A Nnual Report 2014

Adoption Means... Annual Report 2014 Annual A Lifetime of Love Center Board of Directors Ken Mullner, Executive Director Officers Michael F. Rifkin, CFP, CRCP President Morgan Stanley Melissa Codkind Initiatives Events Vice President Bruce D. Davis, Jr. Vice President Niska Gas Storage Andrew P. March Vice President Accenture Seth Goldblum Treasurer CMF Associates Patricia Daly Secretary Bryce E. Graham Chubb Group of Insurance Companies Chair, Nominating E. Mady Prowler Chair, Programs Temple University Clarence D. Armbrister George T. Magnatta, Esq. Girard College Saul Ewing LLP Phil Barnett Elizabeth Mell PECO Energy Company Mell Consulting LLC Bob Bechtold Mike Morgan RPB Consulting Joyce M. Mosely Sheri DeMarino Wendphil, LLC Christian Noyes Penn Capital Management Allan B. Frank The Hackett Group Michael D. Soileau Comcast Angela D. Giampolo , Esq. Giampolo Law Group Andrew Wiest AC Lordi Consulting Ernestine Harris GlaxoSmithKline Dr. Chuck Williams Lincoln University Joanne Jackson Wawa, Inc. Kelly Wolfington Kelly Wolfington Associates William R. Levy Brown Brothers Harriman Kurt C. Wulfekuhler Peter Advisers LLP Susan Casey Lowry, LEED AP Jones Lang LaSalle - 2 - Greetings from the President and Executive Director Dear Friends, We are so excited to share terrific news about the Center’s expanding influence as a national leader in adoption. Our vision of spreading child-waiting features across the country has become a reality. The feature—which we’re calling “Wednesday’s Child USA”-- began in the first city— San Francisco—in early 2015 and the second one will debut in Baltimore in early June. As many of you know, the Center has been so pleased with the success rate of Wednesday’s Child Philadel- phia that, with the blessing of our Board of Directors, we began the complicated process of moving it to cities where significant numbers of children are waiting to be adopted. The introduction of these features comes as a result of extensive research and planning by the Center, nu- merous conferences with adoption agency administrators in the targeted cities, training social workers about how to select, prepare and interview children and negotiating with television stations to interest them in carrying the features. The Center’s goal is to add three cities each year, bringing recruitment opportunities to hundreds of children now in foster care who want to have permanent families. At the same time, the Center, for the first time in more than a dozen years, will be participating as a sub-con- tractor in a federal grant, working with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. The project— NJ-CARES-- calls for intensive recruitment for specific children—those who have been waiting the longest in the child welfare system for a permanent family. Goals are to learn what the barriers to permanency are; to reduce the amount of time the children wait to be adopted; to reduce the number of older adolescents who age out of care without an adoptive family, and, finally, to create a model for successful intensive recruitment. And now, turn to the back page of this Annual Report. There you’ll see children ranging in age from eight to fifteen.You’ll be struck, as we are, by their smiling faces that tell us, no matter their age or circumstances, how much they want to belong to a family. These are the images that are frozen into our minds as we continue to find innovative ways to create families for the many children who count on us. With your help, we will give them the “lifetime of love” they deserve. Michael F. Rifkin Ken Mullner President Executive Director - 3 - The Mission of the Adoption Center is to expand adoption opportunities for children living in foster care throughout the United States and to be a resource to families and to agencies who seek the permanency of caring homes for children. The children served by the Center are not the healthy infants usually associated with adoption. Most are school-aged; many have physical, emotional and/or mental challenges. Others are siblings who need to be adopted together. Nearly half the children—from toddlers to teenagers—are from minority cultures. Now living in foster care—in individual or group homes—the children need what all children need…the love and security that only a permanent family can provide. The Center works to find those families. Services of the Adoption Center Public Awareness and Recruitment Media The media market is changing rapidly with social media playing a more prominent role in disseminating the Center’s message to prospective adoptive parents, to donors and to adoption professionals. The Center communicates to these audiences through blogs which often show how adoption has touched people’s lives, how events are planned and the reasons for supporting certain adoption policies; through Facebook postings which frequently publicize traditional media features and events, and through tweets which highlight adoption facts and spread the word about the