On January 12th, 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating 7.0 earthquake. Within a day, CCAI began receiving inquiries from U.S. adoptive families and Congressional offices as to the status of the adoptions of the more than 1000 orphans U.S. families had been matched with prior to the quake. On Friday, January 15th, CCAI hosted its quarterly briefing with officials from the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices. Almost the entire 1½ hour briefing was dedicated to the subject of these adoptions out of Haiti.

Throughout the following month, CCAI has worked closely with these U.S. Departments to keep Congressional staff updated to the latest breaking news on these adoptions and the congressional response to the earthquake generally. Our homepage offers a link to information on Haitian adoptions where Congressional staff and adoptive families can find official updates from the U.S. Departments as well as Congressional letters signed on this topic. CCAI also created a Frequently Asked Questions document for Congressional staff to refer to and forward as they receive questions from constituents – whether adoptive parents or not.  CCAI continues to work with Members of Congress to address the issues remaining in the pre-matched adoptions of Haitian orphans, as well as the questions surrounding the plight of those children who remain in an extremely vulnerable state in Haiti after the quake. We exist to be a resource to Congressional offices and will continue to update Congressional staff of news and initiatives as information becomes available.

CASA Santa's Wish List Program a Success!

December 7-11, 2009

Again this year, CCAI partnered with CASA of DC to find Congressional offices to fill the wish lists of over 50 children. Armed with the wish list as their guide for the child's interests and sizes, Congressional staff purchased gifts with their own personal resources and dropped the gifts at CCAI for distribution to the children. This program is important because over 2,000 children in DC alone have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect. For some, this will be the first holiday they spend apart from their families. The goal of this program is to ease the stress of this major transition. 

CCAI would like to thank the following offices for their unparalleled generosity: Senators Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Michael Enzi, John Kerry, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Jay Rockefeller, Arlen Specter, Mark Udall, George Voinovich;  Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Dave Camp, Michael Capuano, John Conyers, Dennis Cardoza, Peter DeFazio, Bill Foster, Scott Garrett, Kay Granger, Jim Langevin, Jim Matheson, Gary Miller, Jim Oberstar, Ron Paul, Linda Sanchez, Todd Tiahrt, Peter Welch, Rob Wittman, C.W. Bill Young.

Using Yesterday to Shape Tomorrow:  FYI Interns Host Congressional Briefing

July 23, 2009

On July 23, the 2009 Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program culminated in a Congressional briefing in which the FYIs presented their recommendations for improving Foster Care. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), congressional staff, members of the adoption and foster care community, and members of the press were in attendance. The report - Using Yesterday to Shape Tomorrow: Uniting 500,000 Foster Youth Voices for One Mission - was designed to take its readers on a journey through the lives of youth in care. The FYIs drew from their experiences to present a clearer picture of what life is like for the children currently living in U.S. foster care. The report is divided into three sections: Relationships, Health and Education, and Youth Voices. Each section represents the challenges that the FYIs saw facing youth in care. They included a need for mentoring, support for foster and adoptive families, more comprehensive health coverage, regulated attorney and caseworker caseloads, and a voice in the courts.

At the briefing, the FYIs presented their report and recommendations, followed by a Q&A time with the audience. They fielded questions on their education in foster care, what makes a good foster parent, how this experience has changed their life, and their views on being adopted. Several staffers who had an opportunity to work with the FYIs throughout the summer expressed their appreciation for the FYIs willingness to share their stories. Senator Landrieu expressed her appreciation to the Congressional offices and committees that provided the FYIs with the opportunity to intern on the Hill and expressed gratitude to the FYIs for the difference that they had made this summer. Kathleen Strottman, executive director of CCAI, reflected on what she had learned from the FYIs. She said, “There are a lot of things that amaze me about these young leaders. I am amazed by the amount of great adversity they have come through to get to where they are today. I am amazed by their unyielding capacity to love and care for one another. And I am amazed that after all they have experienced that they somehow still have the courage and the conviction to want to affect change on behalf of others.” At the end of the briefing, the FYIs were given a standing ovation by the 130 briefing attendees. To view an electronic version of the report visit, click here. Footage of the briefing is available here!

CCAI Foster Youth Interns Participate in Congressional Roundtable

July 16, 2009

On Thursday, July 16, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and the National Foster Care Coalition hosted a panel discussion on teen pregnancy prevention among foster youth. Senator Mary Landrieu, Rep. Joseph Crowley and a panel of experts and advocates on the issue, including Amy Dworsky, a senior researcher at the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall participated in the discussion. According to Dworsky, an author of the noted Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth report, one-third of girls in foster care have given birth to a child by age 19. “We should be concerned,” she said. Dworsky, after presenting her research, noted the significant positive impact that extending foster care to age 21 has had on reducing pregnancies among foster youth in states where it is done. One of the subjects discussed by the panel was the need for increased training of foster parents and child welfare workers on how to approach sex education with foster children. Panelist Susan Badeau, who has been a foster parent to more than 75 children, discussed the importance of being open and honest about the topics.  CCAI Foster Youth Interns Miranda Sheffield and Alixes Rosado were also members of the panel. They each shared parts of their personal stories of becoming parents while in foster care as the panel discussion ensued.

