Recent News
WACAP Named 2012 Evergreen Award Winner
1.23.12
WACAP has been awarded the 2012 Evergreen Award by the Alliance for Nonprofits Washington.
The Evergreen Award annually recognizes one organization that has given its time and resources to make the nonprofit sector a strong and impactful one within Washington state. A task force of nonprofit leaders judges each of the nominees and selected WACAP based on the organization’s contribution to the community.
Through A Family for Me — the only program of its kind in the region — WACAP has built partnerships with a diverse group of public and private entities as well as community businesses and volunteers, all united by the common goal of helping find loving homes for children waiting in state care. Over the past six years, WACAP’s “A Family for Me” has provided individualized family recruitment services to 241 local foster children waiting for adoption, with 72 percent of these children joining permanent families.
WACAP CEO Lillian Thogersen is mindful that WACAP has experienced firsthand what empirical studies consistently find.
“The permanency that adoption offers can reduce teen pregnancy, homelessness, addiction, criminal behavior and suicide, all of which are much more common for children raised in foster care,” she says.
The Evergreen Award will be presented during the 18th Annual Washington State Nonprofit Conference at the Meydenbauer Center on May 11.
WACAP CELEBRATES NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
11.01.11
Each November, a Presidential Proclamation launches activities and celebrations to help build awareness of adoption throughout the United States. Thousands of community organizations arrange and host programs, events, and activities to share positive adoption stories, challenge the myths, and draw attention to the thousands of children in U.S. foster care who are waiting for permanent families.
WACAP takes National Adoption Month a step further, by not only advocating for children currently living in U.S. foster care, but also for children who are waiting for families in eight additional countries around the world. WACAP currently has information on children in Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, India, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S who are in immediate need of permanent families.
WACAP’s Family Finder Team can help parents find waiting children of all ages that best match their personality and lifestyles. Many of the children currently waiting for families have individual needs; such as being older than age three, being part of a sibling group, or having been diagnosed with a medical or developmental issue of some kind.
Thanks to individual and corporate donations, WACAP is in the unique position to offer grants for the adoptions of many waiting children, which can assist families with the costs associated in bringing a new child into their home.
WACAP Online Auction Now Open!
10.30.11
WACAP's annual online fundraising auction is now open. It closes on Sunday, Nov. 13th at 8:00 p.m. There is something for every budget. Find wonderful international items brought back by WACAP staff on trips to orphanages! One special item is a quilt created by WACAP mom, Tina Matthews, that has the signatures of some of the children that WACAP found homes for. There are also amazing trips and experiences. It’s a wonderful way to shop for the holidays and support WACAP’s mission of finding a family for every child. Click HERE to view auction items.
2011 Children's Hope Gala & Auction
9.28.11
Discover the Magic that Happens at the WACAP Children's Hope Gala & Auction this November. Help children while enjoying a fun-filled evening at Seattle's Four Seasons Hotel ... more
university of delaware seeking families for research study
7.28.11
The Infant Caregiver Project at the University of Delaware is looking for children adopted internationally between the ages of 9 and 36 months to participate in a new study! Over the past decade, the Infant Caregiver Project has been developing training programs for parents of children who have experienced early adversity. Upon realizing the need for evidence-based services for children adopted internationally, we decided to adapt our parent training programs for this group of children.
Families who choose to participate will be assigned to one of two training programs and will be compensated for their time. One parent training program targets attachment and regulatory issues of children, and one provides physical and occupational therapy, thus targeting physical and cognitive development. At this point, we do not know whether either parent training program is effective, but we do know that the training programs target critical issues for children adopted internationally.
Families are eligible for this study if they reside in parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, NewJersey, and Maryland, and have adopted a child from a foreign country in the past six months. More...
CHANGES TO CHINA HOMESTUDY & POST-PLACEMENT requirements
4.01.11
While it’s not unusual for changes in international adoption to occur, we work to inform our families as quickly as possible when they do. WACAP has recently been informed of changes in requirements for families wishing to adopt from China. These changes are mandated by the Chinese government and apply to all those adopting from the country...read the details.
Ethiopia adoption Q&A
3.15.11
WACAP understands there are many questions related to recent changes in adoptions from Ethiopia. While Ethiopian authorities continue to discuss solutions to the challenges facing adoption, we offer the following questions and answers to help clarify this still-evolving situation...view Ethiopia Q&A fact sheet.
Donor Support for WACAP's Foster-Adopt Program
3.01.11
WACAP is pleased to announce that it recently received two grants to support its Foster-Adopt work in Washington State. Thank you to the RealNetworks Foundation and the Union Pacific Foundation for their generosity on behalf of children and families.
Through WACAP's Foster-Adopt program, families become licensed as foster parents, and commit to providing loving foster care as long as it is needed. They also commit to adopting the child when (and if) the child becomes legally free for adoption. WACAP is currently seeking Puget Sound area families for this program. For more details please contact USKids@wacap.org.
Changes to the federal adoption tax credit
1.01.11
At WACAP, we know that tax time can put a lot of stress on some families, but those who are adopting can breathe a little easier thanks to the Federal Adoption Tax Credit. The health care bill passed last March not only increased the credit to a maximum of $13,170, it also made the credit refundable so that lower-income families can claim it, among other things. This means that if your family spends $13,000 on your adoption and had a tax bill of $4,000, you can deduct your tax liability of $4,000 from your $13,000 adoption expenses and receive a refund of $9,000! Of course, we're adoption experts, not tax experts, so we encourage you to read this article from the December 2010 issue of Adoptive Families magazine, watch this video, and consult your tax preparer for further information.
PASSAGE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SIMPLIFICATION ACT
11.30.10
On November 30, 2010 President Obama signed into law the International Adoption Simplification Act (S.1376). This is great news for families who are in process of - or who are considering the adoption of - a child from China, India, Thailand or any country that is party to the Hague Convention. What does this Act do for adoptive families? This Act is important for two reasons:
1. It extends the option for adoptive families to defer the CDC (Center for Disease Control) required immunizations for immigrant until families are home with their new child.
2. It enables older sibling between the ages of 16–18 to be adopted by a family who is adopting a younger sibling.
There is some fine print for each of these. The most important one is that immunizations can only be deferred for children who are under the age of 10. If you would like to read the legislation you can view it HERE. The White House press release regarding the bill signing can be viewed HERE.
Many thanks to the families who wrote to their congressional representatives and to members of Congress for making this important change. We are pleased that finally, children adopted from Hague countries will no longer have to experience the trauma of receiving excessive immunizations prior to boarding their flight home.
ShopPING for a Cause – Support WACAP
11.15.10
WACAP supporters across the country can contribute to WACAP’s mission by doing their online shopping via GoodShop.com and selecting World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP) as the non-profit they would like to support. Major retailers from Amazon and Macy’s to Target and Home Depot have volunteered to donate a percentage of their proceeds to non-profit organizations like WACAP. More