Grantee Projects Kidsave International, Inc.
Project Adopt Older Kids! (A-OK!)(May 2008)
Kidsave Project Adopt Older Kids! is a hosting program for children 12 and older who are either legally free and/or have a goal of adoption and no identified adoptive placement. (Children under 12 participate if part of a sibling group and at least one sibling is 12 or older.) Partners in this project include the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, and the DC Child and Family Services Agency.
Core components
- Case mining
- Recruitment, training, approval of Host Families [home study (DC) or Short Visit Report (LA)].
- Weekend visits with Host Parents – Host parents and child get to know each other and then host parents initiate advocacy efforts to help the child find an adoptive family.
- Kidsave outreach [paid media, speaking engagements] and advocacy events and efforts.
- In DC only, a mentoring component – trained, cleared mentors who also participate in advocacy.
| Results to date: | |||
| Total | LA | DC | |
| Children served | 90 | 67 | 23 (7 more just referred) |
| Children actively participating in program | 46 | 26 | 20 |
| Children with adoptive families identified | 21 | 19 | 2 |
| Children adopted | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Children who have achieved permanency in some other manner (reunified with parents, placed with kin) | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Children who have left program for other reasons | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| Total children who have been hosted | 18 | 14 | 4 |
| Children currently in hosting | 13 | 9 | 4 |
| Children matched with Weekend Miracles mentors | 8 | N/A | 8 |
In LA, case mining was especially effective in moving children to permanence in the beginning. We believe that other children moved to permanence as a result of being referred to the program (i.e., children whose foster parents have moved forward to adopt or children who have been placed due to greater advocacy and follow up, possibly due to reduced social work caseloads). In DC, pressure to meet conditions of the ongoing class action lawsuit resulted in a successful push to get as many children as possible adopted, with a peak of finalized adoptions in 2005. Thus, for referred children there weren’t as many unexplored individuals.
Challenges
- We did not anticipate time or paid advertising needed to recruit at least the initial group of host parents.
- Kidsave did not have a presence as an adoption organization/no name recognition.
- It has taken longer than anticipated for host parents and children to become comfortable with each other and for subsequent advocacy efforts to bear fruit.
What are the promises?
- Children are making connections with adults. Watching these relationships develop is magical.
- Program participation has a positive impact on children – their self-esteem, engagement with others, even school performance has improved.
- We are developing a presence in our two communities.
- Our numbers are increasing – we have many more potential host parents in the “pipeline” in both locations; in DC, attendance at advocacy events is up as well.
- Public agency partners have become comfortable with and see value of the program – they see the positive impact on the children and look forward to more adoptive placements.
For more information, please contact:
Susan Punnett
Director Weekend Miracles and Project A-OK!
Kidsave
5165 MacArthur Blvd. NW
Washington, DC 20016
direct dial number: 202-280-6325
Kidsave office: 202-237-7283
Fax: 202-237-7080
www.kidsave.org