Thanks
Kenchan
*******************************************************
*******************************************************
Passing this on because it is so valuable for insight into what can happen
when legislators debate an access bill...Pam
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 06:05:23 -0400
To: "E.A.G.L.E. (Equal Access Guarantees Legal
Equality)"
For those who would like to review the debate and vote in the House of SB
192, the video is finally available at:
http://www.ganet.org/services/leg/audio/2003archive.html
Just scroll down the page to April 22 and click on House Video 1. You'll
need RealPlayer to view it, but the instructions of how to get it are at the
Sessions Archive link on the left, if you don't have it, or if you have an
old version.
When it comes up, you'll see the date and time shown at the top of the
screen and all the control buttons down at the bottom. The part you want to
see doesn't start until 1 hour and 10 minutes into the session and lasts for
approximately 35 to 40 minutes.
To skip the beginning of the footage, just click and hold the round dial
button at the bottom and VERY slowly move it to the right. As you do,
you'll see the time change at the top of the window. Release it as close as
you can to 1:10, without going past it, and let go. The buffer will catch
up in a few seconds and then the video will restart.
The sequence of events will be as follows:
1) The Speaker of the House calls for the reading of SB 192.
2) The carrier of the bill, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (MMO) comes to the
well to present the bill. She has a lot to say, including asking them to
not support the forthcoming amendment, but I'll leave it up to you to decide
if what she says is what is actually needed when this type of bill is
presented to the full body. This opening statement is a key piece of any
legislation in any state, not just Georgia, so the sponsor, or legislator,
needs to be very educated on the details.
3) Rep. Brian Joyce of the 2nd asks MMO questions.
4) Rep. Barbara Bunn of the 63red asks MMO questions...some KEY questions!
5) Rep. Fran Millar of the 52nd asks questions.
6) Rep. Brian Fleming of the 79th introduces his amendment and delivers his
statement on the issues!
7) Rep. Jerry Keen of the 146th speaks in support of the amendment.
8) Rep. Sue Burmeister of the 96th speaks in support of th amendment.
9) Rep. John Douglas of the 73rd speaks in support of the amendment.
10) Rep. Brian Joyce of the 2nd speaks again, in support of the amendment.
11) Chairman of the House Judiciary, Rep. Tom Bordeaux of the 125th,
unexpectedly gets up and speaks against the amendment! This was not a
planned event. He did this on his own.
No one else spoke for or against the bill...and specifically there was no
rebuttal of the points brought up by the 5 dissenting Representatives who
favored the amendment! This hurt us. Be prepared!!
There was an attempt to attach another amendment that had nothing to do with
our bill, or the issue, and it was disallowed.
The vote was taken on the amendment and when it passed, the vote was taken
on the floor substitute that resulted. What was left of the bill passed 167
to 2.
I will be very interested in everyone's comments of the events and how you
think it went. What do you think could have been done, or said, differently
to "possibly" alter the outcome? What do you think you would have tried to
have done differently in your state, with your legislation, to attempt to
keep this from happening to you?
Larry M. Mainland
Eagle for Georgians
_______________________________________________________
Dear Amazing Woman:
I thought you would be interested in this offer to purchase a special gift
for yourself or a loved one for Mother's Day. As a birthmother, I feel
honored that my story is included in the Amazing Woman Amazing Mothers book.
A portion of your donation will be contributed toward the outreach and
distribution of my recently completed documentary "Unlocking the Heart of
Adoption." Here is a message from Marsh Engle, author and founder of
Amazing Woman Amazing World:
The time is NOW to honor an Amazing Woman who touches your life!
Mother's Day on May 11 gives us the opportunity to celebrate the
lives
of women who have encouraged or inspired us. This year, honor one or more
of the special women in your life with an Amazing Woman gift and card
recognizing her powerful and unique contribution to her family, her
community and to your life!
With your contribution of $49, Our Voice will send a hand-addressed
card and a gift-wrapped, autographed edition of Amazing Women Amazing World,
a beautiful celebration of some of today's most inspiring women. The
hardbound book is filled with beautiful, contemporary photographs and a
collection of quotes and vignettes that share remarkable stories of
courage, love, gratitude and acceptance. (Order by May 6 to guarantee
delivery by May 10.)
Send you email to AMW@amazingwomansday.com
Plus, your contribution will guarantee that you are one of the first
to receive the next release in the Amazing Women book series! Amazing
Women Amazing Mothers is filled with powerful, memorable and endearing
stories as
shared by some of today's most amazing moms! (Released just in time for
Mother's Day 2004!)
Your gift helps to empower the lives of women!
Your tax-deductible contribution to Our Voice Foundation, in honor of
a woman important in your life, supports the Amazing Woman Amazing World
Day movement dedicated to advocacy of community activism, volunteerism, and
empowerment among women, youth and their families. Each year, hundreds of
Our Voice volunteers reach out in cities across North America and the world
to provide mentorship and professional development programs filled with the
tools to
encourage self-honor, dignity and respect among all people.
Order Today! AMW@amazingwomansday.com
Send us the name and address of the woman you wish to honor today.
