Pact An Adoption Alliance

Programs: Pact camp - by popular demand, in 2017 pact family camp expandedfor the first time, a second camp was offered on the east coast, making the pact camp experience accessible to more families and spreading the pact ethos on a national level. Pact family camp is a five-day immersive experience for families with adopted or fostered children of color, as well as non-adopted siblings, extended family members, first/birth parents and siblings, and adult adoptees and foster alums. Pact family camp east was an immediate success, welcoming 71 families, most of them new to pact. Because of our commitment to inclusion we track the demographics of those who attend with a strong eye to ensuring representation from underserved groups. Racial demographics of youth at camp: 72% african american, 12% latino, 8% asian, 1% native american, 7% white (siblings) - racial demographics include biracial youthtypes of families: 27% families with parents of color, 28% families with lgbtq parents, 17% families with single parenttype of adoption: 51% domestic private, 32% foster adoption, 17% international adoptionage of youth: 22% littles (0 to 5), 33% middles (6 to 9), 23% tweens (10-12), 18% teens (13-17), 3% cits (18-20)pact family camp is a victim of its own successwe can no longer accommodate all the families who would like to attend. To ensure that those who cannot attend still have opportunities to create community and learn together, pact is creating camp-in-a-box kits that parent groups can use to create programming and experiences for children and families of color built by adoption.

education and suppurt - education is at the heart of pacts mission, because educated individuals change lives and change the world. Pact delivers the child-centered, race-conscious, adoption-aware, honesty-based education that parents and professionals must have in order to meet the needs of adopted children of color. As the adoption marketplace grows, pre-adoptive families feel forced to take a consumer approach to adoption, which is antithetical to the child-welfare approach that should be at the core of adoption. Even families who have adopted without fully understanding the ethical dilemmas inherent to the process are very responsive to honest education that gives them insight into the complexities of adoption. The growth of our educational programs makes clear that pact is filling a niche that is generally neglected in the adoption field nationally. In 2017, pact demonstrated significant increases across the board in our educational programs as compared to 2016:10,000 visitors/month to pact website (25% increase)2,865 active social media followers (35% increase) 872 webinar participants (118% increase)605 pact family memberships (53% increase) 407 conference participants (45% increase)pact now offers twice-monthly webinars, making learning opportunities available to parents and adoption professionals across the country. In 2017, we developed webinars for pre-adopters, adoptive parents of color, transracial adopters, and ceu-certified education for social workers, therapists, and other child welfare professionals.

adoption placement pact is committed to making adoption in america more ethical and less racist. In pursuit of these goals, pact models best practices and serves as a national thought leader. Ethical adoption practices start by providing women facing unplanned pregnancies with honest, balanced, compassionate counseling. Ethical, anti-racist adoption practices include seeking out and supporting adoptive parents who reflect the racial identity of children being adoptedadoptive and foster parents of color who have been historically neglected and under-served. Pact has been facilitating adoption placements for children of color for over 20 years. In 2017, pact became a licensed, full-service adoption agency in the state of california, after completing a rigorous, multi-year review process. This not only expands the scope of placement services we can offer but positions pact to provide leadership in the design of child welfare practices that serve children of color. With generous support from the younger foundation, pact launched adoptionits complicated! , a ground-breaking educational program for service providers who work with pregnant women considering adoption. Pact provides women facing unexpected pregnancy with unbiased, pressure-free, well-informed options counseling. Now we are working to ensure that all women get the same quality of counseling, even if they are not pact clients. Challenging the dominant narrative that only white people are available and qualified to adopt children of color, pact actively recruits adoptive parents of color. Pre-adoptive parents of color are treated with respect at pacttheir specific needs are recognized and served. Word-of-mouth serves as our most effective recruiting tool. This year pact conducted extensive focus group research with adoptive parents of color from both the east and west coast, in preparation for launching a new public education campaign. About 85% of the women and couples who approach pact considering making an adoption placement for their child are helped to realize that they have parenting options within their family circle. Those who decide to place their child feel respected, valued, and heard throughout the process. Our birth parent fund allows us to offer services to women and families whose children are placed in adoption as well as those who are considering placement as an option for their unborn child. Money and financial hardship should never be the sole reason that children are placed for adoption nor prevent the ongoing education and support that is so necessary to long-term healing and their ability to support their childrens needs over the life span. In 2017, pact provided counseling to 320 adoption professionals, 280 pre-adoptive parents (87% people of color), and 100 expectant parents (80% people of color; 80% low-income/living in poverty). We conducted 15 trainings for almost 250 professionals and front-line providers to help them better understand how to help expectant and pregnant woman with adoption-competent and ethical options counseling. Respondents reported improvement in the 5 key areas: increased knowledge of the complexities of adoption (82%); more confidence about how to answer questions (81%) and present the topic in a supportive (69%) and non-coercive (57%) way to clients; and more prepared to discuss choices and offer options counseling to their pregnant clients (71%). Unfortunately, professionals who approach adoption as a business spend millions of dollars on advertising each year. Pacts voice gets drowned out by these commercial interests, which is why we plan to increase our use of video education and create a free-of-charge platform to connect adoptive parents of color and expectant parents of children of color, in order to compete with the sophisticated but expensive alternatives that overwhelmingly serve white children and adoptive parents. To address these issues we plan to:enhance our adoptionits complicated! Trainings with an expanded online presence, including the production of educational videos that include first/birth parent voices. As the percentage of women choosing adoption continues to decline, the market for infants available to adopt is becoming more competitive and adoption professionals increasingly desperate to find pregnant women considering adoption. These expectant parents may not be adequately informed of their options or rights by adoption professionals whose livelihoods are dependent on a completed adoption. Launch a free online service, yes! We do adopt, focused on serving adoptive parents of color and their families. Expectant parents considering adoption are now overwhelmingly finding resources online. In this age of digital matching, adoptive parents of color are being overwhelmed by white parents who often have more resources to fund their adoption. This service will make it easier for expectant parents to find parents who match their childs racial heritage if they wish to do so. Hire staff to work fulltime with current and prospective adoptive parents of color, including community outreach. Building on our track record of success, increased staffing with allow us to offer an unprecedented level of support to african american, latino and asian adopters.