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"As we give thanks for our health and our loved ones this Thanksgiving, I can think of no greater gift than to give a child a safe and nurturing home," said Secretary Shalala. "With these awards, we give thanks to the courageous, innovative and committed individuals, states and organizations that provide hope to children in foster care of a loving home. Through their help, we are making progress, but our work is not finished. More than 100,000 children are still waiting in foster care for an adoptive family."

"Adoption 2002" is the HHS response to President Clinton's initiative to double by that year the number of children in foster care who are adopted or otherwise permanently placed. Many of the recommendations of the "Adoption 2002" report were included in the Adoption and Safe Families Act. The recommendations included unprecedented financial incentives for states to increase adoptions, put the safety of children first in placement decisions, and set swifter time frames for permanent placement decisions.

In 1998, states found permanent homes for 36,000 children, a significant increase from 28,000 in 1996.

Recently, HHS awarded the first ever adoption bonuses to states for increases in adoption of children from the public foster care system. The "Adoption 2002" report also recommended annual honors to those who make exemplary contributions toward meeting the President's goal.

Today's awards recognize contributions by adoptive families and leadership by individuals as well as outstanding performance by states and organizations. A committee representing non-profit adoption agencies, child welfare and adoption advocates, adoptive parents, foundations, the business community, and state and federal offices reviewed and evaluated more than 52 nominations and selected 11 winners in 6 categories.

"When the President launched the 'Adoption 2002' initiative, as a nation we turned the corner in reducing the unacceptable amount of time children spend in foster care and assuring them permanent homes," said Olivia A. Golden, HHS assistant secretary for children and families. "These awards deservedly recognize a handful of the countless persons and agencies who champion children for adoption."

In addition to the "Adoption 2002" and the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Clinton administration has worked with the Congress in a bipartisan effort to promote adoption through providing tax credits to families, eliminating race and ethnicity as a delay or denial of placement of children, developing a national Internet site listing children, and supporting innovative demonstrations through waivers to states and grants.

The winners by category are:

Individual or Family Contributions

Zedra Jurist Aranow, Springfield Union News, Springfield, Mass. Ms. Aranow has led a crusade for nearly thirty years to find families for waiting children. She became a pioneer in media recruitment with her column "Could You Love this Child?" Each article features a child in need of a permanent home. She personally keeps track of over 150 children she has profiled and highlights their successes. Now retired and in her eighties she continues to write her column and has started a new project to find homes for 85 children in Springfield available for adoption.

Terrell Moffet, Moffet Photography, Nampa, Idaho. Mr. Moffet, a professional photographer, has donated his talent and time to take portraits of children in foster care awaiting permanent homes. The pictures soon became an essential part of Idaho's Wednesday's Child Recruitment Campaign. Over the past year, he has photographed 46 children, of whom 20 now have a permanent family. Kodak donated a year's supply of free film for his effort.

Increased Adoptions

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Springfield, Ill. For the second year in a row, the Illinois department receives an Adoption 2002 Award. The number of adoptions in Illinois has tripled during the past two years. At the end of fiscal year 1999, the state recorded 7,315 adoptions as compared to 2,229 in FY 1997. The rate of adoptions increased three-fold to 15.8 percent of the foster care caseload in FY 1999 from 4.5 percent in FY 97. The state has also reduced its foster care caseload from 51,000 in FY 98 to less than 38,000 in FY 99. Illinois continues its successes from the bipartisan Illinois Permanency Initiative with quicker timeframes, streamlined judicial procedures and strong leadership and partnerships throughout the state.

Iowa Department of Human Services, Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa increased its adoptions five-fold from 138 in 1993 to 683 in 1999. The state has focused on finding permanent homes with a new adoption tracking system, aggressive recruitment activities, increased financial assistance to adoptive families and by reducing barriers to interstate adoptions.

Oregon State Office of Services to Children and Families, Salem, Ore. Since 1995, the annual finalized adoptions of foster children in Oregon have increased by 85 percent. The state uses a multi-pronged approach with collaborative activities among in-state private agencies, courts, child adoptions and the Northwest Adoption Exchange to remove barriers to interstate placements. Also, Oregon uses new technology of databases, automated notification on waiting children and two web sites listing children.

Increased Permanency for Children with Special Needs

Sierra Adoption Services, Nevada City, Calif. For 16 years, Sierra Adoption Services has found families for children who are least likely to be adopted. In five years, the agency increased its placements of children by more than 250 percent from 29 to 75. Sierra has established an extensive and effective outreach program using the media including a biweekly television program "Families Matter," the Internet, volunteer peer advocates, and a diverse partnership with local organizations.

Public Awareness

Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, Austin, Texas. TARE has been instrument in increasing adoptions in Texas since 1996 through its public awareness and recruitment campaign. Adoptions have increased from 746 in FY 96 to 1,648 in FY 98. TARE was the first organization to implement an electronic bulletin board system, use the Internet, and produce video testimonials by adoptive parents. Of all the Texas children adopted in 1998, 287 were registered with TARE.

KTXL FOX40 Helping Hand Fund, Sacramento, Calif. KTXL FOX40 launched two successful public awareness campaigns in collaboration with fellow award winner Sierra Adoption Services called "Celebration of Hope" and a weekly series "A Place Called Home." During the Celebration of Hope event, 102 families inquired about adoption, 36 of who began adopting children. Over 218 families have responded to "A Place Called Home."

Applied Scholarship and/or Research

Mark Testa, Research Director, Illinois Dept. of Children and Family Services, Chicago, Ill. In addition to his research directorship, Dr. Testa is an associate professor at the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His pioneering research on relative foster parents was instrumental in identifying relatives an important resource of adoptive families. The results were used to implement the innovative Illinois demonstration project approved by HHS. The number of kinship adoptions in the state increased from 857 in FY96 to 4,179 in FY99.

Judicial or Child Welfare System Improvement

Mark Hardin, Director, Child Welfare, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, Washington, D.C. Since the 1970s, Mr. Hardin has completely devoted his professional career to the nationwide enhancement of judicial practices to promote the adoption of foster children. He was the principle architect of federal legislation establishing the court improvement program, authored new guidelines for state legislative reform and provided extensive training and technical assistance through the country.

Presiding Judge Nancy Sidote Salyers, Cook County Juvenile Court, Chicago, Ill. Since 1995, Judge Salyers' reforms in procedures and attitude have produced dramatic results reducing the number of cases for the first time from 58,000 in 1995 to 26,000 in 1999. She has launched and spearheaded numerous initiatives to forge collaborations among agencies, expedite judicial processes and establish new non-adversarial programs that value families.

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