Your $49 contribution to Our Voice includes all shipping and
handling.
Visa and Mastercard accepted.
Thank you and have a Happy Mother's Day!
Sheila
unlockingheart@hotmail.com
http://www.unlockingtheheart.com
PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHERS WHO YOU THINK WILL BE INTERESTED. THANK YOU
_______________________________________________________
Dear Amazing Woman:
I thought you would be interested in this offer to purchase a special gift
for yourself or a loved one for Mother's Day. As a birthmother, I feel
honored that my story is included in the Amazing Woman Amazing Mothers book.
A portion of your donation will be contributed toward the outreach and
distribution of my recently completed documentary "Unlocking the Heart of
Adoption." Here is a message from Marsh Engle, author and founder of
Amazing Woman Amazing World:
The time is NOW to honor an Amazing Woman who touches your life!
Mother's Day on May 11 gives us the opportunity to celebrate the
lives
of women who have encouraged or inspired us. This year, honor one or more
of the special women in your life with an Amazing Woman gift and card
recognizing her powerful and unique contribution to her family, her
community and to your life!
With your contribution of $49, Our Voice will send a hand-addressed
card and a gift-wrapped, autographed edition of Amazing Women Amazing World,
a beautiful celebration of some of today's most inspiring women. The
hardbound book is filled with beautiful, contemporary photographs and a
collection of quotes and vignettes that share remarkable stories of
courage, love, gratitude and acceptance. (Order by May 6 to guarantee
delivery by May 10.)
Send you email to AMW@amazingwomansday.com
Plus, your contribution will guarantee that you are one of the first
to receive the next release in the Amazing Women book series! Amazing
Women Amazing Mothers is filled with powerful, memorable and endearing
stories as
shared by some of today's most amazing moms! (Released just in time for
Mother's Day 2004!)
Your gift helps to empower the lives of women!
Your tax-deductible contribution to Our Voice Foundation, in honor of
a woman important in your life, supports the Amazing Woman Amazing World
Day movement dedicated to advocacy of community activism, volunteerism, and
empowerment among women, youth and their families. Each year, hundreds of
Our Voice volunteers reach out in cities across North America and the world
to provide mentorship and professional development programs filled with the
tools to
encourage self-honor, dignity and respect among all people.
Order Today! AMW@amazingwomansday.com
Send us the name and address of the woman you wish to honor today.
Your $49 contribution to Our Voice includes all shipping and
handling.
Visa and Mastercard accepted.
Thank you and have a Happy Mother's Day!
Sheila
unlockingheart@hotmail.com
http://www.unlockingtheheart.com
PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHERS WHO YOU THINK WILL BE INTERESTED. THANK YOU
_______________________________________________________
Letters to the editor in response to THIS article may be sent to the Seattle
Post Intelligencer at editpage@seattlepi.com
Please note the paper's note below, which applies to ALL letters to the
editor sent to ANY PAPER via ANY form of communication -- mail, email for
fax. :-)
To have your letter considered for publication, it must include your name,
address, telephone number and signature. All letters are subject to editing.
Because of the volume of letters received, not all letters can be published.
Letters that cannot be verified also will not be published.
Write:
P-I Letters to the Editor
Box 1909
Seattle, WA 98111-1909
or drop your letter off at:
Seattle P-I
101 Elliott Ave. W. , Second Floor
Fax: (206) 448-8184
E-mail: editpage@seattlepi.com
_______________________________________________________
Writing a letter to the editor in response to any adoption-related article
(or one to which you can draw an adoption-related parallel) is one of the
best ways to inform public opinion on our issues.
We live, breathe, speak, think and dream adoption reform, but people outside
the adoption- and foster-care worlds are largely unaware of the constraints
which are placed upon those cut off from family by the sealed records
system.
Many people who read the newspaper regularly will go to the opinion pages
FIRST, and I believe those are the best-read pages in most newspapers. So
your thoughts about anything related to adoption are valuable in print, and
in the newspaper -- not only where you live, but elsewhere. A friend of
mine from BRAZIL wrote a letter to the NY Times in response to an article on
assisted reproductive technology (ART) and how the anonymity of donated
sperm or eggs is a dangerous thing for the person created by ART.
The thing about letters to the editor is....even if you write a letter that
doesn't get published, the PRESENCE of your letter on a subject means that
someone out there is thinking about it! If you did the "letters to the
editor" column for a local paper, my guess is that you would want to publish
either an extremely articulate letter that comes in all by itself on a given
subject OR one of a PILE of letters on a particular "hot button" subject.
So, published or not, our letters make a difference.
In addition, when you write about an issue and tie it to a legislative
effort in a state, the clipping service for the legislature puts it into a
pack of articles that are reproduced and made available to legislators on a
regular basis.
That being said, here is how to contact the papers which published the
articles sent to ANS in the past few days by Ann Wilmer of the Green Ribbon
Campaign. Thanks, Ann! :-)
letters@washingtontimes.com
opinion@seattletimes.com
_______________________________________________________
20% Mother's Day Discount on Adoption Healing for all orders received by May 11th
$13.46 + $5.55 Priority mail = $19.01 Total.......This offer is available only from our website (below).
