The Every Child Deserves a Family Act is a federal bill to eliminate discrimination in foster care and adoption based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status.
Sadly, many people have a preconceived idea that kids are abandoned because something is wrong with them. A common response to meeting children in foster care is, "They are so sweet! How could anyone abandon them?'
Young people are told that the sky is the limit, but not everyone has the same opportunities. Some youth have to overcome the trauma of neglect. Some have had physical, sexual and emotional abuse. There's a major contradiction for children in this society, and as a foster care alumnus, I know it all too well.
I will always be the King of Rock, but I only got there because of the people who believed in me. Each and every day that I have the privilege of spending with these children is inspiring. I see a piece of myself in all of them.
WASHINGTON -- Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 children wait to be adopted. In 2011, less than half of them were matched with adoptiv...
This is the fourteenth post of "30 Adoption Portraits in 30 Days," a series designed to give a voice to people with widely varying experiences, includ...
This is the seventh post of "30 Adoption Portraits in 30 Days," a series designed to give a voice to people with widely varying experiences, including...
The Heart Gallery is an exhibit of photos featuring LA foster youth that highlights the need to find adoptive families for waiting children. As someone who spent more than a year in foster care, at first I felt conflicted about the concept of taking pictures of foster kids for public display.
There were days that I thought you would kick me out and I ran away. I wanted to give up and you would not let me. You would not accept failure and yet would understand when I made mistakes.
There's a group of young people who might experience the start of school with more mixed emotions. Their route to educational success is more challenging. They are foster youth.
How many children will go to bed at night with the same confusion I once experienced? How many of these children will grow up and become drug users or criminals and what could we have done to help?
It is the foster family that makes the educational difference and it is the PTA that will be there to provide support. We need the foster parent PTA.
A known advocate for players and foster children alike, Keith Bulluck revealed to me his post-career plans to get a masters degree in sports psychology to help him better understand the athlete's psyche and enhance his insight as a mentor and on-air analyst.
As teachers, we touch many lives. Sometimes we know the effect, but often we do not. When I received an email from a former InsideOut student, now a Teach for America trainee, I had the pleasure of spreading the word to a very special teacher.
Most days Odalyz, Zamantha and Angel are not together. They are in separate foster homes. They need to be adopted. They need a family to live with and be a part of. Forever. That's all they need.
MIAMI — Federal lawmakers proposed a bill Thursday that would give social workers better access to school records in an effort to improve educat...
It is "Foster Mother's Day" and Gabbi is one of 2,200 foster children and their families who will cycle through Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker's 1.24-acre home and garden on Los Angeles' West Side.
When it comes to issues of motherhood, there is one issue I care about: some kids don't have one.
I firmly believe that it's in each child's best interest to have a loving parent whose goal is to provide the love and attention that only a family can afford.
This piece comes to us courtesy of America's Wire. WASHINGTON -- More than 5,000 children of immigrants are languishing in state foster care nation...
Zac's note tells the story of his tumultuous upbringing, the anger and destructive behavior that resulted from the negative experiences he endured as a child, and, ultimately, the appreciation and love he has for his two dads.
For 10 years Tracey McMahon has worked for the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services serving Oconee, Morgan, Greene and Jasper counties. ...
MIAMI -- For decades, it was common for officials around the country to approve foster parents by room and board criteria: Did they pass a background ...
The nuclear secret of child welfare is that most of the children in foster care should not be there.
We need strong collaborations across the child welfare and education systems, we need to reconsider the roles of these systems in working with vulnerable students, and we need policies and funding that support these collaborative efforts.
