“Home for the holidays” is a phrase that brings up images of nostalgia, warm holiday decorations, and families gathered around a cozy fire. It’s warm and fuzzy, and an experience that all children deserve to have. As we approach the 2021 holiday season, the need for loving foster families to open their homes to youth …
SAFY Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Did you know that National Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off September 15 and runs through October 15? According to the Hispanic Heritage Month website, the initiative dates back to 1968, when U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced Hispanic Heritage Week. President Ronald Reagan extended it to a month-long celebration in 1988. …
By Tonya Brooks-Thomas, SAFY of Ohio Executive Director At Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth (SAFY), we know from our work as a therapeutic foster care, adoption and family services provider that all youth need a stable home environment to achieve their full potential. Unfortunately, we know that too often in the world of child …
Youth Experiencing Foster Care Belong in Families Read More »
By Jay Paul Deratany Founding Partner, Deratany & Kosner Chicago attorney and child advocate, Jay Paul Deratany (founder of Chicago’s Deratany & Kosner) has spent years working tirelessly to protect the rights of foster children. Most recently, he won a $45 million judgement – the largest award ever in the history of the State …
What led you to become a foster parent? The question was posed to a variety of people from different ages and backgrounds — single, married, widowed or divorced. “We wanted to expand our family,” said the married couple after years of infertility challenges. “We wanted to start a family,” said the same-sex couple. “I have …
National Foster Care Month Celebrates Foster Parents and Families Read More »
The SAFY Village Is this your year to foster a child? By Caitlin Johnson, Foster Parent and Foster Parent Recruiter It takes a village to raise a child. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard many times, but there’s actually science that supports it. Children with a formal or informal mentor are less likely to …
Children in foster care often have different holiday experiences than their peers as they are away from their homes, families and people they love. It can be hard for them to find meaning and joy during the holidays. As a foster parent, you might notice your foster child experiencing more challenges during this time of …
Creating Holiday Traditions With Foster Children in Your Care Read More »
There’s nothing like experiencing the magic of the holiday season through the eyes of a child, but imagine being a child and spending the holidays with unfamiliar faces instead of your relatives. This holiday season, over 400,000 children in the United States will be away from family as they spend the holidays in foster care. …
How to Help Foster Youth Find Meaning and Joy During the Holidays Read More »
A Q&A with Brenda Harris, a SAFY foster to adopt parent Adopting a child is one of the greatest gifts an individual or couple can give to the more than 100,000 children and teens waiting to be adopted in the U.S. November is National Adoption Awareness Month and we wanted to hear from some of …
Did you know around 7 million Americans in the United States are adopted? People choose to adopt for a variety of reasons, including completing their existing family, wanting to give a foster child a forever family or not being able to have biological children of their own. There are many things to consider when deciding …
National Adoption Awareness Month: More Children Need Loving Families Read More »
