Vol. 8, No. 1• November 2003
Thinking of Caring for a Child with Special Needs?
New Information from the Family Support Network of NC and the NC Division of Social Services
by Karen LeClair
The Family Support Network of North Carolina is delighted to announce a series of pamphlets and a new video designed to increase awareness and provide information about resources available to people who become foster or adoptive parents.
In 2002, the state’s General Assembly appropriated funds for projects to benefit foster and adoptive parents caring for children with special needs. They set these funds aside to commemorate the retirement of Representative Ruth Easterling, a champion of children’s issues in the NC House for more than 25 years.
With the support provided through this measure, the Family Support Network of North Carolina has developed a series of pamphlets entitled, “So You’re Thinking of Caring for a Child with Special Needs.” The pamphlets provide useful information to parents seeking to foster or adopt children with special needs. The pamplets address fostering or adopting:
- Adolescents
- Children with medical issues
- Transracially
- Children with mental health, emotional, and/or behavioral challenges
The pamphlets include an introduction from Sheryl Ewing, President of the North Carolina Foster Parents Association. They also provide contact information for state and national organizations that assist foster and adoptive families.
In addition to the pamphlets, Family Support Network has worked with Advanced Medical Productions to develop So You’re Thinking of Caring for a Child with Special Needs, a video that highlights the joys and challenges of foster parenting children with special needs. The video enables viewers to meet foster and adoptive families and hear from children and families themselves about their experiences.
The video was created by Advanced Medical Productions, based in Chapel Hill. They have created a moving portrayal of the real issues that foster and adoptive families confront daily, while showing how deeply meaningful foster parenting can be. Kathryn Kramer, Project Coordinator, has worked with the production crew at Advanced Medical to capture the real difference a loving home can make for a child.
The pamphlets and video are published through collaboration between Family Support Network of North Carolina and the NC Division of Social Services as a part of their efforts to support birth parents, foster and adoptive parents, grandparents and other kin, and legal guardians who care for infants who are medically fragile and children who have special needs. A kick-off event and preview is planned in connection with Adoption Awareness Month activities, although a date and time for this event have yet to be announced.
The pamphlets and video will be available across the state for training. For further information, please call the Family Support Network at 800/852-0042, visit <www.fsnnc.org>, or contact NC KIDS (e: [email protected]; t: 877/625-4371).
Karen LeClair is the Foster Families Project Coordinator with the FSN-NC.
Copyright � 2003 Jordan Institute for Families
