i
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 .