Birmingham Adoption Orientation: June 4

 
We are having a free Adoption Orientation in the Birmingham area!

Tuesday, June 4
6 - 8pm
Children's Aid Society
2141 14th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35205
Driving Directions

This orientation is for those who would like to receive more information about adoption and also for those ready to begin the process. You are welcome to ask specific questions and take a look at pictures/biographies of some of the Alabama children who are available for adoption and currently awaiting forever families.

Currently, there are more than 260 children in foster care in Alabama who are awaiting a loving and caring adoptive home. Many have never felt the warmth and joy that comes from a forever family. Most have been placed in agency custody due to parental neglect or physical abuse. The good news is that the lives of these children can be brightened forever by just one person -YOU!

Click Here to Register!

For more information, please contact Theresa Cook at tcook@childrensaid.org or 205-943-5331.

Become a Foster Parent to a Young Mother

Open Your Heart
Open Your Home

For those of you who are ready to begin the process of fostering young mothers or would like to learn more.

Currently, there are 6,000 children in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Children’s Aid Society has partnered with DHR to provide foster homes for young mothers who are in foster care.
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The Moms and Babies program provides parenting skills, employment skills / apprenticeships and basic living skills which will enable each young mother to be a successful and independent parent.
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We are recruiting those who want to learn more about fostering these young mothers. Please contact us today to learn more about how you can change the life of an Alabama child.

Brooke Hill
bhill@childrensaid.org
205-919-0372

Webinar: Preparing for and Adjusting to Adoption Part I

Preparing for and Adjusting to Adoption Part I - Preparing for Forever

This free webinar will discuss the range of feelings involved in the commitment to adopt that begins as early as the first thought on adoption. It will also increase awareness of the steps involved in preparing to adopt a “special needs” child from Alabama’s foster care system.

Objectives:

1. Discuss the steps involved in preparing for adoption.
2. Explain the method and reasoning behind each step of preparing to adopt from foster care.
3. Discuss the physical and psychological effects that the family as a whole may experience while preparing to adopt.
4. Provide strategies that can be used during each step of the adoption process that will assist the family in preparing for forever. 

Tuesday, May 21

 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (CST) 

Click Here to Register Online

1.5 CEUs available for the following:

• Adoptive Parents
• Foster Parents
• Social Workers
• Counselors

CAS is an approved CE Provider NBCC #6459 ABSWE #0039. 

Leslie Hales, LCSW, PIP is the Pre-Adoption Services Coordinator for Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections (APAC) at CAS. She is a native of Laurel, Mississippi and completed her undergraduate in social work at the University of Southern Mississippi. She moved to Birmingham in 1999, and received her Masters from University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 2003. Her 13 years of social work experience began with Jefferson County DHR child welfare in preservation, foster care and quality assurance. She then moved to Children's Aid Society and has worked as a Family Support Worker to adoptive families and Coordinator of the Moms and Babies and Project Independence Programs prior to rejoining the APAC team in 2010. She reports her greatest accomplishment has been the adoption of her daughter from foster care three years ago.

Beverly Owings, BA is the Child Specific Recruiter for APAC Pre-Adoption Services. She has worked with Children's Aid Society since 2007 as an AdoptUSKids Specialist and also as a Recruitment Coordinator for the APAC program. Prior to her work at CAS, she was a Family Support Worker with the Elmore County Family Resource Center as a certified instructor of "Parenting the Destructive Teen" where she worked with Youth Enhancement and Family Services with at-risk youth and their families. She has served as the Vice-President of Adoptions with Alababa Foster & Adoptive Parent Association (AFAPA) and in 2008 was appointed by former Governor Riley to serve on the Child Welfare Data Review Committee with the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Beverly and her husband have adopted four children including two teenagers from Alabama's foster care system.

 

Job Readiness Training: May 17

 

Join us for our Job Readiness Training on Friday, May 17 from 8:30am until 1pm at our Birmingham offices. 

Our presenter will be Charlette White, Job Readiness instructor from Lawson State Community College.
 

Topics Include:

• How To Find A Job
• Which Job is Right For You?
• How To Act in The Workplace
• Dealing with Conflict
• Following Directions
• Application Do’s & Don’ts
• Interview Techniques 

For More Information:

Rhonda Noble

Positive Pathways Program Coach/Case Manager
205-943-5358 or rnoble@childrensaid.org
 

Pat Johnson
Team Associate
205 943-5338 or pjohnson@childrensaid.org

The Wide Continuum of Mothering

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Via Amy from The Messy Middle

Camp Life 2013 For Foster Youth

August 2-4 and September 20-22
We will be hosting two weekend camps for up to 100 IL youth each. The camp in August will be for youth aged 14-16 years old. The camp in September will be for youth aged 17-21 years old.
Activities of the camp build self-confidence and independent living skills among youth. Campers will participate in closely supervised activities within their small group such as a ropes course, team building activities, talent show, boating, mini golf, field games, and others as a group. All camp activities will provide opportunities for campers to develop relationships with their group leaders and other group members in order to trust and understand each other.

• Submit a Camp Life I (ages 14-16) camper application.
• Submit a Camp Life II (ages 17-21) camper application.

 

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Camp Life will be held at The Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana. The amenities at are outstanding and sure to enhance the fun and safe environment provided for each camper! You can learn more about the 4-H Center by visiting their website.

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Our camp wouldn't be possible without our amazing staff! The qualities we look for include, boundless enthusiasm, putting others before self, sensitivity to camper needs, willingness to work, dedication and loyalty. Prior experience in a camp setting is not a requirement for working as part of our team, however it is a bonus! Working with children in professional settings, teaching skills, and certifications are also assets to your application.

Click Here To Learn More About Staffing Camp Life

If you have any questions about Camp Life, please contact Nikki Freeman, IL Coordinator, at nfreeman@childrensaid.org or 205-943-5356.