Post-Adoption Services Briefing Includes CCAI Foster Youth Interns

July 16, 2009

On July 16 Voice for Adoption organized a Congressional briefing on the importance of post-adoptions services that allowed Congressional staff the opportunity to hear from a panel with firsthand knowledge of the need for these services to be federally funded. Following opening remarks by CCAI Foster Youth Intern and adoptee, Crystal Lipek, the panel was introduced. It included adoptive parent Kelly Harrington, adoptee Serena Pickle, adoptive parent Paula Pickle, Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice Director Sarah Greenblatt and Executive Director of The Center for Adoption Support & Education Debbie Riley. Harrington discussed her experience as the adoptive parent of a son with special needs and the loss of services she experienced immediately after adopting him from foster care.  “One by one the therapists called to say they could no longer come,” she said. Serena Pickle shared her story next. After experiencing 14 foster home placements by age 4, she finally found a foster family that wanted to adopt her.  The adoptive family had to move from Tennessee to Colorado just so that they could receive the services that Serena needed and would no longer have received in their home state. Serena’s mother, Paula Pickle, now runs a post-adoption resources organization in Colorado.  She stated that 62% of adoptive families have just minimal needs, and those with more needs are sometimes forced to place children back into the system when they see no other option for receiving the services their children require.  “We can’t place the burden on these families,” she said. Greenblatt, with 30 years of experience in social work, said that providing for the continuation of medical and therapeutic services after adoption is “necessary to help break the logjam of adoptions” from the foster care system.  “These services are only provided on a patchwork basis throughout the country,” she added. Riley offered a startling statistic: 8-18% of finalized special needs adoptions end up dissolving, very often because necessary services are not available or are too expensive.  “We need to act now to create a funding stream for post-adoption services,” she urged. The event’s final speaker was CCAI Foster Youth Intern and adoptee Meaghan McLean, who offered closing remarks.

Kyrgyz Officials Discuss Adoption Ban

May 29, 2009

On May 29, government officials from the Kyrgyz Republic met with representatives of the sixty - five American families whose adoptions have been delayed since February, when the Kyrgyz government announced that it would not be processing adoptions until new adoption legislation is implemented. Representatives from more than twenty Congressional offices also joined the Kyrgyz officials.  Several parents discussed their challenges as adoptive parents of children who remain in Kyrgyz orphanages. The Kyrgyz officials, national parliament members Gulnara Derbisheva and Damira Niazalieva, and child protection expert Ekatrina Khoroshman of the Prime Minister’s office, said they would try to make sure that the adoptions are completed “as soon as possible.” The Kyrgyz officials were greatly encouraged by the strong congressional support for the waiting families that was demonstrated in the meeting.  During the meeting, the officials answered questions from Congressional staff. They encouraged the staff to continue to raise the visibility of these families’ cases and to stay in communication with the Kyrgyz government. Sixteen members came together to write a follow-up letter thanking the officials for their dedication to the issue. “We very much appreciate your willingness to do whatever is necessary to see that these cases are given appropriate and timely consideration.”

May 6, 2009

On Wednesday, May 6, CCAI hosted Rosie O’Donnell and Lifetime Television on Capitol Hill for a Congressional Screening of the Lifetime Original Movie America produced by and starring Rosie O’Donnell.

“Based on E.R. Frank’s book of the same name, the film takes viewers on the emotional journey of seventeen-year-old America as he navigates the United States foster care system. O’Donnell leads the cast as a therapist who gives America the support to deal with his troubled past and find the courage to survive against all odds.”

The day’s events included:

• A morning press conference attended by Rosie O’Donnell, Senator Mary Landrieu, Representative Joseph Crowley, and several alumni of CCAI’s Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program. The press conference called attention to that evening’s Screening of the movie America as well as the need for Congress to act quickly to pass the Foster Care Mentoring Act (S.986), which outlines a wide variety of strategies for recruiting young men and women to serve as mentors to youth in foster care.
• Several exclusive press interviews with Rosie O’Donnell and Senator Mary Landrieu including Newsweek Magazine, Greta Van Sustren of Fox News (click here for the transcript of the interview and to find a link to the video), and Norah O’Donnell of MSNBC.
• A luncheon attended by Rosie O’Donnell, Daryl McDaniels (Run DMC), Senator Mary Landrieu, Senator Olympia Snowe, Representative Jim McDermott and five former foster youth from CCAI’s FYI Program.
• A screening of the Lifetime Original Movie America starring Rosie O’Donnell in the Capital Visitor Center’s North Theater.  A question & answer session with the audience and Rosie O’Donnell.

CCAI commends actress Rosie O’Donnell and Lifetime Television for their commitment to using media and film to raise awareness of the needs of children in foster care across the United States, and looks forward to continuing to partner with them on behalf of children in need of homes.

