Youth

We've added 40 books to our adoption library! Check them out here, and stop by our head office in Burnaby to borrow one. For more information on our lending library visits our main library page.     

When kids experience racism, what can their parents do? Here are some resources and tips from an experienced adoptive parent.

Editor’s note: Some of these tips are aimed specifically at white parents. AFABC recognizes that adoptive families are incredibly diverse, and that transracial adoptive families include parents from all backgrounds, heritages, and experiences, including parents of colour who have firsthand experience with racism.

The purpose of the Harambee Cultural Society is to celebrate the value of transracial families and mitigate the challenges faced by transracially adopted children. In 2020 Harambee will celebrate their 25th anniversary, so we touched base with them to find out how Harambee has grown and changed over the last quarter-century. All photos courtesy the Harambee Cultural Society, by jenniferarmstrongphotography.com

Focus on Adoption and AFABC have always sought to centre adoptee voices and perspectives, but the #FlipTheScript campaign (launched during Adoption Awareness Month in 2014) inspired us to launch a regular column called "Adopted Voice." The series ran from 2015 to 2016.

The Adoptive Families Association of BC is proud to be one of the partner sites for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s signature program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. In this article, Rita Soronen, the Foundation’s president & CEO, explains the program’s evidence-based and highly successful approach to finding families for some of North America’s children and youth who wait the longest.

Adoptive parents make fantastic foster parents! There's an urgent province-wide need for foster parents right now. On Vancouver Island alone, over a thousand children with widely varied needs are in government care. In this article, a foster family recruitment worker from Nanaimo explains the basics of foster caregiving and asks you­­—yes, you!—to consider making a difference for a child in need by becoming a foster home.

Why mindfulness?

Mindfulness has become a buzzword that’s as likely to be heard in the business world as in a yoga studio, but what is it? Simply put, mindfulness is a type of meditation that focuses on being present in the moment without judgement, regardless of what is happening. Mindfulness meditation comes from Buddhist teachings but can be practiced by anyone.

Lori Holden literally wrote the book on open adoption (The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole). In this article, she presents a new way of thinking about openness.

June 4–10 is BC Youth in Care week. It’s a time to celebrate our province’s amazing, diverse, resilient children and youth living in foster care. In this piece, Sam­—an adult advocate for youth in care and a former youth in care herself—reflects on her experiences in the child welfare system and celebrates her successes and her community.

The government is expanding its services and supports for young adults who spent time in foster care. In this article, you’ll learn about the BC government’s expanded tuition waivers program, as well as Agreements with Young Adults (AYA), and a number of other sources of funding and support.