A spring adoption conference is held annually where all members of the adoption triad come together to learn. Whether it is a family just thinking about the possibility of adopting, to a birth parent who has recently placed a child for adoption as well as adoption professionals come together to learn from experts in the field as well as from each other. For more information about the conference contact The Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444.
UAC Adoption Conference will be held March 18th - 19th 2009 at the South Town Expo Center.
Please print out the brochure and mail in your registration to the address on the registration form. To avoid at the door costs have your registration postmarked by March 4, 2009.
http://www.utahadoptioncouncil.org/spring_conference.htm
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Foster and Adoptive Family Forum
Wednesday January 28th @ 7pm at the Sandy LDS Family Services Agency (625 E. 8400 S.) will be hosting a Foster and Adoptive Family Forum for Utah Foster Care. Come and find new ways to be a part of someone else's family tree!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New success resource!
http://fsa-findingsuccess.blogspot.com/
Check out this new blog that a member of the FSA Nat. Board has put together to help share success stories on adoption. Spread the word!
Check out this new blog that a member of the FSA Nat. Board has put together to help share success stories on adoption. Spread the word!
A New Year...
We hope your 2009 is off to a great start. We hope and pray this is a year that families will be united eternally. We are working with the community and schools for outreach.
Volunteers Needed
We ask for your help in sharing your story with local high schools. We are looking for individuals/families who are willing to share your story. If you are interested in helping us. PLEASE let us know and we will contact you as opportunities present. Thank you so much for your willingness to educate others about adoption.
Volunteers Needed
We ask for your help in sharing your story with local high schools. We are looking for individuals/families who are willing to share your story. If you are interested in helping us. PLEASE let us know and we will contact you as opportunities present. Thank you so much for your willingness to educate others about adoption.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Adoption and the Economy...
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Slowing economy may hamper adoptions Print
Ace Stryker - Daily Herald
Utah specialists say adoption rates have been resistant to economic turmoil but may begin to show wear in the coming months.
Private adoptions can be pricey, with most estimates falling between $15,000 and $25,000 for the average case. When looking at international adoptions, it jumps up between $20,000 and $40,000. Wendy Bunnell, an area representative for the Utah Foster Care Foundation, said she's seen a bump in the number of calls in recent months from families looking to offer temporary foster care, a much less expensive notion.
"People are realizing that adoption internationally is extremely expensive and almost impossible to do anymore," she said. "Private adoptions have increased in price considerably. I have had an increase of people who are willing to look at adoption through foster care."
Bunnell said she's even heard from people looking to supplement their income through foster care reimbursements -- typically between $450 and $650 a month -- but cautions against that.
"That really isn't enough for a family to really provide all the basic needs," she said.
There's also been a leap in the number of kids needing a foster home, Bunnell said, from 445 last year to more than 520 this year. Most of those are because of court orders related to abuse or neglect, she said.
"I can speculate that it probably has something to do with [the economy]," she said.
Private market representatives say they've seen less of a change, but haven't written off the nation's financial situation yet.
"We might see a trend -- not that affects the adoptive couples so much -- but that affects women with unplanned pregnancies," said Shanna Bake, a program specialist with LDS Family Services, the nation's largest domestic adoption service. "They're going to be more likely to feel financial pressure and more likely to view adoption as a positive option."
Bake conceded that her organization, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, isn't typical because of its pricing structure: Adoption costs 10 percent of parents' annual income up to a maximum of $10,000. In fact, her organization has a waiting list for parents about 2,000 strong.
The Adoption Center of Choice in Orem represents a more conventional adoption agency pricing model. Executive Director Melissa Williams said she does just under 100 adoptions a year and hasn't noticed a significant drop-off in business, but she's keeping her eyes open. For the most part, these trends are pretty hard to predict, she said.
"I remember hearing that after 9/11 we had more placements than we've ever had," she said. "We just let this thing happen. We feel like these babies go where they're supposed to go."
Williams said an available IRS tax credit of around $10,000 may help assuage some financial concerns. A mother of two adopted children, she said such concerns didn't stop her from adopting several years ago. She doubts it would stop many others. From a hopeful parent's perspective, love conquers all, she said.
"The economics of it were not an issue," she said. "I guess you just make adjustments depending on what your priorities are."
• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.
Slowing economy may hamper adoptions Print
Ace Stryker - Daily Herald
Utah specialists say adoption rates have been resistant to economic turmoil but may begin to show wear in the coming months.
