Portal
Home
Calendar
Gallery
FAQ
Search
Register
Log inProgram touts adoptions in Maine
Program touts adoptions in Maine
by Outspoken on Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:18 am
Program touts adoptions in Maine
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA -- Chris is a foster child.
He has been in state foster care for four years.
At a National Adoption Awareness Month celebration on Tuesday in the Hall of Flags at the Statehouse, the 17-year-old talked about how the foster system has helped him succeed. His last name is kept confidential for privacy concerns.
The event to honor foster and adoptive families was sponsored by the Maine Department of Health & Human Services and A Family for ME, a statewide recruitment initiative for foster and adoptive families that works with the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Chris said he was in an alternative education program at a public high school with students who could not function in the general education system.
He said he was not challenged or stimulated to learn. Then he moved in with his new foster parents and they taught him that hard work pays off.
They encouraged him to learn and fought to get him into mainstream classes, where he excelled.
"I now go to a private school where I'm challenged to my limits," Chris said. "My foster parents gave me the power to succeed. I'm taking classes that would be impossible back in alternative ed. My foster parents are more family than any I've ever had. They've given me a fighting chance."
Muriel Littlefield, deputy commissioner of the Department of Health & Human Services' Integrated Access and Support, said there are 499 children in foster care waiting for a family of their own.
"These children are waiting to be a part of a family that can be theirs, where they know they belong," Littlefield said.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5620178.html
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA -- Chris is a foster child.
He has been in state foster care for four years.
At a National Adoption Awareness Month celebration on Tuesday in the Hall of Flags at the Statehouse, the 17-year-old talked about how the foster system has helped him succeed. His last name is kept confidential for privacy concerns.
The event to honor foster and adoptive families was sponsored by the Maine Department of Health & Human Services and A Family for ME, a statewide recruitment initiative for foster and adoptive families that works with the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Chris said he was in an alternative education program at a public high school with students who could not function in the general education system.
He said he was not challenged or stimulated to learn. Then he moved in with his new foster parents and they taught him that hard work pays off.
They encouraged him to learn and fought to get him into mainstream classes, where he excelled.
"I now go to a private school where I'm challenged to my limits," Chris said. "My foster parents gave me the power to succeed. I'm taking classes that would be impossible back in alternative ed. My foster parents are more family than any I've ever had. They've given me a fighting chance."
Muriel Littlefield, deputy commissioner of the Department of Health & Human Services' Integrated Access and Support, said there are 499 children in foster care waiting for a family of their own.
"These children are waiting to be a part of a family that can be theirs, where they know they belong," Littlefield said.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5620178.html
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
