ORPARC
awarded 2011 Drenda Lakin Memorial Award
We are delighted to announce
that Voice for Adoption (VFA) selected the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center
(ORPARC) as the recipient of the 2011
Drenda Lakin Memorial Award for Continuing Service to Adoptive Families. VFA is a special needs adoption advocacy organization based in Washington D.C.
Thank you to the many parents and community partners who have expressed their
appreciation of ORPARC services over the years!
This award honors an
individual, state, or nonprofit organization, whose programs provide valuable
adoptive family support after adoptions are finalized. In 2006, the VFA board
of directors created this award to honor the memory of Drenda Lakin, one of
VFA's founding board members, and an inspirational and dedicated advocate for
children.
In 2011, ORPARC celebrated our 12th anniversary, offering post-adoption
services to approximately 9,000 state adoptive and assisted guardianship
families parenting 12,000 children! We are honored to be able to serve you.
ORPARC
awarded 2006 Adoption Excellence Award
The
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed 13 awards for individuals
and organizations that have demonstrated outstanding commitment to increasing
the number of children in foster care who are adopted.
Adoption Excellence Awards are given annually to honor individuals, families,
local agencies, private organizations, courts, businesses and states.
Awards were presented on November 28, 2006 at a special ceremony in Arlington,
Virginia. ORPARC was awarded the Adoption Excellence Award in recognition
of support for adoptive families; Astrid Dabbeni, ORPARC Family Support
Specialist, accepted the award on behalf of ORPARC.
In 2005, the total number of adoptions with public agency involvement was estimated at just below 51,500, up from about 50,700 in 2004 nationwide.
There were currently 513,000 children in the foster care system, and of
these about 114,000 were waiting to be adopted. In Oregon there were approximately
8,000 families who adopted through the child welfare system parenting
approximately 9,500 children under the age of 18. ORPARC is proud to serve these families.