Children's Bureau Express

Honoring the Adoption Excellence Awardees

Each year, the Children's Bureau presents Adoption Excellence Awards to honor those organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the adoption of children from foster care. This year, the awards were presented at a luncheon ceremony on October 21. Many award recipients were able to travel to Washington, DC, to attend the ceremony and receive their award in person.

The Adoption Excellence Awards are among the many Children's Bureau initiatives aimed at raising public awareness about the 496,000 children in foster care, including the 130,000 awaiting adoption. The individuals and organizations honored with Adoption Excellence Awards represent the many innovative and hard-working Americans who strive to ensure that children have permanent, loving families, as well as the support they need to become healthy, productive adults and citizens.

This year's awardees were the following:

Decrease in the Length of Time That Children in Foster Care Wait For Adoption
- Family Support Services of North Florida, Inc.
Support For Adoptive Families
- San Diego County Adoptions
- Adoption Resource Network at Hillside Children's Center
- New Alternatives for Children, Inc
- Northwest Arkansas Adoption Coalition
- Tennessee Adoption Support and Preservation
- Riverside County Permanency Programs: Adoptions: Post-Adoption Support Program
Individual and/or Family Contributions
- Cynthia Deal
- Gail Johnson Vaughan
- Dixie van de Flier Davis
- Tim Morris
- Debra Gilmore
- Twila Costigan
- Veda D. Thompkins
- Robyn L. Harrod
- Marcie Velen
Philanthropy/Business Contributions
- Western Reserve Restaurant Management Group, Inc.
Adoption of Minority Children from Foster Care
- Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN)
Media/Public Awareness of Adoption From Foster Care
- Summit County Children Services
- World Association for Children and Parents

For more information on the awardees, visit the Children's Bureau website:

www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/current_initiatives/aeawards08.htm

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