There are a few things I am passionate about. One of my greatest passions is for the well being of children. I love children and want their happiness and success. All that I do in my profession is designed to bless children, including my work with birth parents and adoptive couples. Indeed, not only is adoption a great way to build a family, it is a wonderful way to improve the life of a child. In today’s society about 98% of unwed mothers choose to parent their baby. In one such case a grandmother became the primary caregiver. It became evident to this loving grandmother that her granddaughter was suffering. She approached her daughter and suggested she consider adoption for her two year old child. Eventually the mother agreed. She came to understand the essence of love is seeking the best interest of another. In this situation it meant that either she had to change her lifestyle and better meet her child’s needs, or she had to give adoption serious consideration. When this child was placed with her adoptive parents a transformation occurred. This precious, and sometimes precocious, little girl is now thriving in the safety, stability, and love her adoptive parents provide. They cherish their daughter, and the light in her eyes indicates the love she feels from them!
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTF) reports, "There are currently 129,000 foster children waiting to be adopted in the United States and 30,000 children in Canada. The average foster child is 8 years old, and spends about five years in the foster care system. Without the stability and love of a permanent family, these five years can feel like a lifetime."
Regardless of age every child needs a mom and a dad. Children thrive when committed parents place the child's interest before their personal interest. Are you among those capable of providing a child with this type of love?
If you have a passion for the well being of children you can help. Some of those 129,000 foster children live here in Idaho. For older child adoptions the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (H & W) is a great resource. H & W may be easily reached by dialing 2 1 1 or 1 800 926 2588. You provide the love and commitment to the child, Idaho DHW will provide the training and support to help you succeed with your new family!
Few things are as gratifying as blessing the life of a child. After all, you don’t have to be perfect. Loving open hearts and a home they can call their own can make a wonderful difference for a hurting child.
Claigh H. Jensen is a licensed clinical social worker in Idaho and has been working to strengthen and build families for more than 25 years; claigh2@yahoo.com.
This is the note that the editor sent to Claigh when he received the article:
From: Bill Hathaway
To: Claigh H Jensen
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2009 10:38:41 AM
Subject: Re: Article
Claigh,
I got the article and it is excellent. Thank you for your contribution; this section is much richer for it. One thing: could you please send me your photo again as a separate jpg or tiff file? Sometimes my software has trouble extracting a photo from Word and preserving pixel quality.
Many thanks, and looking forward to more in the future.
Bill H. 3/3/09
2 comments:
How exciting Dad! I love the material. I can't wait until we are ready to provide a home for foster children. I think more needs to be done to encourage young families to see this as a natural next step when your birth children are older. Your life is not your own.
Congratulations Dad! I love it, it feels so overwhelming to know about these kids, that just need some love. I will never forget the 2 little sisters that had been in foster care and going through the process of adoption, until the older child became too much of a pain for the family. I often wonder what happened to that child, and what could have been. Thanks for all the inspiration, and the example you set. I love you much.
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