Private adoptions can be pricey, with most estimates falling between $15,000 and $25,000 for the average case. When looking at international adoptions, it jumps up between $20,000 and $40,000. Wendy Bunnell, an area representative for the Utah Foster Care Foundation, said she's seen a bump in the number of calls in recent months from families looking to offer temporary foster care, a much less expensive notion.
"People are realizing that adoption internationally is extremely expensive and almost impossible to do anymore," she said. "Private adoptions have increased in price considerably. I have had an increase of people who are willing to look at adoption through foster care."
Bunnell said she's even heard from people looking to supplement their income through foster care reimbursements -- typically between $450 and $650 a month -- but cautions against that.
"That really isn't enough for a family to really provide all the basic needs," she said.
There's also been a leap in the number of kids needing a foster home, Bunnell said, from 445 last year to more than 520 this year. Most of those are because of court orders related to abuse or neglect, she said.
"I can speculate that it probably has something to do with [the economy]," she said.
Private market representatives say they've seen less of a change, but haven't written off the nation's financial situation yet.
"We might see a trend -- not that affects the adoptive couples so much -- but that affects women with unplanned pregnancies," said Shanna Bake, a program specialist with LDS Family Services, the nation's largest domestic adoption service. "They're going to be more likely to feel financial pressure and more likely to view adoption as a positive option."
Bake conceded that her organization, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, isn't typical because of its pricing structure: Adoption costs 10 percent of parents' annual income up to a maximum of $10,000. In fact, her organization has a waiting list for parents about 2,000 strong.
The Adoption Center of Choice in Orem represents a more conventional adoption agency pricing model. Executive Director Melissa Williams said she does just under 100 adoptions a year and hasn't noticed a significant drop-off in business, but she's keeping her eyes open. For the most part, these trends are pretty hard to predict, she said.
"I remember hearing that after 9/11 we had more placements than we've ever had," she said. "We just let this thing happen. We feel like these babies go where they're supposed to go."
Williams said an available IRS tax credit of around $10,000 may help assuage some financial concerns. A mother of two adopted children, she said such concerns didn't stop her from adopting several years ago. She doubts it would stop many others. From a hopeful parent's perspective, love conquers all, she said.
"The economics of it were not an issue," she said. "I guess you just make adjustments depending on what your priorities are."
• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Big Adoption Events Approaching!
National Adoption Month (which is November) is soon approaching and so are many large Adoption Events. Please check them out and spread the word!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
President Bush Signs Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (HR 6893) into Law
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. It provides for a wide array of reforms to benefit children and their interest in adoption. These reforms include: - Reauthorizing the Adoption Incentives Program, whereby the federal government allocates financial rewards to states that have increased the number of children adopted from their foster care system, through 2013;
- Increasing the award amounts states stand to receive through the Adoption Incentives Program by establishing 2007 as the new “base year” against which future performance will be measured, and increasing the bonuses for special needs and older child adoptions;
- Ensuring all children with special needs adopted out of foster care are eligible for federal adoption assistance regardless of family income by 2018;
- Mandating that states inform prospective adoptive parents regarding eligibility for the adoption tax credit;
- Requiring states to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together;
- Establishing relative guardianship assistance payments in a way that does not create incentives for relative guardianship over adoption; and
- Allowing states the option of extending adoption assistance, foster care maintenance and relative guardianship assistance payments to children aged 18, 19 or 20.
NCFA thanks Representatives McDermott and Weller, and Senators Baucus, Grassley, and Rockefeller for spearheading this much-needed effort to reform the child welfare system.
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. It provides for a wide array of reforms to benefit children and their interest in adoption. These reforms include: - Reauthorizing the Adoption Incentives Program, whereby the federal government allocates financial rewards to states that have increased the number of children adopted from their foster care system, through 2013;
- Increasing the award amounts states stand to receive through the Adoption Incentives Program by establishing 2007 as the new “base year” against which future performance will be measured, and increasing the bonuses for special needs and older child adoptions;
- Ensuring all children with special needs adopted out of foster care are eligible for federal adoption assistance regardless of family income by 2018;
- Mandating that states inform prospective adoptive parents regarding eligibility for the adoption tax credit;
- Requiring states to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together;
- Establishing relative guardianship assistance payments in a way that does not create incentives for relative guardianship over adoption; and
- Allowing states the option of extending adoption assistance, foster care maintenance and relative guardianship assistance payments to children aged 18, 19 or 20.
NCFA thanks Representatives McDermott and Weller, and Senators Baucus, Grassley, and Rockefeller for spearheading this much-needed effort to reform the child welfare system.
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