Last week I wrote a post in response to the Global News Unfiltered report about the BC Government’s consideration of an “Alberta-style” website being opened up to the general public showcasing children waiting for adoption.
Further to that I have spent time this week trying to gain information about the Adoption Resource Exchange that was mentioned in the interview and was suggested to be an existing site in BC for adoptive parents by invitation only.
Now perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part, as there was no actual mention of this being a “site” just that it was a resource open to approved parents by invitation. However, as the news report was about a website being created for the general public, it stood to reason that the resource mentioned was also a website.
As soon as I heard about this resource open to approved parents by invitation I emailed my social worker to ask her for more information and to get an invitation.
She responded by saying she had never heard of such a site but that she too thought it would be an incredible resource if there was one, and she emailed someone in Vancouver to see if they had heard of this resource.
The title they used in the interview on the Global site, “Adoption Resource Exchange”, was something that my SW had not heard of as an available resource for approved parents.
I have since emailed Global News asking for more information – and will let you know if I receive a reply (not holding my breath).
In the meantime, I did do a Google search of these words and came up with this information on the bcadoption.com website that talks of the bi-annual gatherings for approved parents where social workers show profiles (complete with photos and video) of some of the children ready to be placed with adoptive families.
It’s a short paragraph of only a few lines at the bottom of the page, under the heading “Matching Helpers”. This was all of the information I could find:
“Another way matches occur is at an Adoption Resource Exchange, where children are profiled with a short video and their workers answer specific questions. Only approved adoptive families are invited. These occur twice a year in the Lower Mainland. Check with your social worker about the next one.”
Ahhh… not a website, or a searchable database, but a bi-annual matching event.
There is one of these events in February, available to adoptive parents in BC, and the event runs for approximately 90 minutes. I am booked into a session and looking forward to the opportunity to attend another matching event.
However, this is not at all an internal website or readily available resource for adoptive parents – by invitation or otherwise.
One 90 minute event every 6 months is hardly a resource, and in fact last year the second of the bi-annual events never occurred in the lower mainland. This is certainly not a resource worth mentioning in conjunction with a discussion about the possibility of an all-access website open to the general public.
I found the mention of this resource and my subsequent investigations frustrating to say the least. Being led to believe, even for a moment, that there was a resource that would allow adoptive parents -by invitation- to search the 1000+ profiles of waiting children, only to find there is no such thing. Very disappointing.
Sometimes, to feel as though I have a little control and to feel like I’m participating in the search for my future family, I go to the AdoptUSKids site – which is like the Alberta site on a much larger scale with photos and video of many of the kids available for adoption in the US. I’ve found so many little ones that I would like more information about…and each time hope that someone like me who is an approved parent in the US is feeling the same way.
On the home page of the AdoptUSKids website there is a banner that says 23,386 children have been placed in permanent homes through this photo listing website to date. That is a lot of happy children and families, and the thought of that many children being placed tugs at my heart.
I hope that my post last week is read by someone who can help make these kinds of changes in BC, both for the general public, but especially – and with a greater priority – to give access to approved adoptive parents.
There are many approved parents in the system, who have been waiting for many months, and even many years for a match. Some of these families are waiting for a child who fits within specific parameters. Some of these families are just plain waiting for the overloaded social workers to have time to search the database and find matches for them.
I see many comments made on the adoption Facebook forums by those waiting parents about how they have been waiting for years, or that they have lost contact with their social worker, or that they don’t even know who their social worker is any more – it’s been so long… this is a real shame, and a problem that needs solution.
I have a relatively simple one…
Give approved parents the access they desire to be able to read the profiles and connect with the photos/videos of ALL of the 1000+ children waiting for adoption in BC.
Let us help speed up the matching process by allowing us the ability to fall in love with the profiles that stand out to us personally.
Don’t leave approved adoptive parents sitting idle, waiting. Allow us to be the driving force in the adoption matching part of the process.
Even the social workers agree, this would be a great resource welcomed by adoptive parents and very helpful to the already overloaded case workers.
Warm smiles and Love,
Ali Jayne 🙂