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Page A5
Holiday
Treats
(Elje |JortIanò ©hseruer
Oregon Exceeds Federal And State Adoption
Placement Goals
Hundreds o f Oregonians opened their hearts and their homes this year to humankind's most precious resource - children
ast year the State O ffice for
S erv ices to C h ild re n an d
Fam ilies prom ised the Legislature to
place 1,800 children during the next
tw o years into stable, perm anent
homes.
T he state is m eeting its prom ise,
placing 849 children into perm anent
hom es in just the first nine m onths o f
the tw o-year period.
A lthough this is new s to celebrate,
SCF adoption placem ent workers say
that m ore ad o p tiv e fam ilies are
needed.
L
CIDER
EGG NOG
During November, SCF celebrates
National Adoption Awareness Month
focusing on education and recruiting
potential adoptive parents. K athy
Ledesma, S C F ’s perm anency and
ad o p tio n s m a n ag e r, sa id p u b lic
aw areness is crucial to the success o f
the state’s adoption goals.
“ A lth o u g h O re g o n ’s ex cellen t
record o f adoption placem ents is
new s to celebrate, w e m ust stem the
tide o f children needing adoptive
hom es,” said Ledesma. “W e antici
pate that the num ber o f O regon chil-
and 1997. O reg o n ’s baseline is 445,
w hich the state surpassed by m ore
than 220 w hen it placed 665 children
during the last federal fiscal year.
A nd as the adoption num bers con
tinue to clim b , the d isruption rate is
dow n. D isruption occurs w hen a
ch ild leaves the adoption p lacem ent
before it is finalized. From 1995 to
1998, th e d isru p tio n rate dropped
b y 37 p erc en t to an all-tim e low o f
4.4 p ercen t - one o f the co u n try ’s
lowest.
“A d o p tio n can be a jo y o u s b egin
ning for children and their new adop
tive fam ily,” said Ledesm a. “H ow
ever, children w ho have survived
abuse or neglect m ay have special
needs th ro u g h o u t th eir lifetim e.
T hrough a careful process and co n
tinued support, SCF w orks to ensure
that adoptions are not disrupted.”
For inform ation about adopting a
child through the state, call your lo
cal SCF branch, the SCF adoption
and foster care line, 1-8OO-331-O5O3
o r the Special N eeds A doption coa
lition, 1-800-342-6688.
k
CclFC
Place Where You Belong
W orks
em em ber w alking to school,
Foster kids often feel lost. They
riding the bus, playing w ith
are
other kids in your neighborhood, m oved out o f their hom es and,
often, away from their neighborhood
being called in to dinner in the early
and everything that’s familiar to them.
evening ju st as it’s getting dusk?
T h at's a pretty scary experience.
M ost o f us do, and m ost o f us take for
N eighborhood Foster C are helps
granted that kids in our neighbor
families w ork through the challenges
hoods have that experience o f feel
that face them through a unique col
ing like they belong som ew here.
laboration betw een public/private
A sense o f belonging translates
groups focused on im proving ser
into a pretty pow erful feeling o f se
vices to kids, fam ilies and foster par
curity for kids grow ing up in an often
ents.
unsteady world. T h at’s w here N eigh
Located in the heart o f tw o P ort
borhood Foster C are com es in. O ur
land
m etropolitan neighborhoods,
goal is to m ake sure kids in care are
this
six-year
pi lot program is focused
living in hom es that are a m atch for
in
the
Jefferson
C luster com m unity
their cultural background. W e w ork
o f N ortheast Portland and the C en
to keep kids in their ow n school neigh
tennial School District com m unity in
borhoods. This helps birth and foster
E a st M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty . T h e
fam ilies w ork together to m ake the
Jefferson location em phasizes plac
things that w ent w rong, right again
ing kids w ho need care w ith m em
so kids can go back to a safe and
bers o f their own fam ilies (called
secure place called home.
“ kinship care”) w hile the Centennial
H ow N eighborhood F oster Care
R
Wild Berry, Cider and Thyme
Buerre Blanc, made with
Martinelli's Gold Medal Cider
dren w ho will need alternate perm a
nent placem ents - m ostly adoptive
homes during 1999 through 2001 -
will increase because o f changes in
state and federal statutes.”
The state’s com m itm ent to place
children is bolstered by a federal
adoption initiative called A doption
2002.
In addition, the federal A doptions
and Safe Fam ilies A ct established a
baseline for adoptions in each state
by averaging the num ber o f finalized
adoptions in that state for 1995,1996,
Neighborhood
1
egg (or egg substitute)
1
banaa
3/4
cup cold milk
3/4
cup-cold Martinelli's
Cider or Apple Juice nutmeg
Mix first four ingredients
together In an electric blender.
Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Makes 2-4 drinks.
ROASTGD
VCAL
““o
r
-F *
1
What does
neighborhood
mean to you?
location focuses on keeping brothers
and sisters together in the same homes
w ithin their neighborhoods.
Foster/kinship fam ilies w ill be
established in both neighborhoods,
w here team s are set up to help link
MM «
1
n e ig h b o rh o o d -s u p p o rt-n e tw o rk s
w ith foster parents and birth fam i
lies. Each n etw o rk ’s team includes a
com m unity resource w orker, foster/
kinship parents and a case-w orker.
