Adoption Tax Credit Letter - template

As you may or may not know, the larger adoption tax credit will sunset at the end of this year unless you encourage your congressman and senator to let it continue into subsequent years.  America World has provided a letter template to make it even easier for you to do so!

Tax Credit Letter

(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

new book for adoptive parents

Sally Bacchetta has released a new book called What I Want My Adopted Child to Know:  An Adoptive Parent's Perspective.  

Bacchetta’s words echo with the collective voice of over 100 adoptive parents interviewed for this book. With chapters like “I Would Do it All Again”, “You Are Not Different Because You Were Adopted,” and “I Regret What I Can’t Give You,” What I Want My Adopted Child to Know is by turns affirming, challenging, thoughtful, wistful, and poignant.

Amazon link is here.

(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Online Parenting Webinar

The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is offering a webinar called Beyond Placement:  Family Adjustment to Foster Care Adoption. 

After an adoption is finalized, it is not uncommon for both adoptive parents and their children to experience a period of adjustment as they transition to the changes that occur with finalization: the absence of previously ever-present (available) professionals, changes in the schedule of birth family visitation, changes in family dynamics, etc. Families may experience challenges around their child's reworking issues related to loss and grief of birth family ties. Some families may struggle with how to fulfill the obligations of their open adoption agreement. This webinar will help parents understand and successfully navigate through these concerns. Led by Madeleine Krebs, LCSW-C. Fee: $25.

Register here.
(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Update on Nepal

From Joint Council on International Children's Services:

It is our understanding that the U.S. government, following the lead of Germany, Sweden and Canada, is considering suspending the rights of Nepalese children to find a family through intercountry adoption.   Some in the child welfare community continue to call for the suspension of intercountry adoption until  ”reform” can be implemented.  Read more...

(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Haiti/Global Orphan Update and Adoption/Foster Care Workshop

Like you, the tragic events of Haiti have opened the hearts and minds of many believers worldwide to the issues of adoption and orphan care. Please join the Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance for a free informational meeting on Saturday, February 27 from 12:30 – 2:30 pm at Brentwood Baptist Church.

There will be an update on Haiti, adoption, mission/aid trips, and other ways for you to answer the call to serve the orphan locally and worldwide and where you can learn and ask questions about next steps.  Childcare will not be offered but children are welcome!

To register, please send an e-mail to the alliance indicating the total number of adults and children who will be attending.

The Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance (MTOA) is an alliance of Christian churches and community partners whose passionate mission is to share ideas and collaborate on activities to serve God’s children through adoption, foster care, and international orphan care.


(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Webinar - Parenting Adopted Adolescents

Gregory Keck, PhD and Janelle Althen, LCSW bring their expertise on attachment and early trauma as they discuss Parenting Adopted Adolescents. Both Gregory and Janelle have experience assisting families with their adopted adolescent children and draw from their knowledge of both domestic and international adoptions. Join us for insight and gain the support that is available for your family.

Date:  March 17
Cost:  $20.00
Register here.

(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Helping Haiti - Part 3 of 3

GIVING:
There are lots of great organizations to give to.  Reputable ones.  And of course, some not so reputable.  I’m providing a link to the Christian Alliance for Orphans site.  Since our alliance model is similar to theirs, I wanted to provide their list of organizations if you are led to give or are asked about organizations.

Hope for Orphans has created a blog dedicated to the needs of the Haitians.  You can follow that here.

Above all, keep praying.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Please also feel free to forward any of the e-mails to anyone you feel would be interested in this information.

(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Helping Haiti - Part 2 of 3

TEMPORARY FOSTER CARE:
It’s still quite possible that many of the Haitian children WILL be provided passage to other countries including the US, knowing that at least temporarily they can be given the basic necessities of water, food, shelter and loving people to help them through this tragedy. No governmental procedures are currently in place so how this will happen and who will be involved are big unknowns currently. The situation is very fluid and can change by the moment.

Because there is a chance that a number of these children will need to come to the US for temporary or permanent care, we want to try to be one step ahead. Organizations such as Lydia Home in Chicago (where Safe Families originated) and 4Kids in South Florida are two of the organizations who have already been asked to help. As you know, we’ve discussed Safe Families many times in our meetings. The concept of providing temporary foster care for these children is the perfect solution if they are brought to the US. Depending on the numbers, they very well could be inundated and not able to provide for all. In that case, churches and regional alliances like ours could possibly be called into action and we want to be ready.