May 5, 2009

With the help of CCAI, twenty-one Members of Congress signed a letter to Romania’s newly elected Foreign Minister to urge reform of current law in order to allow intercountry adoption and “more fully promote and support permanent parental care for children.” The letter makes note of Romania’s own startling estimate that 86,000 children are currently in state care in the country. Romania banned intercountry adoption in 2001. “We continue to support your goal of developing a reformed system for international adoption,” the letter said, “but the delay in reform should not occur at the expense of the children already matched with adoptive families in the United States or elsewhere.” The letter was delivered to the Foreign Minister during his meeting with Secretary Clinton that week.

CCAI was pleased to join the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) in facilitating meetings between Members of Congress and a delegation from Vietnam invited to the US by the Joint Council on International Children’s Services. The delegation was led by Vietnam’s Vice Minister of Justice and comprised of seven other officials and legislative experts each with authorities related to Vietnam’s international adoption laws and policies.

During their visit, the Vietnamese delegation met with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Office of Children’s Issues regarding the possibility of a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to facilitate adoptions from Vietnam while it works toward becoming party to the Hague Convention. The delegation also attending working sessions with the Departments of State and Health and Human Services on implementation of the Hague Convention and were appreciative of this training, requesting continued technical assistance on this subject in the future. The delegation also participated an afternoon tea hosted by Senator Mary Landrieu and attended by staff from Senators Durbin, Feingold, Mendoza and Kerry, and Congressman Boozman’s offices, followed by a separate meeting with Congressman Bill Delahunt. The Senator and office representatives shared their continued support of efforts to reestablish intercountry adoptions with Vietnam and a new MOA while anticipating future Hague implementation. These Congressional offices are representative of the 149 Members who signed the July 7, 2008 letter to Secretary Rice in support of a new MOA with Vietnam.

Additionally, CCAI hosted a meeting between the delegation and several US families who are still trying to complete pending adoptions in Vietnam. The delegation stated they would review the families’ requests after returning to Vietnam. As a result of the visit, the Vice Minister of Justice agreed to create a team of Vietnamese and US experts to work toward a new MOA and Hague implementation, as well as extended an invitation to US experts to travel to Vietnam in May to continue these dialogues.

Members, Seymour Discuss Reform

March 31, 2009

2004 National Angel in Adoption™ award recipient Jane Seymour joined Members of Congress and CCAI Board of Directors and staff for a discussion on ways that public figures might work together to improve outcomes foster and orphaned youth. As part of the discussion, CCA Members, Senator Landrieu, Congressman Cooper, Congressman McDermott and Congressman Pomeroy, and Ms. Seymour discussed a wide variety of specific opportunities to increase public awareness of the needs of children in need of safe, loving, and permanent families. increasing mentoring opportunities was one specific solution proposed by the group. Statistics show that at-risk adolescents in foster care who are connected with non-parent mentors have more positive outcomes later as adults in both health and educational achievement. A large part of the dialogue was centered on ways that they as public figures might contribute to national efforts to encourage more individuals to consider mentoring, fostering, or adopting these children. In 2004, Jane Seymour was selected as a National Angel in Adoption™ because of her extensive child welfare work in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Seymour’s insight into the effective use of film and media to raise awareness and generate action on behalf of foster and orphaned youth is indispensable to the work of the CCA and CCAI. CCAI looks forward to translating the ideas generated as a part of this event into action.

Each year as Congress re-convenes, they face a host of urgent business and new challenges. This year more than ever, Congress came into session facing unprecedented economic challenges, budget short falls and intense media scrutiny of their agendas and priorities. In the midst of these pressures, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Members and their staff gathered in the U.S. Capitol to discuss their priorities for the 111th Congress regarding children in need of permanent families around the world. Senator Evan Bayh, Senator Ben Cardin, Senator James Inhofe, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Representative Michelle Bachmann, Representative Jim Cooper, Representative Jim McDermott, and Representative Earl Pomeroy joined in the conversation led by CCA Co-chair, Senator Mary Landrieu. Members and their staff presented their individual priorities and related work to address policy barriers facing children in need of homes. Special guest, Josh Dubois, Director of the office of White House faith based initiatives, greeted members and reiterated the Obama Administration’s commitment to work with Congress on foster care, adoption, orphans issues.

CCAI Hosts Reception for Delegations to National Prayer Breakfast

February 4, 2009

This February, government leaders and concerned citizens from around the globe gathered in Washington for the National Prayer Breakfast. CCA members Senator Sam Brownback, Senator James Inhofe, Senator Mark Pryor, and Senator Mary Landrieu invited Natioanl Prayer Breakfast participants to the Hill for a receiption and conversation on how government and faith communities can better cooperate to serve the needs of orphaned children. Senator Sam Brownback was one of several members who greeted attendees and invited their participation with Congressional efforts regarding orphans and vulnerable children. The evening’s most inspiring speaker may have been Zagita Marie Repart, 7-year-old granddaughter of Senator Inhofe. Zagita was adopted from Ethiopia, and spoke eloquently of what the new family means to her and her support of her grandfather's advocacy for Africa's orphans and vulnerable children.