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NCFA Celebrates National Foster Care Month with Launch of Families For All PSA Campaign
Alexandria, VA – The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) is celebrating May as National Foster Care month with the launch of a new Families For All public service announcement (PSA) featuring its National Adoption Spokesperson, country music recording artist Rodney Atkins. The Families For All 30-second PSA will begin appearing on television stations nationwide in May. Walmart, a contributor to NCFA’s Families For All program, also plans to air the PSA on its checkout counter television screens in more than 590 Walmart stores during the month of May. The Families For All PSA was designed to make Americans aware of children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted. Rodney Atkins, who was adopted as an infant, personally appeals to viewers to visit www.familiesforall.org to find out how they can help children in foster care. As he explains in the PSA: “There are more than 129,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted. That’s a lot of kids, but I’m sure there’s enough love in American to help them out.” “America is an adoption-friendly nation,” said Chuck Johnson, NCFA Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our research indicates that there are at least 10 million adults who would consider adoption to help children in need. We want to take advantage of National Foster Care month to inspire them to become mentors, respite care providers, foster parents or adoptive parents.” Foster care is intended to be a temporary situation to protect vulnerable children who are innocent victims of abuse and neglect, however the average length of stay is three years and three months. Last year NCFA was part of a coalition that played an instrumental role in the creation and passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. This legislation signed into law in October, 2008 greatly increased federal benefits and opportunities for children aging out of foster care. A record 26,517 youth aged out of foster care in 2006. NCFA is committed to serving the best interests of children and believes every child has a right to a loving, permanent family. Through research, education, and advocacy, NCFA provides adoption information to the general public, promotes ethical adoption practices, informs public policy and opinion leaders about adoption issues, and serves as a resource for women with unplanned pregnancies, adopted persons and their families, those seeking to adopt, and adoption professionals. # # # NCFA Endorses International Adoption
NCFA is also a signatory on a press release issued by Dr. Bartholet on the recent controversy surrounding Madonna’s second adoption efforts in Malawi, which calls on judges and policymakers to review and consider the International Adoption Policy Statement before drafting policies and issuing rulings in intercountry adoption cases. NCFA has been a longtime supporter of intercountry adoption as a viable option for finding permanent homes for the millions of orphans worldwide, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity or national origins. NCFA fully supports the Hague Convention’s policy that intercountry adoption best serves the interest of children who cannot remain in the care of their families of origin and for whom no in-country adoption placement can be made. For NCFA’s complete position and policy statement on intercountry adoption, please see the April, 2009 edition of the Adoption Advocate, entitled “A Case for Ethical Intercountry Adoption.”
2009 National Adoption Conference
"The Age to Engage in Adoption" July 8-11, 2009 Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on the Potomac Click here and reserve your room today! 2009 National Adoption Conference Highlights - We have expanded our conference to four days and have designed a track to include prospective adoptive parents. - Conference participants will hear from authors such as Jaiya Johns and others. - Social Workers will have an opportunity to receive CEUs upon exiting a session. Please visit us next week for registration details and to access our online conference registration tool. Click here for assistance with all of your conference travel needs! Donna Conway Appointed to Board of Directors of the National Council For Adoption
Alexandria, VA – Donna Conway of Wilton, Connecticut has been appointed to the Directors of the National Council For Adoption (NCFA). The announcement was made by Board Chairman Stan Swim, noting Ms. Conway’s professional experience and outstanding record of volunteerism and community service.
“We are pleased to have Ms. Conway join us as we seek to continue our efforts to promote the wellbeing of children, birthparents, and adoptive families by advocating for the positive option of adoption. An adoptive parent, she brings valuable experience to our board,” Swim said.
NCFA, a non-profit organization, has been a champion of adoption since its founding in 1980. Whether as an advocate for state laws that promote sound adoption policy, a resource for federal officials and policymakers about appropriate federal adoption initiatives and reform, a diplomat for sound international adoption policy, or a source of adoption facts and education, NCFA is devoted to serving the best interests of children through adoption.
“I am honored to be invited to join the board of the National Council For Adoption,” Ms. Conway said. “NCFA is a leading adoption advocate, and as an adoptive parent, I fully appreciate the many challenges of adoption, as well as the many wonderful opportunities that come with helping children find a permanent home. As a board member, my goal is to spread the positive word about adoption and the great work being done by NCFA.”
Upon learning of China’s newly imposed one-child rule that would leave millions of children without permanent home, Ms. Conway made the decision to adopt. She and her husband, Jonathan, initiated adoption proceedings in 2000. With their two sons, David and Scott, Ms. Conway traveled to China in 2001 where they finalized the adoption of a one-year-old daughter, Lelah, now nine.
Ms. Conway has been active as a volunteer in a number of organizations. She held a several positions with the League of Women Voters in Hamden, Ct. and in Wilton, Ct., where she served as president. She also was a member and secretary of the Wilton Library Association Board of Directors.
She received a B.S. in Industrial Management/Computer Science, Purdue University, in 1981. Prior to becoming a “stay-at-home” mother, she gained managerial experience in a variety of positions. She worked for GIGA Information Group, NY, NY, Ernst & Whiney, Chicago, and for state and local political campaigns in Greenwich. While in Greenwich, she opened her own business, Donna Inc, providing temporary assistance for clients needing computer work, filing, and accounting. During these years, Ms. Conway also spent several years working and traveling in Europe, Africa, Greece, and other countries.
