Letter from the Honourable Katrine Conroy
As the Minister of Children and Family Development, I am honoured and delighted to proclaim November as Adoption Awareness Month. This annual proclamation offers an opportunity to celebrate the many families in the province who have opened their hearts and their homes through adoption, and to highlight the need for more families to consider adopting.
In your school district and across the province, there are hundreds of children and youth in foster care hoping for a permanent home to call their own. Some are part of a sibling group, some have special needs, and some are teens. Each and every child deserves a family to belong to, a stable place to grow up, help and guidance preparing for the challenges of adulthood, and someone to rely on for support, encouragement and love.
This year the ministry is pleased to announce a new Adoption Campaign. For more information on this important campaign, please see the following Web link at: Adoptnow.ca.
There are many ways to celebrate adoptive families and help raise awareness of the need for more adoptive families in British Columbia. Your council could proclaim Adoption Awareness Month in your community, you could create an adoption display in your office, use a copy of the Provincial Proclamation, invite Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) Adoption Social Workers to set up an information booth, have your community newspaper feature articles on adoption, and invite local adoptive parents to a “meet and greet”. If you are interested in exploring these ideas please contact MCFD staff at:MCF.AdoptionsBranch@gov.bc.ca.
The Adoptive Families Association of British Columbia (AFABC) has been supporting adoptive families in British Columbia for forty years. The AFABC’s representative for your area can provide you with information on events in your community and on adoption in general. Their contact information, as well as contact information for the three licensed adoption agencies in British Columbia, can be accessed at:https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/birth-adoption/adoptions/how-to-adopt-a-child.
Adopt BC Kids Web site is an online portal that allows citizens to complete an adoption applications online 24/7. Please take a look at the site and encourage community members who are interested in adopting a child in foster care to register at: www.gov.bc.ca/adoptbckids.
On behalf of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, thank you for helping us raise awareness about adoption and working with us to find homes for British Columbia’s children and youth.
Sincerely,
Katrine Conroy
Minister of Children and Family Development