Mention this email when ordering to receive discount. All books will be mailed by May 12.
** Coming soon: Adoption Healing for Mother's Who Losts Children to Adoption
by Joe Soll and Karen Wilson Buterbaugh
Adoption Healing ... A Path to Recovery
by Joe Soll, C.S.W., D.A.P.A.
For reviews and ordering information for Adoption Healing ... A Path to Recovery, click below:
http://www.AdoptionHealing.com
Adoption Healing ...A Path to Recovery is a unique book. The reader is provided with a description of the unfolding of the adoptee’s personality from birth, detailing each developmental milestone along the way, followed by different methods of healing the adoptee’s wounds, including inner child work, healing affirmations, visualizations and anger management. Every chapter includes a Myths and Realities of adoption section, a summary of the chapter and exercises to do on your own.
To read a chapter from the book, click below:
http://www.adoptioncrossroads.org/Respect.html
Joe Soll is an adoptee, a diplomate psychotherapist in private practice, the director of Adoption Crossroads and a former adjunct professor of social work.
"The horrors of war, pale beside the loss of a mother" - Anna Freud (and the loss of a child) - JS
"Adoption Loss is the only trauma in the world where the victims are expected by the whole of society to be grateful" - The Reverend Keith C. Griffith, MBE
"Emotional sickness is avoiding reality at any cost. Emotional health is facing reality at any cost." - M. Scott Peck
"Inner child work is essential. It's the essence of growth as a whole person" - Cheryl Richardson
"The past isn't dead...........It isn't even past" - William Faulkner
“The only way around is through” - Robert Frost
"Only eyes washed by tears can see clearly" - Louis Mann
_______________________________________________________
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/117273_fostermom12.html
Local effort reunites nurtured with nurturers
Though they were separated by 17 years and the Pacific
Ocean, a South Korean woman and her foster son
discovered their bond is as strong as ever
By DEBERA CARLTON-HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
RENTON -- She dressed up just for him. When he finally
stood before her, she could hardly stop hugging him,
or crying. She put her hands to his face, took his
hands between her own, sighed deeply through tears.
In the 17 years since Kim Mal Rye of Seoul, South
Korea, had seen her foster son, the toddler had become
a young man. Her 61-year-old eyes scanned the teen's
broad shoulders and handsome face. The smile, she
said, was as she remembered.
Yesterday was a reunion for the South Korean woman and
Paul Cooke of Idaho, thanks to a local effort to
reacquaint dedicated foster mothers with those they
nurtured. The group, the World Association for
Children and Parents, is an international, non-profit
adoption agency in Renton that opened in 1976. WACAP
sponsors tours for small groups of Korean foster
mothers each year.
In Kim's case, her dedication stretches 17 years and
includes 68 foster children -- five of whom, including
Cooke, were adopted through WACAP.
"I just love taking care of babies," Kim said through
a translator. "Sometimes I think I will stop, it is
such hard work. But once a baby leaves, I miss it."
Margie Cooke, Paul's adoptive mother, understood. The
two women, one from Idaho, the other dressed in a
bright silk "hanbok," or traditional dress, traded
translated compliments. Cooke told her, "He has
brought so much happiness to our family," and "we knew
he had been well-cared-for, he was healthy and polite
and bowed to everyone."
The South Korean woman said, patting the teen's open
palm in her lap, said, "I feel very blessed to see
that he's grown up so well."
Cooke brought the foster mom up to date -- Paul joined
the U.S. Navy in August and is going to boot camp soon
-- and passed out photos. Paul the soccer player. The
golfer. The hunter. The fisherman. Images of the
Cookes' house and Christmas tree farm in St. Maries,
Idaho, near Lake Coeur d'Alene.
"Aaaaaahhhhh," Kim said, nodding, grabbing more
tissues for more tears, sometimes holding the pictures
to her heart.
"Can I keep these?"
The teen's nervousness melted away.
"Thank you very much for taking care of me," he said.
Eyes watered.
He asked about South Korea, asked whether soccer was
still big there, asked what her hobbies were
("babies," she said laughing) and turned to the
translator: "Please tell her I like her dress."
Paul Min Anthony Cooke was born Song Min Sub on April
19, 1984, nearly 19 years ago in South Korea, to birth
parents he has never seen and knows little about. He
believes his father was a U.S. serviceman stationed in
South Korea, and his mother a woman who worked on or
near the base. Although both Paul and Margie Cooke
asked Kim if she had information about his birth
parents, she had none. She urged him, now that he is
18, to pursue it -- and come visit.
In South Korea, women who cannot rear their children
go to maternity homes for the duration of their
pregnancies, WACAP officials said of the country's
relatively sophisticated adoption system. Holt
Children's Services Inc. of South Korea -- not to be
confused with Holt International, the adoption agency
in Oregon -- helps arrange international adoptions.
Larry and Margie Cooke had three daughters. But Margie
followed "a gut feeling, one that wasn't really
logical," to adopt a child about 3 to 5 years old.
