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Family Matters - - Agency bolstered with grant seeks to build up the ranks of black adoptive and foster families, dispel myths
July 3, 2005 •By Linda A. Moore •The Commercial Appeal
Six-year-old twins Autumn and Adam fly across their family's front lawn, racing each other to a stand of trees that is both their finish line and the boundary their father has set, far from the traffic on their busy road.
The twins have all sorts of boundaries, rules and chores. They share a loving relationship with their parents, Russell, 50, and Amy, 45, (who for privacy reasons asked that their last name not be used) and have had an honest lesson on adoption.
It's a lesson the children don't dwell on.
Why dwell on being adopted, when all it means to them is that they are loved and wanted?
Mid-South Christian Services is looking for more African-American families willing to open their hearts and homes to adoption.
The nonprofit adoption agency has received a one-year, $87,000 grant from the Assisi Foundation for the recruitment of adoptive and foster African-American families. It's money the agency is using for public education efforts that include radio appearances and visits with churches and sororities to spread the word.
African-Americans do adopt, but often through unofficial channels, such as taking in the children of relatives, experts say. Agencies that handle adoptions want families to also consider the other children - the more than 380 black children in foster care who are available for adoption in Shelby County.
"I know there are stable families out there" who could offer good homes to available children, said Natalie Wilson, the Christian Services recruiter who is spearheading the initiative. "We just need to reach them."
Of the six African-American newborns placed by Mid-South last year, only two were with African-American families, said Brenda Jones, domestic adoption case worker.
There's a waiting list of about 40 white families who have been screened and met Mid-South's requirements for adoption.
"If 10 people came in with 10 Caucasian babies, before tomorrow we would have them all placed," Jones said. "If 10 African-American babies came in we don't have 10 families."
The Tennessee Department of Children's Services encourages raising awareness of the need for African-American families to adopt and be foster parents and also has gone into the faith community for help, said Servella Terry, director of recruitment for the department .
"We need to get some really clear messages out across the state because we just feel very strongly that when people hear what our needs are and understand the criticalness of our need, they will be a little bit more receptive and apt to be resource parents and take care of our kids," Terry said.
According to state statistics, of the about 8,100 children in foster care in Tennessee more than 2,750 or 34 percent are African-American.
In Shelby County, about 1,200 children are in foster care, with 450 available for adoption. And most (about 85 percent) of the kids awaiting adoption in Shelby County are African-American, said Debra Kirkwood, Christian Services' director of special needs adoption and foster care.
Black children are being placed in white homes, but that's not always the best choice, Wilson said.
"We know that the ideal situation is to see African-American children placed in African-American families," Wilson said. "And because a lot of times we do semi-open adoptions, a lot of African-American birth mothers want African-American families."
That position is supported by the National Association of Social Workers, which endorses the active and continuous recruitment of adoptive parents from diverse ethnic and racial groups.
The child's best interest should always be the first concern in adoption situations, said Karen Franklin, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the NASW.
When it's not possible to place children with families of the same race it is critical those families support and respect the cultural heritage of the adopted child, Franklin said.
"I think it is critically important to have permanent homes for children," she said. "But I think it's also critically important to match cultural backgrounds."
Christian Services believes the key to increasing the pool of African-American adoptive families is to raise awareness with the help of adoptive parents and to dispel myths about adoption and the children needing homes.
Rev. Dan Henley is offering his church, Journey Christian Church in Cordova, and his family's own testimony.
He and his wife, Dee, adopted their son, Daniel, now 5, when he was a month old.
They've since welcomed Wilson into the church to speak to the congregation. And as a family, they've talked to people about adopting.
"This is our testimony. Little Daniel is our testimony," Henley said.
Amy doesn't see herself as a public speaker, but she's ready to hit the speaking circuit if she can convince more people to adopt.
"I just believe if we are aware, if we know what the numbers look like, we're going to step up to the plate," Amy said. "I hope we step up to the plate because those numbers are overwhelming."
One issue to overcome are the misconceptions about the process, Jones said.
Potential adoptive parents are screened and must be financially able to care for a child. But they don't have to be wealthy.
Fees start at about $10,000 and cap at $20,000 for an infant.
