Foster Care Alumni Need to Reach Out to Other Alumni & Youth in Care Today!

I’d like to share a story with you. It’s about a little boy, but it could as easily be about a little girl. Picture the following in your mind: A baby boy has just been born. He should be wrapped in his loving mother’s arms with her scent all about him and with family gathering [...]

A Christmas Prayer, Wish & Gift to All

Dear Family, Friends & Brothers/Sisters of Boys Town~ Today Christmas is less than two weeks away. By now most of us have put up our trees and decorated until they glisten, bought, wrapped and placed under the tree gifts to our family & friends, prepared our Christmas Eve/Day menus. We are ready to welcome family & [...]

More FY 2010 Foster Care/Adoption Data

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services AFCARS data, U.S. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families Because AFCARS data are being continuously updated and cleaned, the numbers reported here may differ from data reported elsewhere in report breakdown. These data reflect all AFCARS submissions by states received by June of 2011. Adoptions  [...]

Second Book Available On Line…FREE!

After 2 yrs of procrastinating, 3 days of retyping manuscript & necessary html coding my 2nd book is now available on my web site. You can go to my main web site ofhttp://larrya.us/ and click on cover of 2nd book or go directly tohttp://larrya.us/book1.html Since they are no longer being published or available at on line stores [...]

A Response to Penn State Scandal

It has taken me over a week since the Penn State scandal broke to attempt to bring my anger under control and attempt to present a reasoned response to it. I will not say some anger may find its way into this blog entry as it remains but I will attempt to keep it under [...]

A dying man’s race to adopt

This story needs no commentary from me as it speaks for itself….except have tissues ready! By ALLEN G. BREED – AP National Writer | AP – Sat, Sep 24, 2011 SHARON, S.C. (AP) — With everything she had to do that morning, Marshall McClain could not believe his wife was wasting time making the bed. [...]

A Suggested Gift for a Found Birthparent

Might I make a suggestion? If you find one of your birth parents and a reunion is planned I have an idea for a gift. When I met my birthmother for the first time at Newark Airport in 1986, I gave her thirty-six red roses; one for each of the thirty-six years of the life [...]

A Few Pointers When Searching for Birth Family

If you are considering a search for your birth family you may have fears as you search, but don’t let them stop you…even if you end up with a rejection or a negative reunion…you will end up a far stronger person…I know I did. Hopefully, during your search, you will find that as you grow [...]

25 Years Have Passed Since Finding Birthmother

I was sitting around doing nothing a few days ago and suddenly the thought came into my mind; today, March 25th would be the 25th anniversary since I found my birthmother. First I could not believe that 25 years had already passed. Secondly it caused me to reflect back on my 4 year search, 12 [...]

Making Adoption Work

I found this article the other day and found it to be quite interesting. Though it deals with international adoption I feel some of the solutions at the end of the article could also assist in getting youth adopted from foster care in a more timely manner. Though I post this article it does not [...]

AFCARS Latest Number on Foster Care/Adoption from Care FY2009

As long as there is still one youth still waiting for a loving, nurturing caring, permanent home it is one too many! AFCARS Releases its Latest Numbers Released this summer, the 17th official AFCARS report reveals that, in federal fiscal year 2009 the number of U.S. children in foster care and waiting for adoption declined [...]

Photographers Capture Spirit of Children in Need of Permanent Homes

Wish a project such as this were available in cities/states across the country rather than just major cities…there is a need in smaller cities and rural areas across the country…this is at least a start! By Eden Pontz, CNN November 11, 2010 2:05 a.m. EST New York (CNN) — A picture may be worth a [...]

Florida ends ban on gay, lesbian adoptions

Florida joins the 21st century and the other 49 states plus Washington DC!! EVERY Child deserves a loving, nurturing, caring parents whether they be straight, gay or lesbian. NO child deserves to be held a “legal” orphan hostage to the system because of this issue. I know some reading this may not agree with me. However, as one [...]

A Loving Tribute to My Foster Mom for Mothers Day

This  weekend celebrate Mothers Day. Though we should celebrate mothers each and every day of the year we set aside one day each year to make special celebrations. Much is made of Mothers Day for birth moms and adoptive moms but foster moms are usally forgotten in the media as they consider them temporary and not [...]

Couple Inspire 50 Adoptions in One Neighborhood

Gimundo: By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on April 28 2010 In 1996, Jaci and Eric Hasemeyer already had three children, and had believed their family was complete. But when Jaci, a P.E. teacher at a Riverside, California elementary school, handed out coupons for a local skating rink one day, the response she received from a 5th [...]

It Just Takes One: Foster Mother Mollie Jelks Raises 36 Foster Youth

A great story…good for a Mothers Day Memory: HuffPost   |  Erica Liepmann Posted: 05- 3-10 06:00 AM   After spending 22 years of her life working in mortgage banking, Mollie Jelks admits she never found the sense of fulfillment she longed for. When her Citibank office relocated to St. Louis, Jelks wasn’t willing to follow. [...]

American Woman SENDS BACK Adopted Russian Son Artem ALONE!

This story makes me sick…another child lost due to someone not doing their job before allowing this woman to adopt him. Less than 8 months after adoption he is sent back to Russia ALONE on a plane! Now many other Russian children needing permanent homes will also suffer. Associated Press 4/9/2010 MOSCOW — Russia threatened [...]

Health Care Reform Law Expands Adoption Tax Credit

This is for those who may not have been following the recent Health Care Reform debate. Because it passed this is what also became signed law this past Tuesday. This section did not make the headlines during the debate. This may be useful information for those who may be considering adoption. Public Law 111-148, the Patient [...]

Brantwood Children’s Home in Montgomery Alabama Hasn’t Had A Single Adoption in Four Years

MONTGOMERY, Ala., March 12, 2010 American Foster Kids Hold Out Hope Brantwood Children’s Home in Montgomery Alabama Hasn’t Had A Single Adoption in Four Years By Mark Strassmann CBS News (CBS)  The Brantwood Children’s Home in Montgomery, Ala., is a place for kids from families broken beyond repair. They’re all between 10 and 21 years [...]

60 Years Ago Today!!

Sixty years ago today, in the early hours of the morning, a young nineteen year old unwed woman gave birth to her first child…a son. She spent most of her pregnancy in a home for unwed mothers as her father would not, as he said, allow a bastard child in his house. She was uneducated [...]