Song Min Sub came to them, a little more than 2 years
old, as a happy baby, Margie said. Paul joked
yesterday that his older three sisters, Katie, Sarah
and Bethany, gave him three more mothers.
Kim traveled to the United States with her friend, Kim
Jae Suk, 63, who fostered 65 children over 17 years.
Both women are visiting multiple foster children in
different cities across the country. Although their
visit also offers sightseeing and shopping in such
places as Boston, Chicago and Seattle, Kim Mal Rye
said she'd had little time for that -- except the
Seattle Center. Nor did that seem important to her.
Late to the reunion because of traffic, she sat
entranced for more than an hour.
She smiled at her second foster child, giving him
spontaneous hugs and refusing to relinquish his hand,
which he held, unselfconsciously, in her lap.
She turned to the translator when Margie told her it
was a six-hour ride from Idaho. "Tell her (Margie) I
did not know when I left Seoul if I would see you. I
am very touched and very thankful you came so far to
see me. That is as far as from one end of Korea to the
other."
Said Margie, "Tell her he's been smiling all day."
P-I reporter Debera Carlton Harrell can be reached at
_______________________________________________________
Pam,
Below is the website for this adoption play, Lost and Found, opening in NY on May 11 (Mother's Day). It would be great if you could pass on the info to interested parties via the Adoption News Service. http://216.71.41.232/~main/
Also, as I mentioned, on May 11, there will be an audience talk-back discussion following the matinee. Panelists will include the playwright, the actor playing the adoptee/searcher (who is an adoptee in real life), and myself (adoptee, psychologist). There may be another panelist added. Adoption-saavy persons may particularly enjoy this performance and discussion.
THANK YOU!
Michael McGinn
*********************************************
If you are digging yourself into a hole,
the first thing to do is stop digging.
Warren Buffett
From: UPSTARTTH@aol.com
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 01:25:10 -0400 (EDT)
To: Carats24@aol.com
Subject: (no subject)
lost and found the play <
_______________________________________________________
it would be enormously helpful if you would include the email address for
the "Letters to the Editor" section of the paper it's from so that people
can write in response to the article. Please put it at the very top of the
page when you send the article or the URL for it.
It can take me 5-10 minutes or more to get off Outlook, onto the 'Net,
search for the paper's URL in Google or Yahoo and then scroll around the
home page to try to find the letters-to-the-editor email address.
It's really hard to do that when I'm trying to keep up with a fairly heavy
email box full most days. :-) and also trying to master some of the
techie-challenges of Photoshop and working with digital images.
Thanks, Friends!
Pam
I may re-send this each month as a reminder...
_______________________________________________________
Rewards suggested to boost adoptions
Cheryl Wetzstein
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
----------------------------------------------
The Bush administration is concerned about school-age children languishing in foster care and wants to reward states for finding adoptive families for them, a government official told a recent House hearing.
"While the overall number of children being adopted from foster care has grown dramatically, older children in foster care still face excessively long waits for adoption and, in many cases, are never adopted," Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services, told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on human resources this week.
"By age 9, the probability that a child will continue to wait in foster care exceeds the probability that the child will be adopted," he said.
The 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) - which was created to expedite permanent placement of foster children - encourages adoptions by giving states a $4,000 or $6,000 per-child bonus when the number of their foster-care adoptions exceeds the number of adoptions the previous year.
The $6,000 bonus is given for a child with special needs, Mr. Horn said. The Bush administration is proposing giving a $6,000 bonus for adoptions of foster children aged 9 and older.
Adoption researcher Jennifer Miller testified that a bonus for older-child adoptions is a fine idea, but Congress should consider rewarding other kinds of permanent placements as well.
"Many youth don't want to be adopted," especially older children and teens who are still attached to their birth families, said Miss Miller, whose Cornerstone Consulting Group has studied the adoption bonus program.
Many state officials have suggested that ASFA include bonuses for permanent guardianships or reunifications with biological families, she said.
"Agencies should be rewarded for finding safe and stable homes for children, not only placing children with adoptive families."
General Accounting Office (GAO) official Cornelia M. Ashby testified that between 1997 and 2000, adoptions from foster care increased by 57 percent. The median stay in foster care for these children was 39 months.
A key ASFA provision freed states from trying to reunite abused or neglected children with parents who had lost custody of another child, murdered a child's sibling or severely abused a child.
Copyright © 2003 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
_______________________________________________________
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
May 1, 2003
Foster Care Caseworkers' Errors Are Detailed in New Jersey
By RICHARD LEZIN JONES and LESLIE KAUFMAN
t is often one of the more shocking aspects of horrific child abuse cases:
the way child welfare workers ignored warning signs before catastrophe
struck.
Yesterday, state records made public under court order offered chilling
examples of just how disastrously New Jersey caseworkers had failed to act
to protect children in the foster care system despite evidence that they
were at serious risk.
In one case, the documents show, three foster children were subjected to
years of sexual abuse because the state's Division of Youth and Family
Services failed to remove them from a home in which the father had already
been identified as a possible menace by the agency's investigators.
