ADOPTUSKIDS TO HONOR CASEWORKERS FOR THEIR DEDICATION TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Licking County, OH - July 1, 2008 – AdoptUsKids announced today that Ms. Juanita English Bishop of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Licking County, Ohio is the July winner of their Caseworker of the Month award. This is part of a new national initiative celebrating caseworkers for their dedication to children and families nationwide. Ms. Bishop is featured on adoptuskids.org and adopte1.org in the words of the adoptive family that nominated her.
Thousands of families across the United States rely on their caseworkers every day to connect them to vital services, offer support and guidance, and ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of children in the foster care system.
Approximately 300,000 children in the United States enter the foster care system each year. While about 54 percent of these children will return to their parents, the other 46 percent remain in the system. Currently there are 510,000 children in the foster care system and 129,000 are waiting for an adoptive family. Approximately 26,000 children “age out” of the system each year without ever being adopted. About half of the children in foster care are children of color, with older African American boys waiting the longest for adoption.
The McWilliams family of Vincent, OH stated “Juanita English Bishop has gone above and beyond the call of duty when it came to two kids on her caseload. She was always honest with us. We are grateful for that. We are grateful we found such a great worker who cares so much for the kids in her care. Her dedication should be rewarded.“
Reflecting on this recipient of the Caseworker of the Month initiative, AdoptUsKids’ Project Director, Barbara Holtan said, “As a social worker myself, I am delighted that we can offer this recognition to Ms. Bishop. Adoption and foster care workers rarely receive the acknowledgement that they should receive for the life-changing work that they do on behalf of children and families.”
After being nominated for this award, Ms. Bishop said, “What we imagine as our typical family is not the McWilliams family. Each child brings many different challenges and this change week-by-week. What they thought they were getting into as adoptive parents changed before their eyes once the child become part of their family. But not being typical has provided Scott and Fawna with the platform to stand outside the box and ask “why not”, sometimes from outside that box they have had to become the extreme advocate as others were getting stuck inside the box with their thinking. At the forefront of each decision made is the impact on each child and the child’s needs, not what do we (the adults) need. This is how an adoption worker comes to trust their family.”
The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids
The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids is a multi-faceted, five-year, federally funded project. Its mission is to recruit and connect foster and adoptive families with waiting children throughout the United States. The Collaboration is managed by the Adoption Exchange Association (AEA) based in Baltimore, Maryland, through a cooperative agreement with the Children's Bureau of HHS. Contact AdoptUsKids by calling 1-888-200-4005.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
To assure permanency is maintained, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services provides a comprehensive scope of services to birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptive children, particularly those children who have been in foster care. These services are largely provided by public children services agencies, private child placing agencies, and private non-custodial agencies in collaboration with ODJFS. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services can be contacted by calling 1-888-895-2790.
Contact:
Kate Kirkpatrick
kkirkpatrick@adoptuskids.org
(717) 545-5251