PRESS RELEASE: AHome4EveryKid
Adopt4Life to highlight 30 Adoption Stories in 30 Days with social media outreach campaign #AHome4EveryKid
Throughout November, Ontario’s Adoptive Parent Association will support Adoption Awareness Month with family stories that show why Ontario’s adoption system is in crisis
Toronto, Ontario, November 1st, 2014 – Adopt4Life, Ontario’s non-profit Adoptive Parent Association, today announced the start of #AHome4EveryKid, a family outreach campaign through social media channels. Coinciding with National Adoption Month, the awareness campaign will highlight the fallout from the system’s long delays on matching waiting adoptive children with families in Ontario.
Every day in November 2014, Adopt4Life will feature a personal story of one family in Ontario who has been waiting for years to be matched either by their;; local Children’s Aid Society, international agency, or private adoption agencies and licensees. The story will appear on Adopt4Life’s website, Facebook and Twitterchannels using the hashtag #AHome4EveryKid.
“Ontario has nearly 7,000 children awaiting forever homes, yet ready families still wait years for matches by their local Children’s Aid Societies,” says Julie Despaties, Founder of Adopt4Life. “Too many waiting children are living in foster care for years without permanency. We encourage everyone in Ontario to read and share the stories, so that Ontario’s politicians and Children’s Aid Societies start to listen and act on behalf of these
kids.”
The numbers show how badly the adoption system in Ontario is breaking down. Every year 1,000 children age out of the system at 18 years of age without ever being placed in a permanent home. Yet approximately 1,000 parents become AdoptReady in Ontario every year and everyday 418 people visit the AdoptOntario website to review profiles of children.
Ontario’s Children’s Aid Societies struggle to create matches. They simply do not have the capacity to handle the demand, which is rising. Previously, any child with an openness agreement (mandated access to kin) was not eligible for adoption. This changed in 2012, resulting in an influx of children, particularly older children, seeking permanent families. Yet funding and resources have not increased to match this need, leaving CASs with a bottlenecked system.
Adopt4Life believes Ontario can do better.
The first story is posted today on the Adopt4Life website #AHome4EveryKid. It tells of a 9 year ongoing wait to be matched, which could have been significantly shortened without ongoing confusion and inconsistent policies.
The Adopt4Life website will feature a new story every day by 9AM EST. Note that all pseudonyms when used are identified to protect the requested privacy of individuals.
About Adopt4Life
Adopt4life is Ontario’s Adoptive Parent Association, a non-profit organization. We advocate at the government level for an improved adoption process and for better services, and provide support and guidance to adoptive families from the moment they are “Adopt Paper Ready” throughout their parenting journey. Inclusive of ALL Ontario adoptive parents, including: public, private, international, kin care, customary
care and moral adoption. Adopt4Life believes Ontario can do better when it comes to forming families through adoption: Every Child deserves a 4ever home. Find out more at www.Adopt4Life.com.