In another, an 11-year-old girl and her 14-year-old sister were tied up,
beaten with belts and hangers and sexually abused by other children in their
foster home even after the foster parent had been suspended by the state
child welfare agency for prior abuse.
And in another, caseworkers did not remove children from a foster home run
by a woman who it had learned regularly kept an 8-year-old child out of
school to care for two younger children while she went to work. The children
were removed only after a caseworker on a subsequent visit found the
children home alone and the 4-year-old running around with a knife.
Perhaps most striking about the cases made public yesterday was that they
involved foster homes the state regarded as its most sophisticated - homes
licensed to care for children with complex and delicate medical and
emotional needs.
The records released yesterday include 11 case files from 1998 to 2002 and
they reflect the errors made by the agency spanning the administrations of
Gov. James E. McGreevey and his predecessors, Christie Whitman and Donald T.
DiFrancesco. After the death of Faheem Williams, a 7-year-old whose body was
found in a locked Newark basement in January, Mr. McGreevey vowed to bring
sweeping reforms to the troubled child welfare agency.
"There is no excuse for leaving children in dangerous situations or with
people who have been identified as having an abuse or neglect history," said
Joe Delmar, a spokesman for the agency.
"But it is important to remember that these are selected individuals and
cases, and while they are troubling and upsetting, it is important to know
that our foster parents do quality work every day."
Mr. Delmar added that his agency had already revoked the licenses of two of
the group homes listed in the documents and was investigating a third.
New Jersey was ordered to make the files public by United States Magistrate
Judge John Hughes of Federal District Court in Trenton in response to a
court action brought by The New York Times. The files were already in the
possession of Children's Rights Inc., a Manhattan-based advocacy group that
is suing New Jersey over its foster care system.
Several weeks ago, the state had made public the first collection of
records - 17 cases dealing with children who had died or been grievously
abused while in its care.
But the 28 cases that have been made public to date reflect only a tiny
fraction of the child welfare population in New Jersey, and lawyers and
others, including family members of those who have dealt with the agency,
say the cases released so far only hint at the scope and variety of harm
endured by children in the state's care.
The agency serves more than 6,000 children in foster care. Abuse rates in
the state's foster system are three times the rate deemed tolerable for any
child welfare agency by federal law.
Among the saddest stories revealed in the documents are those of children
who lived in dangerous homes for extended periods after DYFS knew that abuse
or neglect was taking place.
In 2001, the agency found that two mentally impaired children were being
neglected by their foster parents. Despite the fact that the parents were
being paid extra to provide additional monitoring, they were ultimately
discovered to have frequently left the children alone or in the care of
their 12-year-old biological son.
The agency took action to remove the children only after repeated reports to
the police from neighbors who spotted the children unsupervised in dangerous
situations - riding bikes on a street with heavy traffic or playing in a
lake a mile from the house. One neighbor spotted the children playing alone
in the snow in her backyard at 2 a.m.
But the documents make clear that none of this was a surprise.
Eight months before the home was closed, in fact, DYFS's own investigators
had found evidence that the foster mother was leaving the children,
including one with an IQ of 48, home alone for hours and was repeatedly
canceling medical appointments.
The investigators had concluded that the children should be removed and the
home closed, but the DYFS official charged with monitoring the home said she
was unaware of the finding. And so the children remained unattended and at
risk.
In another home, a fragile 5-year-old, who could not speak because of a tube
inserted in his trachea, was found to have been repeatedly kicked and hit
with objects by people in the foster home. The child was one of six
children, four of whom were classified as deserving special medical
attention, who had been placed in the home, which was approved only for two
children with special medical needs.
Again, the agency had known quite a bit about the home before the children
wound up physically harmed.
Long before the 5-year-old was removed from the home, for instance, DYFS
workers had reported on overcrowding and physical disrepair in the home,
noting the smell of urine in the hallways.
Moreover, two months before DYFS took action because of the physical abuse,
a nurse had filed a report on a brutal argument between the foster parents
in which they screamed profanities and threatened to toss the children out
in the middle of the night. Another nurse, the agency's records show, had
asked to be reassigned because she could not stand to see the foster
children mistreated. Sometimes, the documents released yesterday show,
children remained in dangerous, nearly lethal homes because of the poor
quality of investigations of prior alleged abuse.
In another case, DYFS officials cited a Hillside, N.J., foster home in 1997
for uncovered radiators, which later burned one of the three foster children
in the home. The investigators also explored allegations that the foster
parents had medically neglected one child by not seeking treatment for a
burn and had physically abused another by pouring hot sauce into his mouth
after a bed-wetting incident. The investigators determined that the claims
could not be true.
Two years later, in January 1999, the agency found that the foster parents
had not taken some of the children to therapy appointments and had failed to
meet regularly with social workers. The agency considered removing the
children, but did not.
Six months later, social workers found still more violations, including
uncovered garbage and a swimming pool without a protective guardrail. Yet
the children remained in the home. It was not until August 2000, after one
of the foster children was transferred into another home, that the extent of
the problems became clear. At that point, the boy who was transferred out of
the home told DYFS officials that he and two other boys, his 9-year-old
brother and a 12-year-old, had been repeatedly sexually and physically
abused by their former foster father over the preceding three years.
