Meet JJ: A Loving Six-Year-Old with a Big Heart
CHLSS Blog
by Emily Cain
1w ago
JJ is a goofy, kind, and loving six-year-old who enjoys reading, watching funny videos on his tablet, going to the park, dancing, and being around people who love him. An ideal day for JJ would start out with a warm bowl of oatmeal (one of his favorite foods), followed by a trip to the park. In the afternoon, he would like to return home to play with his favorite toys and watch a movie with his family. JJ would do best in a two-parent household located in the Twin Cities Metro. Ideally, his future caregivers would have experience caring for a child with high needs. JJ faces many medical challe ..read more
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Celebrating Black History Month: 8 Books for Young Readers
CHLSS Blog
by Emily Cain
1M ago
“During Black History Month, communities across the country commemorate the history of people of African descent in America and pay tribute to the many achievements of Black men and women. But perhaps the most important community members to get involved in this annual celebration? Our children,” Christine Michel Carter writes on parents.com. With beautiful illustrations and inspiring stories, here are eight of our favorite books that celebrate, honor, and center stories of Black children (and adults) who are following their dreams, making important contributions to society, and fighting for so ..read more
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Your Adoption Tax Credit Guide: 2023
CHLSS Blog
by Creating a Family
1M ago
Most of us have spent 2023 grumbling about the rising costs of groceries while watching current events that impact our daily lives and family budgets. While we all hope for a leveling out of inflation rates in the coming months, many are turning their thoughts to filing taxes. It’s hard to believe it’s time to talk taxes already! If you recently adopted a child (or several!), you are likely interested in maximizing the Adoption Tax Credit before you file your 2023 personal taxes. The Adoption Tax Credit for 2023 is $15,950 per child. The Adoption Tax Credit is NOT refundable, which means you c ..read more
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Adoption Record Engagement Sessions
CHLSS Blog
by Staff Contributor
2M ago
Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is looking for feedback from members of the community with personal experience in Minnesota’s adoption system. Considering the upcoming changes around access to original birth records, DHS is hoping to hear from those with lived experience in the adoption system around access to adoption records. We will be looking to talk with adopted individuals, adoptive parents and kinship caregivers, birth parents and other relatives through various listening sessions during the months of January and February. We hope to better understand the experience of indi ..read more
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Open Adoption and the Holidays
CHLSS Blog
by Creating a Family
3M ago
Raising your child and navigating an open adoption can be challenging on the best of days. When you add the layers of holiday traditions, sensory overwhelm, or triggering memories to the mix, even the most ardent supporters of open adoption will testify to the potential for messiness. How do you handle your family’s open adoption and all its complexity during the holidays? You Are Not Alone Every year, we field questions related to the challenges of the holiday season and maintaining healthy relationships in open adoption. The questions range: How to handle gift-giving from birth families Who ..read more
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Working with Your Child’s Birth Family During the Holiday Season
CHLSS Blog
by Creating a Family
3M ago
Whether you are fostering a child through the child welfare system or helping raise the child of a loved one through a kinship care arrangement, it’s almost always in the child’s best interest when the adults can cooperate and get along. The benefits of resource parents and kinship caregivers working collaboratively with birth parents include stability, continuity, and safety for the child. As we enter the holiday season, many foster parents and kinship providers feel anything but merry and bright about the challenges of working with birth parents while providing nurture and care for their chi ..read more
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10 Tips on How to Enjoy the Holidays With Kids Who Have Experienced Trauma
CHLSS Blog
by Creating a Family
3M ago
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, family togetherness, and celebration. For those who are parenting kids who have experienced trauma or loss, we know that this season can also be quite stressful to navigate. What are the practical things you can do to help your family enjoy the holiday season with kids who have experienced trauma? Why Does Your Child Struggle During the Holidays? Many factors contribute to the stress and anxiety that our adoptive and foster kids can feel at this time of year. In addition to the typical anticipation and hyped-up atmosphere that our kids experience ..read more
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Meet Leah: A Teen Who Loves Animals & Playing Sports
CHLSS Blog
by Emily Cain
3M ago
Meet Leah, a funny, quirky, and introverted 13-year-old. Her favorite subject in school is science and her favorite activity is softball. Outside of school, Leah enjoys shopping, playing sports, making arts and crafts, hanging out with friends, fishing, and gaming. She is also a big fan of Minnesota sports teams and loves getting out to support her favorite teams. Leah loves the outdoors and being in the company of just about any animal. Whenever she is in the company of animals, she always has a big smile on her face. Leah’s ideal forever home would be a two-parent household, in a suburban or ..read more
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The Family We Are
CHLSS Blog
by Staff Member
3M ago
Lindsay and Ryan began their adoption journey as many people do, envisioning an infant who would transform them from a couple into a growing family. But within months of starting the adoption process, they both felt a calling that changed that initial vision. “I looked in my heart,” said Lindsay. “Knowing how many older kids, especially siblings, were waiting to be adopted, that felt like the best option for us. I felt compelled that was our path.” In late summer, 2020, while looking through the Children’s Home Society of Minnesota’s website of children waiting for permanent homes, the couple ..read more
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From LA to Ethiopia: Reconnecting With Birth Family
CHLSS Blog
by Staff Member
5M ago
Imagine being an 18-year-old American girl — Ethiopian-born and adopted at the age of two — and traveling to Africa with your parents to meet your biological parents. Tsehay Driscoll was that high school senior, winging from her home in Los Angeles toward Ethiopia last June to experience the place she was born and meet the birth family she barely knew. Her adoptive parents, Mark and Robin Driscoll shared their daughter’s anxieties, ambivalence and anticipation. Robin reassured her daughter, acknowledging the initial meeting could be awkward. “I was confident she wouldn’t regret the experience ..read more
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