November is National Adoption Month and HRC is joining in on the celebration. Today, HRC President Joe Solmonese traveled to Denver where he presented the first Colorado-based adoption agency, Adoption Alliance, with the All Children – All Families Seal of Recognition. The event brought media attention to the special role that LGBT adoptive parents play, and the obstacles they face.
The Adoption Alliance has long been a pioneer in working with LGBT families. The agency achieved the ten benchmarks outlined in HRC’s “All Children – All Families” Practices Guide, which offers examples of effective practices for working with LGBT foster and adoptive parents.
The Independent Adoption Center in San Francisco was also presented with the HRC Foundation’s All Children – All Families Seal of Recognition during a National Adoption Month ceremony at the Superior Court of San Francisco last week.
HRC President Joe Solmonese and Family Project Director Ellen Kahn present Seal of Recognition to Adoption Alliance Executive Director Tracey Blustein
The “All Children – All Families” initiative, launched in 2007 by the HRC Foundation Family Project, aims to promote agencies and policies that welcome LGBT foster and adoptive parents. The program seeks to enhance LGBT competence among child welfare professionals and educate LGBT people about opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents to waiting children. Thirty-four agencies from across the U.S are currently participating, and more than a dozen agencies are close to earning the seal of recognition. More information about the initiative can be found at www.hrc.org/acaf.
A comprehensive website featuring common questions and obstacles prospective parents face, tools for child welfare professionals, and an overview of state adoption laws can be found here.