To be proactive, MTOA is building a database of families who also have been through some of the process in either the area of foster care, adoption home studies or Safe Families training. We have created a very high-level survey for you to take a look at. If you have an interest at any level in caring for any of these children, please take a moment and fill out the survey. The information will only be stored and used if we are indeed told that children will be coming to the middle TN area. The questions are simply some of your contact info, whether or not you’re already in the approval process for an adoption (this would speed up the process since you would already have some of the background checks completed). Obviously, the agencies involved would have final say on approvals but this is just to be one step ahead in case we as the body of Christ are called to help. This is only a first step. If called upon, the appropriate agencies would be in touch with more information on how to go from here.

You can find the survey here. This is currently for middle TN only.  Please take a moment and fill it out!


(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Helping Haiti - Part 1 of 3

The Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance (MTOA) feels one of the most important things we can do is provide information with regards to orphans. So in response to the tragedy in Haiti, we are providing several key pieces of information. Lots of questions have come in about where to give, how to help, how to adopt, etc. so hopefully this will at least provide the information necessary for you to make the decision on how you feel you and your family should be involved. There are three key areas so I’m sending three separate e-mails. Please take a moment to read.

HAITIAN ADOPTIONS:
The key information here is that the majority of kids coming to the states you are hearing about already had an adoption in progress. The Haitian government could probably no longer prove that, but the US, Dutch and other countries could so the children were allowed to leave Haiti with humanitarian parole until the final paperwork can be completed.

As far as the thousands of children in Haiti now who were not orphans before the earthquake, they could very well be now. However, it will take weeks, months to prove their status. In many cases, the best solution is not to just pull them out of Haiti. Their parents might still be alive and able to find safety somewhere else in Haiti, the D.R., wherever. There are also many people whose first thoughts about these children are not well-intentioned. Already the stories are out that the children are proving easy prey for human traffickers.

All that to say inter-country adoption is a legal process which entails government involvement. Each child must be identified as adoptable and have paperwork with their profile. The government of Haiti probably has zero paperwork left and it will take time for this process to work. The main concerns now are water, food, shelter.

Keep in mind that a LOT of the stuff you hear on blogs and Facebook and other places could be false. Heard about some kids coming to Indiana who would need temporary foster homes but that proved to be false. Just be on alert and ask for clarification if you are unsure.


(c) 2010 From Hope to Home

Helping Haiti

Right now, the people of Middle Tennessee can help the youngest victims of the earthquake in Haiti by donating bedding supplies to the island nation’s many orphans. Sweet Sleep, an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Nashville, is hosting an emergency bedding drive at two locations in Williamson County.

More than 2,000 displaced or newly orphaned children are currently being moved to a safe location on six acres of land outside of Port-au-Prince by The Global Orphan Project. Sweet Sleep is a partner in this effort and is now collecting blankets, sheets, mats (camping, yoga, school, straw, etc.), and other bedding items to be delivered to these children so they have a place to sleep.

BEDDING DRIVE FOR HAITIAN ORPHANS
Location #1:  Cool Springs Galleria
Sears Parking Lot
Franklin, Tenn.
Wed., January 20
10:00 am – 7:00 pm

Location #2:  Brentwood Baptist Church
7777 Concord Road
Brentwood, Tenn.
Today through Wed., January 20

All donations should be new or in like-new condition. Bibles will also be accepted (children's Bibles). Items will be shipped to Miami, where they will be loaded into a freighter for Haiti on Friday.

Even before the earthquake, there were an estimated 800,000 orphans in Haiti, which is why Sweet Sleep expanded its global mission to include the impoverished nation late last year. The organization’s work with these children is not limited to the earthquake recovery effort but will continue for years to come.

Middle Tennesseans who are unable to participate in the bedding drive can still assist the effort with a monetary donation. Simply visit www.sweetsleep.org/donate and type “HAITI” in the special comments box.

Sweet Sleep is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Sweet Sleep is a member of the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability), which is dedicated to helping Christian ministries earn the public’s trust through adherence to their standards of responsible stewardship. Sweet Sleep is registered with Guidestar, which provides information that advances transparency in nonprofit practice in order to encourage charitable giving.

Sweet Sleep is a Nashville-based nonprofit organization which provides beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children. According to recent estimates there are more than 210 million orphans worldwide, and every day 5,760 more children become orphans. Sweet Sleep works closely with indigenous staff as well as U.S. churches and businesses to provide beds and bedding with a goal of providing “a bed for every head.” Since 2003, Sweet Sleep has provided thousands of beds for orphans in Moldova, Haiti, and Uganda.

For more information about Sweet Sleep, visit www.sweetsleep.org. 


(c) 2010 From Hope to Home