The team ’s leader is a foster/kinship
Adopting
■ r.
1 bw
parent. Training, flexible funds for
children and fam ilies and the strong
desire to help keep families together,
or find a perm anent w ay to m eet the
needs o f children, will be im portant
parts o f m aking it work.
■
Waiting For A Loving Family
bbles The Clown and Shay Washington
in n e r o f th e 1 9 9 6 /
1997 S ta g e W o n d e r
C h ild r e n ’s T h e a tre
F a m ily E n te r ta in m e n t
A w ard !”
* O ffe rin g F a c e P a in t
in g , B a llo o n C r e a tio n s ,
I n d o o r/O u td o o r G a m e s,
S to r y te llin g , a n d M o re
fo r m o re th a n 20 y e a r s !!
C a ll (5 0 3 ) 4 9 1 - 9 4 2 3
(O ffic e L in e ), if n o t
a v a ila b le p le a s e le a v e a
m e s s a g e ! C a ll N o w an d
S e n d in t h e C l o w n !
State Child Protective
Services Office Receives
National Telemedicine Award
com puter hardware and standard tele
he State O ffice for Services
phone lines.
to Children and Fam ilies re
ceived third place honors in a na Janiver Slick o f Keizer, who m an
ages the O regon C hild A buse M edi
tional telem edicine com petition.
cal Inform ation System for SCF, ac
A t the 17th an nual T eleC on
cepted the aw ard on the state’s b e
aw ards in Anaheim, Calif., SCF was
half.
honored for an innovative program
“ W e currently have 12 sites estab
that allow s rural health care provid
lished and running throughout O r
ers to transm it photographs o f sus
egon,” said slick. “O ur goal, how
pected child abuse victim s to a con
ever, is to have one in every county.
sulting site for assessm ent. The con
T his program is a tool that allow s
sultation sites are Portland CA R ES
children to have a thorough exam i
N orthw est, D eschute’s K ID S C en
nation and enables physicians to ac
ter and the Jackson C hild A dvocacy
cess the consultation they need to
Center. The system uses standard
T
assure they are doing an accurate
assessm ent.”
T h e 12 site s a re in D e sc h u te s,
D o u g la s, L an e, L in n , L in c o ln ,
J a c k s o n , J o s e p h in e , M a rio n ,
T illam o o k , U m atilla and Y am hill
c o u n tie s , an d C la c k a m a s, W a sh
in g to n an d M u ltn o m a h c o u n tie s ,
w h ich o p e ra te as a sin g le site.
E ach y e a r T e le c o n fe re n c e
M ag azin e an d T eleC o n h o st w hat
is c o n s i d e r e d th e A c a d e m y
A w a rd s o f te le c o n f e r e n c i n g .
A w ard s are g iv e n in 18 c a te g o
ries.
These two delightful girls await a
permanent hom e where they can con
tinue to grow up as sisters. Spee’cheal
and Kanisha are two o f over 300 Or
egon children waiting for an adoptive
family.
Spee’cheal is abright girl w ho takes
pride in her appearance and enjoys
dressing up. She is personable and
animated, and her whole face lights up
w hen she talks about something o f
interest. A helper by nature, Spee ’cheal
enjoys assisting both younger children
and adults.
A well-mannered girl, Kanisha is shy
around newcomers but talkative around
familiar faces. She loves school, is proud
o f learning to read, and even asks for
homework! She likes to receive indi
vidual attention, but she can also work
Liese girls need an enriching family
ironment that will encourage their
; o f reading, art, and learning. The
ily must also help Spee ’cheal main-
who are important to her. The girls have
stated that they would like to have a
Black or mixed race family. They can
be placed in a family with or without
cooperatively in small groups.
h e r p o te n tia l to b o n d w ith p a tie n t
an d n u rtu rin g a d u lts. L illia n has
e x p re s s e d h e r d e s ire fo r an A fr i
ca n A m eric an ad o p tiv e fam ily and
w ish e s to re m a in in c o n ta c t w ith
Lillian, Age 7
There’s no doubt about it,
Lillian is an energetic child with a
lively spirit! Her zest for life has
enabled her to develop many rich
an d v a rie d in te re sts. L illia n is one
o f o v e r 300 O re g o n c h ild ren w a it
in g fo r an a d o p tiv e fam ily .
L illia n 's p o sitiv e atta c h m e n t to
h er fo ste r m o th e r d e m o n stra te s
h e r b ro th e rs.
P a re n ts w ith e n e rg y to sp a re , a
se n se o f h u m o r a n d p re d ic ta b le
life s ty le w ill e n jo y g ro w in g to
lo v e th is s p u n k y g ir l. S in g le
p e o p l e , a s w e ll a s m a r r i e d
co u p les, are e n c o u ra g e d to in q u ire
a b o u t a d o p tio n b y c a llin g T h e
S p ecial N ee d s A d o p tio n C o a li
tio n at th e B o y s an d G irls A id
S o c ie ty , 1 -8 0 0 -3 4 2 -6 6 8 8 o r 2 2 2 -
9 6 6 1 . O re g o n a g e n c ie s w a iv e o r
re d u c e fees fo r th e a d o p tio n o f
O re g o n ’s c h ild re n in sta te c a re ,
an d p r e -a d o p tio n tra in in g is o f
fe re d sta te w id e .