October 19, 2010
On October 10th, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law from the campus of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services in Santa Monica, California that would allow children to stay in the foster care system until age 21. This will relieve California’s foster children of the burden of worrying about aging out of the system at age 18. The authors of the bill recognized that the recession has created many Boomerang Kids, the term giving to children who leave home but return to their parents’ support system. Foster children do not have a place to Boomerang back to so what happens to them?
The Governor quoted a study showing that for every dollar the state invests in foster care, two and a half dollars are saved. The cost of the extra three years will be funded by state and federal money. He also said that as he sees it as an investment, the kids would have to do their part by returning to school, work and/or meet regularly with their case workers in exchange for the financial and social support. What are your thoughts? Should the state pay for a child to be in foster care until 21? Leave a comment below.
October 1, 2010
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recently announced the fourth annual 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list recognizing US organizations for their adoption benefits. Topping the list is The Wendy’s/Arby’s Group. The honor was well deserved as they offer a maximum of $24,300 in financial assistance and up to six weeks paid leave. Wow! I admire that commitment to adoption and foster care. How about you? If you work outside the home, did your employer offer benefits? Have you ever changed jobs to work for a company merely because of their adoption benefits? If you think your company could compete, you can complete a registration form for next year. What do you think? Should employers pay for or provide support to parents going through adoption or foster care (other than what is legally required like the FMLA)? We welcome your opinion below.
August 20, 2010
Not true according to a new study by researchers from the University of Virginia and George Washington University! The research looked at gender development and adjustment of children adopted at birth by 50 heterosexual couples, 27 lesbian couples and 29 gay couples.
For the first time this study also included teachers and caregivers. Prior studies only included data from the parents. In addition to the parental evaluation, outside caregivers and teachers were also asked to evaluate the preschoolers in this study. They found that the children thrived whether they had one mother and one father, two mothers, or two fathers. Parenting stress, parenting strategies, and couple relationship satisfaction, however, were significant factors contributing to child behavior problems. “In comparison, parental sexual orientation was unrelated to children’s adjustment.” The study showed that the boys and girls in the study acted like other same-aged, same gender children. Critics will abound, however, researchers say that denying lesbian and gay parents from adopting because it will affect the child’s development and gender identify is unjustified.
Does that mean that Florida, Mississippi and Utah will soon legalize adoption by same-sex couples? What do you think about this study? Give us your thoughts below.