The boys said that the foster father groped them and forced them to perform
oral sex. The children also said that their foster father slapped and
punched them, beat them with a hanger and crushed their toys as a method of
discipline.
_______________________________________________________
>* * * NEVADA UPDATE SB 267 * * *
>
>(Please Distribute Immediately and Widely)
>
>April 10, 2003
>
>SB 267, which would open birth and adoption records to Adult Adoptees,
>was today heard in the Senate Judiciary work session.
>The bill, with the unanimous vote of the Committee,
>has been referred to an interim standing committee,
>Children, Youth, and Families.
>
>This means the issue of adoptee rights
>will remain in the legislative process for an additional 23 months,
>being heard in the CYF Committee during interim
>and returning to legislative action next session.
>
>While we all had hoped the bill itself would move forward THIS session,
>we have opportunity now to build our numbers and our arguments.
>We will have more hearings in the coming months, so we begin to organize
>now.
>
>WRITE THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO:
>
>- thank them for providing SB 267 hearing
>- let them know you will assist the Children, Youth, and Families Committee
>- you look forward to adoptee rights coming before the State Legislature
>again in 2005.
>
>THIS IS IMPORTANT.
>LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE WATCHING AND PARTICIPATING
>
>TREMENDOUS THANKS TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED SB 267.
>Together, your united voices helped Nevada adoptees receive hearing,
>and in continued work, to educate lawmakers about our struggles for
>equality.
>
>Nevada Open: Battle Born!
>We live the motto, as we prepare for interim session.
>
>To learn more about Nevada Open and our Coalition Partners, visit:
>www.nevadaopen.org
>
>*** CONTACT INFORMATION ***
>
>Senate Judiciary Committee
>Phone: (775) 684-1473
>c/o Lydia Lee E-mail: llee@lcb.state.nv.us
>
>
>Mark Amodei (Chair)
>Phone: 775-684-1470
>E-mail: mamodei@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Maurice E. Washington
>Phone: 775-684-1480
>E-mail: mwashington@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Mike McGinness
>Phone: 775-684-1442
>E-mail: mmcginness@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Dennis Nolan
>Phone: 775-684-1421
>E-mail: dnolan@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Dina Titus
>Phone: 775-684-6504
>E-mail: dtitus@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Terry Care
>Phone: 775-684-6503
>E-mail: tcare@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>Valerie Wiener
>Phone: 775-684-1422
>E-mail: vwiener@sen.state.nv.us
>
>
>
>RAPID E-MAIL CUT-N-PASTE
>
>(Paste into your CC or BCC line and fire off one e-mail)
>
>llee@lcb.state.nv.us
>mamodei@sen.state.nv.us
>mwashington@sen.state.nv.us
>mmcginness@sen.state.nv.us
>dnolan@sen.state.nv.us
>dtitus@sen.state.nv.us
>tcare@sen.state.nv.us
>vwiener@sen.state.nv.us
>nevadaopen@nevadaopen.org
_______________________________________________________
Upstart Theater Company To Present
Lost And Found
A New Play by Paul Harris
Directed by Fred Barton
Performances Begin May 8th, Through May 25th Only!
At The Phil Bosakowski Theater, 354 West 45th Street
Upstart Theater Company will present Paul Harris¹ new play Lost and Found.
The play is about a man in his thirties who meets his birth mother for the
first time. Directed by Fred Barton, performances will be at the Phil
Bosakowski Theater (354 West 45th Street) beginning on Thursday, May 8th and
continuing through Sunday, May 25th.
How many of us have wondered what life would have been like if we¹d had
different parents? Ken Fried, whose mother put him up for adoption 38 years
ago, wants to know and may find out. Ken has located his birth mother,
college professor Rachel Jarka, after many years of searching. Rachel has
not had any contact with her son, nor did she know what had happened to him
after she gave him up. Rachel is a Jewish woman who has become agnostic,
and Ken was raised in a Jewish family. In addition, Rachel¹s husband Tom, a
Gentile, never knew about this secret from his wife¹s past. Now Ken has
decided to meet his mother, much to her surprise. Will this be a wonderful
family reunion, or should Ken have left well enough alone?
Appearing in Lost and Found will be Leila Martin, who originated the role of
Madame Giry in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, as well as appearing in the
original production of 42nd Street and many other Broadway credits. Also in
the cast are Stu Richel (San Jose Rep, Blue Heron Theater) and John Kevin
Jones (Theater at St. Clements, Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center).
Directing Lost and Found will be Fred Barton, whose credits include musical
direction for the original production of Forbidden Broadway, as well as
conducting the Broadway revivals of Camelot and Cabaret. He was also the
creator and star of the popular revue Miss Gulch Returns!, which ran for
over two years in New York.
The play is designed by six time Emmy nominated Jim Stewart.
Paul Harris is the author of To Have And To Hold (Oppenheimer Award
nomination), You Look For MeŠ and Breakfast With Maria, which was broadcast
on NPR. His plays have been produced on six continents. Lost and Found,
his most recent work, received an award at the Edward Albee Playwriting
Conference.
