Throughout November, B.C. celebrates Adoption Awareness Month to acknowledge the many families created through adoption and bring attention to those children and youth who still need the care and love of a permanent family.

As part of the festivities, the Ministry of Children and Family Development is helping promote Expressions of Family, a travelling art gallery put on by the Adoptive Families Association of BC to raise awareness about the need to find more adoptive homes for teens.

The gallery features 14 pieces of artwork from youth, aged 12 to 24. Each tells the story of the artist's adoption and foster care experiences and will tour the province, with stops in Langley, Burnaby, Kelowna and Courtenay. The exhibition officially opens at 12:30 today at the Burnaby Village Museum as part of AFABC's Family Fun Day event.

Teens represent more than 30 per cent of children in government care registered for adoption but average less than 10 per cent of adoptions every year.

Two hundred sixty-three children and youth in government care in B.C. were adopted last year, but 1,200 others are still waiting for a family to call their own. Many children and youth waiting for adoption are Aboriginal and need a family that will help them retain their identity and cultural connections. Some have special needs and require a higher level of care and attention; others are sibling groups and need a home where they can stay together.

For more information on the Expressions of Family art contest or pre- and post-adoption support services, please visit: http://www.bcadopt.com

Anyone interested in learning about adoption in B.C. or adopting a child is encouraged to call 1 877 ADOPT07 (1 877 236-7807) or visit: www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption

A backgrounder follows.

Contacts:

Corinna Filion
Communications Director
Ministry of Children and Family Development
250 812-7977 (cell)

Karen Madeiros
Executive Director
Adoptive Families Association of BC
604 320-7330

BACKGROUNDER

Adoption Awareness Month

The Government of British Columbia has proclaimed November as Adoption Awareness Month. The Ministry of Children and Family Development takes the opportunity to raise awareness about children in care who are waiting for adoptive homes, and to recognize adoption as a valued way to build a family.

Key Facts:

• Children in permanent care in B.C. may be placed for adoption through the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Permanent care occurs when the courts have determined that the child cannot return to the care of their birth parent(s).
• For these children, the ministry makes plans for permanency. These plans can include:
• Adoption (including foster-caregiver adoption: long-term caregivers are encouraged to adopt).
• Transfer of custody: this transfers custody of a child to someone with a significant tie to the child.
• Ensuring a child has lifelong connections with significant adults in their lives if adoption or other permanency options are not in the child's best interest.
• During the past 10 years, on average, 271 children in government care have been adopted annually.
• Many children available for adoption are school age. They may be siblings who need to stay together. Some may have special placement needs due to difficult early childhood experiences, prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs, learning delays or other developmental challenges.
• As culture is essential to a child's positive identity formation and preservation, the ministry strives to place children with families that will preserve a child's ethnic and cultural heritage.
• The percentage of Aboriginal children being placed with Aboriginal families is on an encouraging trend upward and was 68 per cent in 2010-11 - up from 27 per cent a decade ago.
• In 2007, the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island became the first delegated Aboriginal agency to handle adoptions in British Columbia. They have since completed 18 adoptions for children in their community.
• The ministry works with community partners, including the Adoptive Families Association of BC, to increase the number of approved adoption homes for children in care. The Adoptive Families Association is contracted to provide both pre- and post-adoptive support. They also assist with recruitment initiatives such as answering the 1 877 ADOPT-07 phone line.

Post-Adoption Assistance Program:

• The Post-Adoption Assistance Program supports families in meeting their unique needs and makes adoption possible for many families that, otherwise, would not have the financial means to give a child a home and family.
• The Post-Adoption Assistance Program supported approximately 1,200 families in British Columbia with a budget of over $18 million in 2010-11 - up from $2 million in 2000-01.

Adoption Reunion Registry:

• The Adoption Reunion Registry has been in operation since 1991 and is legislated to provide search, intermediary and counselling services to those who have been affected by a B.C. adoption.
• The registry is available to adopted adults, birth mothers and fathers, siblings of an adopted adult, relatives of an adopted adult and the children or grandchildren of a deceased adopted adult. Adoptees who are searching or being sought must be at least 19 years old.
• Since 1991, approximately 17,000 applications have been filed with the registry, resulting in approximately 5,000 connections.
• The registry can be contacted in the Victoria area at 250 387-3660 or toll-free within North America at 1 877 387-3660. The registry website can be found at: http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/reunion/index.htm

Contacts:

Corinna Filion
Communications Director
Ministry of Children and Family Development
250 812-7977 (cell)

Karen Madeiros
Executive Director
Adoptive Families Association of BC
604 320-7330