Family Resources
If you’re interested in being a part of this monthly directory of family resources, please contact the Publisher, Dan Orawiec at dan.orawiec@ctparent.com.
Categories
Adoption Resources
Connecticut Adoption Services
2 Clinic Dr. Norwich, CT 06360
860-886-7500
www.ctadoptions.org
Connecticut Adoption Services (CAS) has been serving the residents of Connecticut for the past 26 years. CAS’s highly experienced staff helps adoptive families complete the entire adoption process. CAS offers a wide range of services, including home studies for private domestic infant adoption, state foster care adoption, identified adoption, and co/step parent adoption. We also counsel expectant parents who are considering adoption placement. CAS belongs to a network of adoption agencies that place children in Connecticut and all throughout the U.S. We provide post-placement supervision and finalize adoptions. When clients enter our program, we welcome them to join our “adoption community,” which includes our on-line support group and family events.
Connecticut Adoption Services (CAS) was established in 1989 by a group of individuals concerned with the increasing number of state foster children waiting for adoptive parents. CAS works to increase the number of successful adoptions within Connecticut, including the adoption of infants and children who have special placement needs. In April 2013, CT Adoption Services joined with Waterford Country School, a multi-program community service agency in Southeastern Connecticut. With WCS as our parent company, our clients now have access to a wider range of services including trainings, support groups, and the mental health clinic. Over the past 26 years, our services have expanded, as well as our staff, but we remain committed to providing very personalized, caring, professional services to all of our clients.
Connecticut Foster/Adopt
505 Hudson Street, Hartford, CT 06106
888-KID-HERO
www.ctfosteradopt.com
November is National Adoption Month! Everyone has love to give — why not adopt a Connecticut child! When you adopt, you change a child’s world — from a place by themselves to a place they can share with you!
Parents who adopt children say it’s the most fulfilling and important thing they’ve ever done. As an adoptive parent, you’ll have the chance to make a REAL difference — to do something that will have lasting importance. Children waiting to be adopted need adults in their lives to let them know they matter. They need parents to be positive role models and teach them to ride a bike, or pick out a prom dress, or talk about what happened in school each day. They need adults who care.
The CT Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) offers confidential assessment, brief counseling, and referral services to all families who’ve adopted children from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) foster care system or through the DCF relative guardianship program. The AAP is designed to assist in the identification and resolution of a guardianship/adoptive family’s concerns.
The Department of Children and Families hopes you’ll consider stepping forward. If you do, they’ll be by your side to provide training, financial assistance and social workers to support you. Help take a child from “longing” to "belonging.” Find out more about children in Connecticut who are looking for an adoptive family by calling 1-888-KID-HERO. We all have love to give.
Family Safety
Look Before You Lock
As temperatures rise, and with summer on the way, the risk of death or injury from leaving your child in a hot vehicle increases drastically. According to information from Safe Kids Worldwide, heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle-related fatalities for children 14 years of age and younger. The danger is all too real and last year a 15-month-old boy in Ridgefield, Connecticut died after being left in a hot car.
The facts show just how quickly this can happen. The body temperature of a child, normally 98.6° F, can increase three to five times faster than an adult. Heat stroke begins when the core body temperature passes 105 degrees. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, lack of sweating, red/hot dry skin, nausea and vomiting. Once the body’s temperature reaches 107 degrees the results can be fatal. An average of 38 children have died in hot cars each year in the USA since 1998.
More than half of heatstroke deaths are a result of a caregiver forgetting the child in the car and nearly 20% of these deaths occur because a caregiver intentionally left the child in the car. More than 70% of heat stroke deaths occur in children younger than age 2.
The interior of a vehicle can heat up 20 degrees in as quickly as 10 minutes and can reach 110 degrees even when temperatures are only in the 60s. Leaving the windows slightly open or not parking in direct sunlight does not make a car significantly cooler. Heat stroke can occur when the outside temperature is as low as 57 degrees.
This year the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is again teaming up with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, and Safe Kids Connecticut to raise public awareness around the dangers of kids in hot cars.
“The Connecticut Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been incredibly supportive,” explains Kevin Borrup, Associate Director at the Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center, “and with their support we will be able to raise awareness around Connecticut with billboards, radio ads, and messaging on buses. This kind of awareness-raising is important for everyone, and when you walk past a car that has a child car seat in back, take a moment to make sure that the seat is empty.”
Doctors at both children’s hospitals have expressed their concerns. “Children are especially vulnerable to heatstroke and parents should make it a habit to check their back seats after every ride. This campaign is designed to reach parents in every corner of the State,” said Dr. Brendan Campbell, Director of Pediatric Trauma at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. “As a pediatric ED doctor and parent I am reminded every day how a small distraction in our busy lives can have grave consequences to a child,” said Dr. Marc Auerbach, Associate Medical Director of Pediatric Trauma at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital.
What you can do to prevent heatstroke related deaths in children:
-Never leave a child alone in a motor vehicle.
-Make a habit of checking your back seat.
-Keep your car locked when you’re not in it to prevent children from climbing into the car
unattended.
-When strapping a child into a car seat, leave a reminder like a cell phone or even your left
shoe in back with them.
-If you see a child unattended in a vehicle, call 911.
For more information, visit wheresbaby.org
Bumper stickers, posters, and window decals with the “look before you lock” messaging will be made available to the public at safety events throughout the Spring and Summer. Organizations who would like to distribute these materials can contact the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children’s to request a supply of items, call 860-837-5318.