DHR pushed to list foster children profiles on Web

DHR pushed to list foster children profiles on Web
The Associated Press
Adoptions of Alabama foster children could speed up when their
profiles show up on the Internet, but the state
Department of Human Resources hasn't posted a complete listing on the
Web.
Foster parents expressed concerns to DHR about the lack of Web
profiles more than a year ago and a spokeswoman for the
parents repeated those concerns at a recent DHR board meeting.
"It's a huge problem for the children. They think they are going to be
adopted, and their faces aren't out there to see," said foster and
adoptive parent Beverly Gardner.
There are 260 children in DHR custody with what social workers call
"no identified resource," meaning there are no relatives who
could take them into their homes.
Ninety-five of these children are profiled on the state's Web site.
Fifty have photographs and profiles completed, but they are being
withheld from public viewing because a potential placement is in the
works or their placement plan is changing, DHR officials told
The Birmingham News.
Many of the 260 children are older than 8, are part of a large sibling
group or have special needs. Children in these groups are
historically hard to place.
Gardner said the online listings are particularly important for those
children because there are families across the country, many with
biological children of their own, who want to add to their families
with children like these.
"They don't particularly want a healthy white infant," Gardner said.
DHR hopes to get every child listed by early 2006, said Paul Butler,
director of family and children services, and Marie Youngpeter,
program manager in the adoption office.
"Our effort is to get every child on the Web," Youngpeter said.
The department is waiting for county workers to send the information
about the children. As soon as it's received, it will be posted on
line, Youngpeter said.
The department has made progress in getting more children profiled,
Youngpeter said. Two months ago only about 61 profiles had
been completed, now the number is nearing 150, she said.
Youngpeter said DHR is hiring five consultants to work on matching
children with adoptive families.
Joe Kroll, executive director of the North American Council on
Adoptable Children, said listing the children on the Internet is
"absolutely" a good way to find homes for them.
Parents can have a visceral reaction to a photo or story that they
wouldn't get just by reading abstract data about children needing
homes, Kroll said.
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/apps/pbc...plate=variable



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