Center’s work and plans. At the same time, the Center maintains its strong presence in traditional media—newspa- pers (three in New Jersey and two in Philadel- phia), magazines, television and radio. In the Delaware Valley, where more than 1600 children wait to be adopted, the Center continues to have an unprecedented presence in media—a weekly column in both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Tribune; Wednesday’s Child, a feature which runs several times a week on Larry Kane, KYW Newsradio, Vai Sikahema, NBC 10, and and children awaiting adoption NBC10 and every Wednesday on KYW (CBS) child waiting for a home Newsradio, and a monthly feature on a radio station in the Susquehanna Valley. Stories and photographs about the Center’s leadership and special events appear in the news frequently. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story about a boy, 17, who had lived in seven foster homes be- fore he was adopted, through the Center’s efforts. The Center told the Inquirer reporter, “These kids—especially those who are older—don’t ask for the newest video game or smartphone. They ask for basics—a mom to talk to about their homework, a dad to play ball. To go on a vacation. They want what other kids have.” - 4 - Matching Events Each year the Center orchestrates several adoption events where prospective adoptive parents can meet and mingle with children waiting for families. Some events focus on older youth; others include children of all ages. The success rate is significant. SWAN Older Youth Match Parties For the sixth consecutive year, the Center received funding from the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN) to host match parties for Pennsylvania teens. In FY 14 the Center hosted two parties, one in Philadelphia, the other in Pittsburgh. Forty-two teens and 25 families attended with potential matches for 63% of the youth. New Jersey Match Parties Four match parties for New Jersey youth were held between July 2013 and June 2014. Thirty-three youth and 40 families attended the events, funded by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is making a difference for thousands of children—one child at a time. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption awards grants to public and private adoption agencies to hire adoption professionals who implement proactive, child-focused recruitment programs targeted exclusively on moving America’s longest-waiting children from foster care into adoptive families. The Center has two recruiters assigned to a caseload of Delaware and New Jersey children. In FY 14, two children from the program were adopted. - 5 - Philadelphia Program The Wednesday’s Child Philadelphia program, sponsored by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption continues to be a success. Forty-five new waiting child features and two success stories aired on NBC10 with a total of 1838 inquiries. This program has a 61% success rate. Connecting... The Center hosts online services that engage the community and spread the word about waiting children. AdoptSpeak, the Center’s online community where professionals, potential adopters, judges, legislators, birth parents, adoptees and others with an interest in adoption share information and communicate with each other. The Center’s blogs, published three times a week, give the Center a human face; they have featured children, described adoption events, reviewed books and movies, and explored why those interested in adopting should consider the children in foster care as well as infants or children from other countries. AdoptMatch is a site where adoption agencies profile themselves, and potential adopters are matched with those agencies that seem most appropriate. The adopters are also able to rate their experience with the agencies in terms of friendliness and customer service. Monthly webinars are held to introduce more agencies to the project. AdoptLearn, features the Center’s online course, Foster Family to Forever Family, which allows those interested in adopting to receive appropriate training in the comfort of their own homes at their own pace. It is especially valuable to those who are already fostering a child and are exploring adoption. Waking Up to a Smile Louis and Jocelyn started their adoption journey with the intention of adopting an infant or young child. However, after four years, they decided to consider older children. Their adoption agency told them about Mykal and when they learned he had been featured on NBC10’s Wednesday’s Child they watched the segment more than 100 times! “It was like seeing the child we learned about on paper come to life,” Jocelyn said. The couple knew that he would be their son. Visits were difficult because they lived in DC and he was in Delaware, but the journey each weekend was worth it, they said. One of the first questions Mykal asked when he visited them was whether he could change his name when he was adopted.

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