The Washington State Senate is proposing a drastic cut to adoption support funding. Many families state that they would not be able to adopt without this assistance from the State. Therefore, a budget cut would result in even more children ending up in the State's care without permanent families. This would not only be detrimental to the children, but it would also result in higher costs for the State to provide care.

Below is an urgent call to action from Kelly DeLany, Director of Northwest Adoption Exchange:

The 50% reduction to Adoption Assistance Level 1 is still in place in the proposed Senate Budget. We need folks to call Senators of the Ways and Means Committee and tell them this area needs to be fully funded. You can find the list of Committee members here.

This is the proposed cut, found on page 18 of the Proposed Senate Budget Overview:

ADOPTION SUPPORT

"$1.6MILLION GENERAL FUND-STATE SAVINGS

The proposed Senate budget aims to control adoption costs by capping adoption support payments at 50 percent of the foster care maintenance payments for children with no special needs.

Northwest Adoption Exchange takes the position that all children in foster care have special needs.

• Almost half of families who adopt from foster care have incomes at or below 200 percent of poverty level. 66% of families nationwide say they need the incentive to be able to adopt. 

• The top barrier to foster care adoption cited by African American families is the lack of financial resources.

• The state is using the past adoption incentive award to plug a 1.6 million dollar general fund hole in the budget. The incentive money was earned by the state because families stepped forward to adopt. There will be no future incentive funds forthcoming if the state reduces this support to families.

An interesting article on parent-child relationships was recently posted to the NACAC website. The following is probably the most poignant part of the article:

The neuroscience of parenting and attachment is deepening our understanding of challenges faced by both these children and their parents. New knowledge from brain science provides a better understanding of how and why the most loving parents can lose touch with their good intentions and develop what we call "blocked care" when they don't receive caring responses from a child. With blocked care, brain systems that support empathy start to shut down to protect parents from rejection, and parents may feel angry or upset, or take children's behavior personally. Painful parenting can cause actual wear and tear on parents' brains, making it harder to be loving and nurturing.

If parents understand why their child has become mistrustful and how it affects the child's behavior, they are less likely to react defensively when a child does not reciprocate love. They can then begin to embrace parental actions that promote trust - playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, and empathy (PACE). When parents can regulate negative feelings, accept the whole child - mistrust and all - and employ actions like PACE, the child can gradually feel safer and the parent-child bond improves.

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Collaborative Coaching is a great leadership and confidence experience for teens in the Seattle area. They are accepting enrollment for Cascade Summer Internship for teens. This program is designed for teens age 14-18 who possess good social skills but have simply not meshed with their high school's social scene and are looking for a positive social experience and a place to build identity.

Some highlights of the summer program:

• Confidence and personal growth through a small group setting
• Sustainable friendships and trust
• Convenient locations in Seattle and Bellevue
• Free enrollment meeting with clinical coordinators to ensure group fit
• High school academic credits, recommendation letter, and community service hours

Contact Ben Wahl, MSW by email or phone at (206) 517-0222 for more information, or visit their website to read more about the program, including times and fees.