How the Coalition Helps Families
Angie* is a grandmother who was in a two-year struggle to gain guardianship of her grandsons Michael* and Jeremy*.
Angie had recently moved from North Carolina to New York when she learned that Michael and Jeremy were in foster care. Angie called the Coalition’s Foster and Kinship Care Specialist in tears. Each time she thought that bringing the children home was in sight, the foster care agency demanded another item, document, or course training. The Coalition secured the cooperation of the Administration for Children’s Services, Catholic Guardian Services and others. Once we got involved, it took just two weeks for Angie to bring her grandsons home.
As a final step, the Coalition informed Angie about the financial support available to help raise her grandsons, something no one else had done. Our Family Support Specialist went with Angie to her local Department of Social Services to apply for a monthly stipend that would help her with the unexpected expense of raising Michael and Jeremy.
The Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York provides support, information and advocacy for foster, kinship and adoptive families and related professionals in New York State. Founded in the 1960s and incorporated in 1975, we provide services to help support families and their children. We educate the public, legislators and government leaders about the needs and realities of foster, kinship and adoptive families. Finally, we collaborate with child welfare agencies and other groups to ensure that families are best able to support and parent the children in their homes.