Lost and Found will begin performances on Thursday, May 8th and will
continue through Sunday, May 25th. Performances will be Thursdays through
Saturdays at 8:00pm, with matinee performances Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays
at 3pm, with an additional performance on Wednesday May 21st at 8pm.
Tickets will be $15 and may be purchased by calling Theatermania at
(212)352-0255 or online at www.theatermania.com. Photos will be available
for download at www.brettsinger.com/clients/lostandfound.html.
Lost and Found
Written by Paul Harris; Directed by Fred Barton
At the Phil Bosakowski Theater, 354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th
avenues)
Thursday, May 8th through Sunday, May 25th
Opening: Sunday, May 11th at 3pm
SCHEDULE: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm, and Sundays
at 3pm.
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE: Wednesday, May 21st at 8pm
TICKETS: $15.00; Call Theatermania (212)352-0255, or online at
Theatermania.com
_______________________________________________________
Many of you will want to respond to the linked article below, I am sure.
Please send your opinions to the Letters to the Editor section! (If you want
your thoughts shared on ANS, please cc me -- pamgawa@optonline.net and on
subject line write: letter to ed re LA bill
To write a letter to the editor, address it to: letters@timespicayune.com
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-0/105150767024660.xm
l
_______________________________________________________
On Tuesday, April 29, 2003 Senate Bill 941 will come before the Senate
Judiciary for first hearing. SB 941 provides unrestricted access by adult
adoptees to their original birth certificates, and provides birthparents
with the option of filing a Contact Preference Form.
Further, SB 941 allows an adult adoptee, upon written report, to obtain
identifying agency records, medical records or genetic information which
pertain to the adoptee. (The fee, not to exceed $15 for such records.)
Please note that this legislation would allow adoptees to have access to
their birth and adoption records at age 24. Although age of majority is
typically 18 or 21, Louisiana's very unusual will-and-succession laws use
age 24 as a benchmark for age of majority. Past history indicates probable
interference from will-and-succession attorneys with the legislation if an
earlier age of access is used. Read the full text at
http://www.legis.state.la.us/leg_docs/03RS/CVT6/OUT/0000K1GA.PDF
* * * SENATE JUDICIARY 'A' COMMITTEE INFORMATION * * *
Louisiana Senate Judiciary A Committee
Attn: Beth Wilson
P.O. Box 94183
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: (225) 342-6181
Fax: (225) 377-2348
E-mail: sjuda@legis.state.la.usIf you fax your letter, please send one
letter (with a note at the bottom of your cover sheet) requesting Ms. Wilson
to photocopy the attached letter and place same in the box of each of the 7
senators listed at the beginning of the letter.Hon. Noble E. Ellington,
(Chair)
Hon. Robert Adley
Hon. Cleo C. Fields
Hon. Jon D. Johnson
Hon. Michael J. Michot
Hon. Craig F. Romero
Hon. John T. "Tom" SchedlerRAPID E-MAIL CUT-N-PASTE
(Paste into your CC or BCC line and fire off one
e-mail)SJUDA@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
SJUDA@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ELLINGTN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
FIELDSC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ADLEYR@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
WEBSEN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
LASEN23@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ROMEROC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
SCHEDLET@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
Lorraine Dusky
631-725-4174
Can you send this out asking for letters? I got this from the bastard nation
site. It's today!
On Tuesday, April 29, 2003 Senate Bill 941 will come before the Senate
Judiciary for first hearing. SB 941 provides unrestricted access by adult
adoptees to their original birth certificates, and provides birthparents
with the option of filing a Contact Preference Form. Further, SB 941 allows
an adult adoptee, upon written report, to obtain identifying agency records,
medical records or genetic information which pertain to the adoptee. (The
fee, not to exceed $15 for such records.)Please note that this legislation
would allow adoptees to have access to their birth and adoption records at
age 24. Although age of majority is typically 18 or 21, Louisiana's very
unusual will and succession laws use age 24 as a benchmark for age of
majority. Past history indicates probable interference from will and
succession attorneys with the legislation if an earlier age of access is
used. Read the full text at
http://www.legis.state.la.us/leg_docs/03RS/CVT6/OUT/0000K1GA.PDF
* * * SENATE JUDICIARY 'A' COMMITTEE INFORMATION * * *Louisiana Senate
Judiciary A Committee
Attn: Beth Wilson
P.O. Box 94183
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: (225) 342-6181
Fax: (225) 377-2348
E-mail: sjuda@legis.state.la.usIf you fax your letter, please send one
letter (with a note at the bottom of your cover sheet) requesting Ms. Wilson
to photocopy the attached letter and place same in the box of each of the 7
senators listed at the beginning of the letter.Hon. Noble E. Ellington,
(Chair)
Hon. Robert Adley
Hon. Cleo C. Fields
Hon. Jon D. Johnson
Hon. Michael J. Michot
Hon. Craig F. Romero
Hon. John T. "Tom" SchedlerRAPID E-MAIL CUT-N-PASTE
(Paste into your CC or BCC line and fire off one
e-mail)SJUDA@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ELLINGTN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
FIELDSC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ADLEYR@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
WEBSEN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
LASEN23@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ROMEROC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
SCHEDLET@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US Call, fax, write today! Your letters and phone
calls do make a difference.Legislative Committee
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
http://www.bastards.org/Copyright 2003 Bastard Nation - Permission is
granted to distribute verbatim copies of this document, provided that this
notice remain intact.Louisiana Adoptee Activism
SJUDA@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ELLINGTN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
FIELDSC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ADLEYR@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
WEBSEN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
LASEN23@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ROMEROC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
SCHEDLET@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
Lorraine Dusky
631-725-4174
_______________________________________________________
Kathryn,
I saw that column a few weeks ago-must be published at different times. I did write to Abby with some facts about safe haven laws. I guess she only wants to see one side, I have not seen any published responses.