"We're willing to work with families on fees," Jones said.
Parents wanting a child should plan financially for adoption the way they would a house or a car, she said.
Though Christian Services works only with Christian families, there are many other agencies open to other families.
The level of involvement from birth parents is another area of concern for adoptive families.
Birth families often want to meet the adoptive parents, but the shortage of black adoptive families leaves birth parents afraid of where the baby will be placed and makes the decision to place a baby more difficult, said Becky Babcock, birth parent counselor at Christian Services.
"If we can reduce the unknown, we can help them have confidence in a very loving decision," Babcock said.
Sometimes sharing information isn't appropriate, Babcock said.
Amy and Russell met the twins' birth mother once and only first names were exchanged.
"She said all I ask of you is to love my children," Russell said.
There are times when the birth parents take part in the selection process.
That's how 3-year-old Josiah Patterson came to be the only boy in a house filled with four sisters.
His birth mother was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she heard a radio advertisement for Mid-South Christian Services, said Josiah's father, Rev. Clenton Patterson, 42.
"It was a miracle because that was the last day the ad ran," said Patterson, pastor of CrossRoads Baptist Church on Overton Crossing.
He and his wife, Monica, 41, wanted a son but were unable to have more children.
Josiah's birth mother chose them from a book of potential families.
They keep in contact, said Monica Patterson. She sends cards and pictures and notes about his progress.
"She wanted what was best for him, not what's best for her," Monica said.
Challenges are even greater when trying to place special needs cases like older children and sibling groups.
In Tennessee a black child is considered a special needs case and hard to place at age 5, Kirkwood said. The age is 9 for a white child.
The average black child awaiting adoption is a 10-year-old boy, Kirkwood said.
Unfortunately, the belief that African-American teenage boys are hard to manage is difficult to overcome.
"They're trouble, they're set in their ways, they've got baggage, problems, they talk back, they're disobedient," Kirkwood said. "Actually, they're no different from birth teenagers."
The children have not been placed in state custody because of something they've done but because of their parents, she said.
"Most of us, if we made a list of everything important to us, family would be on that list and would be the last thing we'd want to give up," Kirkwood said. "That's the first thing these children have had to give up."
Adopting older children is in some ways a less burdensome process.
Adoption fees for special needs children are paid by the state, and for children adopted after age 15, tuition at an in-state public college will be covered, she said.
Finding African American adoptive families is a challenge for nonprofit and for-profit adoption agencies, said Sue Parker, president of the West Tennessee Council of Adoption Agencies, a 13-member organization.
"It's hard sometimes because you've got situations where families are maybe not educated on adoption," said Parker, child placement manager with Life Choices Inc. "I think that's why the grant from the Assisi Foundation has been so instrumental in helping because it does take time and effort and money to get out there and talk about adoption and what that really means."
Henley says his family prayed continually for a baby boy before Daniel became a part of their family.
"We looked at him, and he's been ours ever since," he said. "He's truly been a blessing to us. I hope that we've been a blessing to him."
- Linda A. Moore: 529-2702
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Children in need
Statewide: About 34 percent of the 8,100 children in foster care in Tennessee are African-American.
Locally: 450 foster children are available for adoption in Shelby County, and 85 percent of those children are African-American.
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ADOPTION INFORMATION
Nonprofit adoption agencies :
Agape Child & Family Services
Memphis
111 Racine Street
P.O. Box 11411
Memphis, TN
323-3600
Catholic Charities/St. Peter's Ministry
1325 Jefferson Ave.
Memphis, TN
722-4700
Hannah's Hope
Collierville United Methodist Church
454 W. Poplar
Collierville, TN
853-8383
Jewish Family Services
6560 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN
767-8511
Life Choices Inc.
2235 Covington Pike, Suite 14
388-1172
Mid-South Christian Services
1044 Brookfield Road, Suite 102
818-9996
Porter-Leath Children's Services
868 N. Manassas
Memphis, TN
577-2500
Tennessee Department of Children's Services
170 N. Main
Memphis, TN
947-8898
Williams International Adoptions Inc.
5100 Stage Road, Suite A
Memphis, TN
373-6003
- Linda A. Moore: 529-2702
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