Sonoma County Adoption Awareness Fair

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Oct. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Contact:  Danielle Brizzolara, MSW\ASW
    Adoptions Recruitment and Retention Social Worker
       707-565-3268    dbrizzolara@schsd.org

ADOPTION AWARENESS FAIR
10am-2pm, Saturday, November 15, 2014
Q&A Panels 11:00AM & 1:00PM
Hilton Sonoma Wine Country
3555 Round Barn Blvd.
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Sonoma County Family, Youth & Children’s Services in partnership with the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country are proud to host Sonoma County’s First Annual Adoption Awareness Fair.

The fair will promote foster care adoption, and will take place on November 15th in solidarity with National Adoption Awareness Month. The fair aims to help find a family for every Sonoma County child in need of a safe home.

Family, Youth & Children’s Services is the agency responsible for child welfare services in Sonoma County.
In 2013, there were 5,338 reports of suspected child abuse. While social workers do all they can to keep children safe in their own homes, investigations resulted in the removal of 195 children from unsafe and abusive circumstances.

Children who need adoptive homes are all ages, from infants to teenagers. They come from various backgrounds and types of families. They may be part of sibling groups. Most of them are school-aged, although some are younger.
Through no fault of their own, these children often have special needs and challenges as a result of their past experiences and the current disruption in their lives. With the influence of positive role models and the love and stability of foster and adoptive families, these children can grow and thrive.

Sonoma County partners with local Foster Family Agencies to provide families with the highest quality support and training during the process of fostering children who may be adopted if and when it’s determined that their parents are unable to provide for them or protect them from harm.

The Adoption Awareness Fair will be an opportunity for local families to have all of their questions about foster care adoption answered. There will be two discussion panels (at 11am and 1pm), including birth parents, adoptees, adoptive families, and adoption professionals.

Foster Family Agency partners who will be attending the event and providing information for interested families include Alternative Family Services, Lilliput Children’s Services, Parent’s Place, Santa Rosa Junior College: Foster and Kinship Care Education, Sierra Child & Family Services, and TLC Child & Family Services.

The Adoption Awareness Fair will feature kid-friendly activities such as free face painting, free arts and craft activities, and free refreshments for all who attend.