's sexual orientation might be.

This upcoming weekend we are inviting the LGBT community to an adoption educational event – the LGBT Adoption café. This FREE informational event on Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 10am – 1pm will be located at the Collingswood Community Center, 30 Collings Ave., Collingswood, NJ. 


Join us if you have ever considered adoption. Learn about the adoption process, listen to a panel discussion with adoptive parents from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, talk with adoption agency staff to learn more about children waiting for families. Complimentary light brunch. 


To RSVP contact Beth Vogel at 267-443-1873 or bvogel@adopt.org. Or click here to register online.

Virginia Adoption

Virginia’s General Assembly recently passed a state law which allows any adoption agency, including state-funded agencies, to turn away qualified adoptive parents based on religious and moral beliefs, including sexual orientation. The legislation codifies last year’s State Board of Social Services regulation to allow faith-based organizations to reject prospective parents based on gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and family status. While the prevailing debate mainly focuses on faith-based convictions to join children with gay parents, the sweeping language leaves room for further discrimination by private agencies on the basis of religious and moral criteria of their choosing. Governor Robert McDonnell signed this anti-gay adoption bill when it reached his desk. Virginia now joins North Dakota as the only two states having what is termed a “conscience clause” in law. This is in contrast to nine states which explicitly prohibit this kind of discrimination in adoption. Virginia state law already prohibits unmarried couples to adopt, but does allow single people to adopt, regardless of sexual orientation.

There are approximately 1,300 children in Virginia waiting to be adopted and this law further limits the number of safe, loving and permanent caregivers that are available to them. The National Adoption Center STRONGLY rejects the premise that any prospective parent(s) should be rejected based on race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. What do you think?

Has Forty Become the New Twenty?

Not in this case. The board, volunteers and staff (present and former) at The National Adoption Center will take full credit for all four decades of its existence! We are forty years old and we are proud of it! 

Since our founding in 1972 our mission has been consistent – to expand adoption opportunities for children living in foster care throughout the United States, and to be a resource to families and to agencies who seek the permanency of caring homes for children.

In honor of this milestone we invite YOU to share 4 ways that you have impacted a child.

Ok, we’ll start…

1. We have found homes for 23,000 children since 1972
2. We are currently working hard on behalf of children like 11 year old Aphrodite  who wants a loving home to call her own
3. We helped provide holiday gifts for children in foster care through the generous partnership with local Wendy’s franchises
4. Due to our weekly WednesdayChild features on NBC10, 12 year old Nadir had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on the court while the Philadelphia 76er’s held their practice, throw some hoops with host Vai Sikahema, and meet  some of his favorite players including Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, and Louis Williams!

Ok, now it’s your turn…… 

Adoption Tax Credit

With just over 2 months to go to file 2011 taxes, we wanted to remind you about the Adoption Tax Credit. Information provided by Voice For Adoption.

The Facts:

• Since 2003, families who adopted a U.S. child with special needs from foster care could claim a federal adoption tax credit even if they had no adoption expenses (as long as they met the fairly generous income requirements). 
• Children who receive adoption assistance/subsidy benefits are considered children with special needs. Even families who receive a deferred subsidy ($0 per month but medical coverage through the subsidy program) are eligible. 
• All adoptive families (except those who adopted a step-child) are eligible for the credit, but those who adopt children other than those with special needs must have—and be able to document, if requested by the IRS—qualified adoption expenses. 
• For 2010 and 2011 the credit was made refundable. If parents who adopted as long ago as 2005 had credit to carry forward into 2010, that amount of the credit also became refundable. In 2010 and 2011, parents can claim the credit even if they don’t have income or any tax liability. 
• The amount of the credit for 2011 is $13,360 per child. 

The Information:
IRS Form 8839 Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8839.pdf
IRS Form 8839: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8839.pdf
IRS – adoption tax credit FAQ’s: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=231663,00.html

Tools & Resources from the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC): http://www.nacac.org/taxcredit/taxcredit.html