Nationwide Drive to Help Foster Care Kids Nets Single-Day Record for Adoptions.

News and Lifestyle Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 2000

Local law firms, foster care departments, child advocates and juvenile courts coordinated a one-day record finalizing more than 1,000 adoptions today during the first National Adoption Day.

The Alliance for Children's Rights, in partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Freddie Mac Foundation, spearheaded this effort to make National Adoption Day possible.

Cities participating in National Adoption Day included Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, El Paso, Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha, and Washington, D.C. More than 600 children and their new families completed the adoption process in Los Angeles alone.

"This is a memorable and extraordinary day for hundreds of foster care children and the families who adopt them," said Rosie O'Donnell, talk show host and adoptive mother of two children. "I was thrilled to learn that such a day exists, and that so many more kids will have the chance to grow up in a supportive, family atmosphere. Hopefully this will become an annual event."

The Alliance has taken a leadership role organizing several similar adoption days in Los Angeles, helping nearly 3,500 foster children join families. The National Adoption Day is the first effort to coordinate a single day to conclude hundreds of foster adoptions across the country.

"Every child who leaves foster care today will for the first time know they won't be moved, that they can stay at the same school, and have the same teacher, make and keep a friend, and have someone to call mom or dad," said Andrew Bridge, CEO/General Counsel of The Alliance for Children's Rights.

Bridge grew up in the Los Angeles foster care system before attending Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School, and receiving a Fulbright scholarship.

Since 1984, the number of children in foster care has increased yearly. Nationwide, approximately 520,000 children are in foster care. Of these children, 122,000 are eligible for adoption, and yet in 1996, the latest data compiled, only 23,000 children were adopted.

The Alliance expedites the adoption process through its network of pro bono and staff attorneys, and ensures that these children find stable, nurturing homes. The Alliance recruits private law firms and has conducted training for more than 200 attorneys to finalize hundreds of foster children's adoptions each year.

"Thanks to the efforts of the many people who are opening their hearts on this special day, these children will experience the joys of a permanent, loving home this holiday season and for years to come," said Wendy's Restaurants founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted himself. "We hope their example will inspire other communities to step forward and reach out to the thousands of children in foster care who still need families."

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption was established in 1992 by Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers Restaurants founder Dave Thomas, who formed the DTFA as a way of giving back. The DTFA's mission is to create awareness about the thousands of children waiting for permanent families, to educate prospective adoptive parents and to streamline the adoption process by making it easier and more affordable to adopt.

"The Freddie Mac Foundation's support of this effort is a highlight in our nationwide commitment to find homes for children," said Maxine Baker, president and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation, an organization dedicated to brightening the future for children.

Created by Freddie Mac in 1990, the Freddie Mac Foundation is dedicated to opening doors to hope and opportunity for children, youth and their families. To date, Foundation funding has helped better the lives of more than 1.2 million children. As one of the largest corporate funders in the Washington, D.C. area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested nearly $95 million in nonprofit organizations serving children and families. (www.freddiemacfoundation.org)

Since its founding in 1992, The Alliance has helped more than 24,000 impoverished children with free legal and health services. The Alliance serves 5,000 children annually, and is Los Angeles' only free legal services, information clearinghouse, and social service referral organization devoted solely to helping children in poverty.