The ethica website (see below) also has a position paper on Safe Haven Laws.
Melissa Barrigar
ethicanet.org
The opinions and views are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of ethica
_______________________________________________________
House guts bill seeking to open adoption files
ATLANTA - The Georgia House shut the door this week on adoption records that
the Senate wanted to open.
On March 26, the Senate unanimously passed a bill by Sen. Regina Thomas,
D-Savannah, that would have allowed adults who had been adopted to see their
original birth certificate.
The document would tell them where they were born and who their birth
parents are. But when the House considered the measure during nearly 12
hours of debate Tuesday, it agreed to an amendment that essentially gutted
the bill.
Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, said his change was designed to honor a
commitment the state had made to adoptive parents over the years.
He said he and his wife worried when they were adopting a child that if the
records were opened, the birth parents could try to contact them.
"I had been through that whole discussion," he said.
Ms. Thomas said current law already allows adults who were adopted to get a
court order to get their birth information.
"We just wanted to shorten the process and make it less expensive," Ms.
Thomas said Wednesday.
In its amended form, the bill clears up a few technical aspects of obtaining
birth records but makes little substantial change to the current law, Ms.
Thomas said.
Mr. Fleming's amendment passed by a vote of 117-47, and then the amended
bill passed 167-2. The Senate must approve the change or it will be
negotiated in a conference committee before going to the governor, who could
either sign or veto it.
Ms. Thomas said that if a compromise she likes isn't reached on the
Legislature's 40th and final day, she'll try again.
"There's always another year," she said.
_______________________________________________________
N.J. adoption law needs update
Five years ago, I had a serious bout with malignant melanoma that entailed major surgery, a decision whether to pursue experimental treatment through a clinical trial, and follow-up exams every three months for two years.
The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time:
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5661920.htm
(c) 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________________________
A story, "N.J. adoption law needs update" ran in this morning's edition of
The Philadelphia Inquirer. You can find it on the web at
http:/www.philly.com in the South Jersey section. You can access it through
a search by the title. I'm hoping people will respond positively to it by
e-mailing a letter to sjletters@phillynews.com. In the paper, the text is
supported with a positive sketching and with the sub-line: Adoptees' genetic
information, very hard to get, can be a life-or-death matter. I will get
reprints and forward them to you.
_______________________________________________________
Dear listmates,
A Dear Abby column that ran in yesterday's paper (my local paper) praised
the safe haven laws. A reader wrote in to ask her to spread the word about
the new safe haven law in IL.
Her response was as follows:
"Dear Concerned:
California also has a safe-have law, but because my column appears in papers
nationwide, I called my friend Bill Lockyer, attorney general for the state
of CA, to ask how many other states have smiliar lawas. He informed me that
42 states have such protections; however, the grace period varies in
duration. (Some states demand the child must be a newborn; others allow
three days. 30 days or 45 days as the grace period.)
Only 8 states do not have such a compassionate provision at this time.
However, legislation is pending in HI, MA, NH, VT, VA & WY. I recommend
that concerned citizens in all 8 states write or email their legislators and
let them know how important such a law is, and that when it is pass, it
should be PUBLICIZED."
Recently Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute came out with a discussion
condeming such laws. I also know that Marley Greiner was in People
condemning the laws as well. I thought people would want to write to Dear
Abby (you can write via her web site) to let her know that these laws are
not all they are cracked up to be.
Cheers -- Kathryn
Kathryn Creedy
Institute for Adoption Information
PO Box 4405
Bennington, VT 05201
802-442-7135
www.adoptioninformationinstitute.org
_______________________________________________________
My Favorite Web sites
Kenchan's adoption KlubHouse
ELLINGTN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
FIELDSC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ADLEYR@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
WEBSEN@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
LASEN23@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
ROMEROC@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US
SCHEDLET@LEGIS.STATE.LA.US Call, fax, write today! Your letters and phone
calls do make a difference.Legislative Committee
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
http://www.bastards.org/Copyright 2003 Bastard Nation - Permission is
granted to distribute verbatim copies of this document, provided that this
notice remain intact.Louisiana Adoptee Activism
Kenchan's Adoption Archives
Kenchan's Reunion Registry