Donna Conway will become the 16th member of the NCFA Board of Directors, joining Stan Swim, Chairman (Salt Lake City, UT), Bill Balcquiere (Grand Rapids, MI), Heidi Bruegel Cox ( Ft. Worth, TX), Lou Davidson (Washington, DC) Ted Kim (Washington, DC), Larisa Mason ( Oakmont, PA), Kimberly Newman ( Washington, DC), Fred Riley (Salt Lake City, UT), Jim Savley (Mount Juliet, TN), Wayne Sharp (Vienna, VA), Louis Stern ( Highland Beach, FL), Pamela Stevenson (Gladwyne, PA), Delia Stroud (Kennett Square, PA), and Jim Wright (Vienna VA). National Adoption Spokesperson Rodney Atkins Speaks Out for Children in Foster Care If you tune into your favorite country music radio station, you are likely to hear NCFA’s National Adoption Spokesperson Rodney Atkins’ new public service announcement (PSA) supporting children in foster care. NCFA and Rodney launched the new PSA campaign to Rodney also conducted personal interviews with more than 25 leading country music stations in major markets to talk about the release of his new song “America,” and to direct listeners to the www.familiesforall.org website to find out more about what they can do to help children in foster care. Thank you, Rodney, for all your help and support for children in need! Click here to learn more about what you can do to help children waiting for a loving, permanent family. National Council For Adoption Recommends Caution on Certain Special Needs Adoptions from Vietnam National Council For Adoption (NCFA) regrets that the United States and Vietnamese governments could not sign a new agreement regarding intercountry adoptions before September 1, 2008. Although we recognize that the United States held legitimate concerns with the adoption process in Vietnam, this halt in adoptions will result in many hundreds of Vietnamese orphans being denied loving, stable families in the United States. Although Vietnamese law allows for the processing of the adoption of children with special needs without a working agreement, NCFA is advocating extreme caution on the part of international adoption agencies and families matched with a Vietnamese child with special needs after the last agreement between the United States and Vietnamese governments expired on September 1, 2008. Read more. President Bush Signs Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 President George W. Bush signed the bipartisan Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (HR 6893) into law on Tuesday, October 7. This bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Representative Jerry Weller (R-IL). Senator Baucus (D-MT), Senator Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Rockefeller (D-WV) championed the bill in the Senate. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 is the most significant legislation relating to adoption and foster care since the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. Read more.
Congressional Letter to Department of State Urges Interim Agreement with Vietnam to Avoid Disruption of International Adoptions by Americans 149 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on July 7 urging her to negotiate an interim Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Vietnam that allows adoptions from Vietnam by Americans to continue while addressing concerns regarding the adoption system in Vietnam. The signers agreed that “systematic reform and more effective safeguards are needed to prevent abuses” in the Vietnamese adoption process, and urged the State Department to “work with the Vietnamese Government to implement proactive measures designed to guard against abuse.” Furthermore, however, the letter stated that “signing an interim agreement with Vietnam is consistent with your goal of moving toward a Hague-compliant system” in Vietnam, and that “it is not in the best interest of children to remain institutionalized or homeless during the period of transition” to a Hague-compliant system. NCFA applauds these Members of Congress for addressing the need to prevent the imminent disruption of adoptions from Vietnam. NCFA joins them to continue to urge that the State Department work expeditiously on behalf of Vietnamese orphans. (Click here to see full text of letter.) Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) Gathers Support for Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act and Pursues Co-Sponsorship Introduced on May 20, 2008, Senator Charles Grassley’s Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act proposes a number of positive legislative changes that would benefit the 510,000 children in foster care. If enacted, this bill would extend through 2013 the Adoption Incentive Program, whereby the federal government allocates financial rewards to states that have increased the number of children adopted from their foster care system. It would also increase adoption incentive payments by establishing 2007 as the program’s new “base year” against which future performance would be measured. The bill would make all children with special needs adopted from foster care eligible for federal adoption assistance payments by exempting them from current income eligibility requirements. The bill would also establish relative guardianship as a permanency option for those children for whom courts have ruled that neither reunification nor adoption are viable permanency options, and allow states to receive federal reimbursement for assistance payments made to relative guardians. Finally, the bill would allow the federal government to allocate unobligated funds from the Adoption Incentive Program to states that increase the number of children exiting foster care through relative guardianship. Click here to read Senator Grassley’s appeal to his colleagues for co-sponsorship, which contains further information on the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act and its supporters.
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• NCFA releases Adoption Advocate Volume No. 9: The Adoption Option: A Call for Complete and Inclusive Sex, Reproductive Health and Family Life Education Curricula • National Adoption Spokesperson Rodney Atkins Speaks Out for Children in Foster Care • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate Volume No. 8: Making Improvements to the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent for Children and Families • Thomas C. Atwood Resigns from the National Council For Adoption •NCFA releases report on foreign-born adopted non-citizens • 2008 National Adoption Conference • NCFA Teams with Wal-Mart and Rodney Atkins to Inspire Better Care for Children in Foster Care • Senator Grassley Announces Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act • NCFA Inducts Five Adoption Heroes into Adoption Hall of Fame • 3/10/08 - NCFA Launches National PSA Campaign To Educate Public About Adoption
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make the public aware of the needs of the nearly half-million children living in foster care, of which 129,000 are eligible for adoption right now. The PSA campaign is part of a broader public awareness initiative entitled Families For All, funded in part by Wal-Mart. 
