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"It's a privilege to present these awards to such a diverse group that, through dedication, creative thinking and a lot of love, has enabled so many waiting children to find the families they've been hoping for," said Secretary Thompson. "We truly appreciate their loving spirit and the hope for a better life they've given to children in need."

An estimated 134,000 children in public foster care are waiting for adoptive homes. The majority of these children have special needs, such as a history of maltreatment or physical, mental or learning disabilities; or, they may be of older age (between 7 and 16) or part of a sibling group. The number of children adopted in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. In fiscal year 2000, nearly 50,000 children were adopted from public child welfare agencies, approximately a 10 percent increase over the 46,000 adoptions in fiscal year 1999. The fiscal year 2000 total represents a nearly 39 percent increase over the 36,000 adoptions in fiscal year 1998 and a 78 percent increase since fiscal year 1996, when 28,000 adoptions were finalized.

The Adoption Excellence Awards are available to honor states, organizations, businesses, individuals and families. Winners were chosen by a committee representing nonprofit adoption agencies, child welfare and adoption advocates, adoptive parents, foundations, the business community and state and federal agencies. Fifty-four nominations were reviewed; 14 winners were selected in eight categories.

"It's a pleasure to give these awards during National Adoption Month," said Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families. "The recipients represent a small portion of the truly hundreds of stories throughout the nation of creative, persistent and life-changing work done on behalf of waiting children."

The winners by category are:

Increased Adoptions

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Family and Community Services.
The department sponsors public service announcements on local television stations highlighting children waiting for adoption. In two years, 87 out of the 133 hardest to place children in Idaho and Eastern Oregon have found homes, and 10 other children are awaiting final selection of adoptive families. This is a 128 percent increase in Idaho's statewide adoption figures for fiscal year 1999.

California Department of Social Services, Adoption Initiative Bureau.
The department created a cross-cutting Adoption Initiative Bureau in 1996 involving public and private providers, advocate and adoptive families. Since the program's outset, there has been a significant increase in the number of children who are adopted from foster care.

Increased Permanency for Children with Special Needs

Adopt 2000, Houston, Texas.
Adopt 2000 is a collaboration of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and six private agencies working in child placement. During its first year, Adopt 2000 helped place a total of 412 Houston-area special needs children with adoptive families.

County of Orange Social Services Agency, Orange County Adoption Consortium Caretaker Conversion Project.
This project is a collaboration of 13 organizations to facilitate adoptions for foster and relative caretakers who want to adopt children already in their care. Since its inception, this model has been replicated by four other large counties, resulting in a significant increase in all of California in the number of adoptions by caretakers.

Support for Adoptive Families

T.I.E.S. for Adoption Project, Los Angeles, Calif.
The T.I.E.S. for Adoption Project, based at the University of California, Los Angeles, works with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services to reduce the barriers to the successful placement of foster children with special needs. T.I.E.S. has been successful in securing placements for children who have experienced one or more adoption disruptions in the past and may have been labeled "unadoptable."

Public Awareness

Jordan's Furniture, Avon , Mass.
This company has sponsored successful adoption campaigns and initiatives in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange. This public-private partnership has resulted in positive changes in the adoption system in the state.

New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, Protective Services Division, Foster a Future, Foster and Adoptive Parent Recruitment Unit.
The "Foster a Future" campaign combines community and media relations, child specific recruitment, marketing and advertising to motivate families to become interested in adoption. Adoption recruitment nearly tripled after the first year of this campaign.

Individual and/or Family Contributions

Professor Lucy McGough, Louisiana State University.
Louisiana's leading expert on children's issues, Professor McGough has devoted her professional life to the legal aspects of foster care, permanency and adoption. Under her leadership, Louisiana's laws have been revised to facilitate permanency and improve adoption practices.

Charles C. Harris, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Mr. Harris, the chief of Children's Services in North Carolina, has worked to improve foster care and adoption since 1994, collaborating with the court system, mental health providers, the General Assembly, churches, businesses and private citizens. From the beginning of his tenure until 2000, the number of special needs children adopted from the foster care system doubled.

Merri Dee, WGN-TV, Chicago, Ill.
Ms. Dee, the director of community relations for WGN-TV, created "The Waiting Child" campaign to spotlight children waiting for permanent homes. In its 10-year run, 40 percent of the children featured on the series have been placed with an adoptive family.

Applied Scholarship and/or Research

Robert Bernard Hill, Ph.D., Rockville, Md.
Dr. Hill, a sociologist and researcher, has done extensive research on strength and resilience in African-American families, kin networks, and the effects of social welfare policy on minority families. States have used his work to design foster care and adoption systems that are more culturally sensitive to African-Americans.

Philanthropy

Reed Smith LLP, Pittsburgh, Pa.
The law firm of Reed Smith has provided pro bono legal services, office space and technological support to help relieve the backlog of adoption cases in Allegheny County. Through their efforts, more than 528 adoptions have been finalized.

Judicial or Child Welfare System Improvement

Texas Supreme Court Task Force on Foster Care.
This task force has developed a system to help rural counties bring child maltreatment complaints to timely dispositions by creating cluster groups of similar cases from several counties that together are large enough to justify a judge specially trained in these issues.

Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio.
Justice Stratton has devoted her career to judicial system improvement relating to adoption and child welfare matters. She oversaw the creation of the first law-school-based Center on Adoption Law and Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio; worked to remove judicial barriers to permanent placements; and chaired a national effort to expedite appeals in child welfare and adoption cases.

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