Arlene’s adoption journey was sparked after watching the heartwarming television special, “A Home for the Holidays,” which is a one-hour primetime CBS television special that has aired in late December since 1999. The goal of this special is to create public awareness about the joys of adoption and draw attention to the 100,000 children in public foster care who are waiting to be adopted. Triage Entertainment produces the special in association with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Children’s Action Network and Goldsmith Entertainment.
Arlene had always wanted to be a mother and decided to explore her options. She found a Children’s Bureau’s advertisement and applied to become a foster adoptive parent.
She attended the required three Saturdays of training, along with CPR/first aid and completed the mutual assessment with a family development specialist.
After the family assessment was completed, the matching team began searching for a child for Arlene. “Finding the right match was a roller coaster ride. In some cases, I was one of the families considered but wasn’t chosen. In other cases, my intuition told me the match wasn’t right.” After a time, Arlene was matched with a happy and healthy seven-month-old boy she named Jake.
“Jake is now a beautiful four year old with boundless energy. He studies karate and takes acting classes. He is very perceptive and remembers everything. He enjoys frequent trips to New York to visit our family and friends and loves spending time at the beach,” Arlene said.
Arlene says that the best thing about being a mother is that now her best friend is her son. She continues to learn from him and feels that she has grown immeasurably as a person. Balancing work and life issues as a single mother have been a challenge for Arlene but she notes that the Children’s Bureau staff and the support groups the agency offers have been invaluable, both pre and post adoption. Arlene’s adoption journey with Children’s Bureau has inspired her to recommend the agency to others. She’s also renewed her foster parent license but plans to take her time in finding a sibling for Jake!
For more information, call 1-800-730-3933 or visit www.all4kids.org.