News

On Saturday, April 18^th, Adoptions Together received the All Children—All Families Seal of Recognition from the Human Rights Campaign.  Adoptions Together earned the seal by achieving all ten of the benchmarks of LGBT cultural competence outlined in the All Children—All Families Promising Practices Guide.  Janice Goldwater, Founder and Executive Director of Adoptions Together has been involved with All Children—All Families since its inception three years ago, and serves on the All Children—All Families National Advisory Board.  Adoptions Together is the first agency in the DC region to earn the seal, and the fourth nationally.  The seal was presented by Ellen Kahn, Director of the HRC Family Project, at the HRC Leadership Summit held in D.C. 

 Adoptions Together Helps Mom Reunify with her Son

Our Parent Advocate Project (PAP) has achieved its first reunification! The mother was referred to our program on January 22 after her 1-year-old son was removed from her care during a raid by the Metropolitan Police Department in which the home was being searched due to concerns regarding illegal drug activity and guns. MPD reported that the home was in a deplorable state. When referred to our program, the mom had been mandated to secure adequate housing, employment or a job training program, and to attend parenting classes. Her PAP mentor assisted her with identifying suitable housing through the Housing Voucher Program, counseled her on how to make her income from hairstyling into a legitimate taxable income source, and linked her to parenting classes. Our Parent Advocate Project for DC Child and Family Services is serving families attempting to reunify with their children in foster care. Our second round of mentor training began on March 4. Mentors and families in need of reunification services are needed. Please contact Ky'Neike King for information.

 Adoptions Together Launches "Digital Me" Initiative

We're working with 65+ children and youth from DC foster care to remove some of the common barriers to permanency and to find connections from the child’s past. We’re excited about a recruitment tool from our friends at Adoption Network called the ‘Digital Me.’ It combines video, pictures, text and animation and allows children to take an active role in creating a multimedia presentation about themselves. One of our cases is 12-year-old R.G., who is out-of-state at a program for children who have set fires. While in the program, R.G. went in a convenience store with a group from his school. He saw what he thought was a toy and picked it up. He realized it was a lighter and was shocked to discover that children his age could buy lighters. That year, he helped to write state legislation banning the sale of lighters to minors. We are so proud to have R.G. as part of our program. He is one of the amazing kids we are honored to work with – each one deserving of a permanent family!

     SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, October 10, 2010