Find My Forever
Sometimes, all a kid needs is a chance.
Children all have interests, dreams, aspirations. And each has potential. But often they need a spark to ignite the flame and a guardian to nurture and protect the fire inside. They need support. They need someone to listen to them, teach them, and guide them. They need someone to show they care.
Any given day, there are more than 3,000 children in the Clark County foster care program. While the goal is always to eventually reunite biological families, sometimes that’s not possible. On any given day, there are about 100 kids who are each waiting for adoption, waiting for their chance.
They are waiting to find their Forever Family.
If you are interested in adopting a child featured in a Find My Forever profile above, please email dfsfindmyforever@clarkcountynv.gov
Social workers will walk them through the steps toward foster care. And, should the caregiver decide they want to adopt, the Find My Forever will guide them through that process, as well.
Adoption can have many benefits for parents. For some, it can fulfill a lifelong dream of having a child and family. It can also open adults to new perspectives and cultural experiences. It can help you grow as a person and enhance your quality of life. And parenthood provides a meaningful relationship and bond that will last a lifetime.
Parents also know the pride and satisfaction of nurturing and guiding a young mind through life, into a successful adulthood of their own.
"But by providing a safe, nurturing, and caring home, by being a positive influence, guide, and mentor, these adoptive parents are making the most significant difference in that child’s life.”
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So if you have the love and resources to welcome a child or a sibling group (there is great demand for groups of siblings that desperately want, and need, to stay connected), and you are interested in a child featured in a Find My Forever profile, email dfsfindmyforever@clarkcountynv.gov.
The Clark County Family Services team will work with your family to ensure that a child, teen, or sibling group featured in our Find My Forever program will be a good fit for your family. A Family Services Adoption Social Worker will walk you through the steps needed to adopt specific children featured in Find My Forever.
A family interested in adopting children, teens, or sibling groups featured in Find My Forever will go through a prescreening process. If determined to be an appropriate fit for the child, teen, or sibling group, the family will receive an individualized plan to help them through the adoption process.
By StoryStudio on August 13, 2024
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Every child is different, but all need love
Children in foster care come from all backgrounds and are seeking permanency at different points in their individual journeys. Some are just starting elementary school; others are preparing to graduate from high school and enter adulthood. They all share the trauma of having lost their permanent, familial home, but some are still in contact with their biological parents or relatives on either side of the family that, for whatever reason, aren’t able to be their legal guardians.
Sometimes, children in Clark County foster care need permanent families. Find My Forever creates the connection.
Find My Forever is a partnership between Clark County, FOX5, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Univision Nevada, and the RJ en Español featuring monthly stories of children who are available for adoption. Would-be parents who see a featured child they’d like to adopt can then contact Clark County Family Services (CCFS), where social workers will walk the family through the process of making that child a permanent member of the family — and giving them a chance at a better future.
“When it comes to adoption and child welfare, we look at three things,” says Jill Marano, director of the Clark County Family Services (CCFS). “We want to ensure the children are safe, that they are in good physical and mental health, and that they have a sense of permanency in their lives. But by providing a safe, nurturing, and caring home, by being a positive influence, guide, and mentor, these adoptive parents are making the most significant difference in that child’s life.”
Adopting a child not only forever changes the trajectory of that young person’s life, but it also leads them on the path to becoming a productive member of the community and society at large. And it makes an indelible impact on the parents, siblings, and extended family that welcomes the child into their home.
“People always say how lucky the kids are, and that’s true. But the families who have adopted tell me that they feel like they’re the lucky ones,” says Lisa Martinez, LMSW, deputy director of Clark County Family Services (CCFS). “They talk about how much joy they’ve experienced. These children enrich your life.”
And some children have experienced more trauma than others. Many have come from abusive or neglectful households; others suffer from the effects of having been exposed to drugs or alcohol as infants. A number of foster children have special health care and developmental needs.
The greater the needs of the child, the more overwhelming it might seem to an adoptive parent. That’s why Find My Forever is there every step of the way to connect parents to the resources they need.
First, they will go through the prescreening process to determine if the family is an appropriate fit for the child, teen, or sibling group. Once the match is approved, the support team will lay out an individualized plan to help the family through the adoption process, including connecting them with physical and behavioral healthcare providers, special educators, social workers and case managers, attorneys and legal advocates, and any pertinent government financial aid. Adoption subsidies may be available.
“Some of the child’s behaviors might look different from what an adoptive parent might have seen in their biological children,” says Marano. “And that can involve more people coming into the home to check on the child’s wellbeing. It can be a lot for a family. That’s why they’ll always have a support team to work with. You’ll always have someone there to help you.”
A rewarding experience — for everyone
Despite the challenges of adoption, to a person, Marano and Martinez say they have seen little but satisfaction, gratification, and joy in the Forever Families they’ve helped put together. And that goes for both the child and the adoptive family.
The benefit for the child seems obvious but is immeasurable. They receive the safety, stability, and structure every child deserves, and that is just the foundation from which they can grow and thrive in their new environment.
But as Martinez mentioned, these children also make an inestimable impact on their new parents and families — and in different ways.
For some adults, both couples and single parents, it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of starting a family. For others, it’s a chance to expand the biological family they are already have. In either case, it’s an opportunity to broaden the family’s cultural perspective and experience new ways of looking at the world. Adoptive parents often have the opportunity to connect with the child’s biological family, building new and powerful personal bonds.
“In the end it makes a difference when people open their homes and hearts and welcome these children into their lives,” says Martinez. “It makes an impact for the children, the family, and the community. It’s a nice circle.”
And what many people overlook is the fact that parenting is an experience that extends well beyond the child’s growth into adulthood. Being a mom or dad doesn’t stop when the kid turns 18.
“Some of the most rewarding things that I’ve seen are people who adopted a kid from foster care, getting college graduation announcements in the mail or getting to walk their child down the aisle at their wedding,” says Marano. “For me it’s so great to see the permanency, adoptive parents getting those life experiences that we all want.”
Find Your Forever
- Jill Marano, director of the Clark County DFS
"But by providing a safe, nurturing, and caring home, by being a positive influence, guide, and mentor, these adoptive parents are making the most significant difference in that child’s life.”
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