Search begins in the South West to find forever homes for three children
Could you be the right family for Texas-Rose, Gabriella or Kevin?
A campaign to find families in the South West for children who have been waiting the longest to be adopted, is now searching for families for three children
'Family for Me', launched by the charity Families for Children in Devon, has begun the search for a family for Texas-Rose, Gabriella and Kevin.
Affectionately known as Rosie, Texas-Rose is a delightfully shy little girl aged 3. Gabriella is a lively, loud and fun, warm-hearted 5 year and Kevin, who's described as a charismatic, smart little 7 year old who unfortunately returned to the campaign earlier this year.
You can find a short video about the children, below.
All these children have varying additional needs both physically and intellectually and require families who are willing to support those needs and a family they can call their own.
Ruth Marriott, Families for Children CEO, explains why children with additional needs are termed as ‘harder to place’ for adoption;
“Children with additional needs feature highly in the numbers of children considered ‘harder to place’, or those children who wait the longest for a family.
"Some of these children have a very high level of medical need but that doesn’t mean that there are not people out there who would have the skills or the will to include them as part of their family and create a home for them as part of a loving family.
“No matter how the actual numbers of children available for adoption fluctuate there is always a significant number of children who require people to give them a closer look.
"Sibling groups that need to stay together, and older children who are on their ‘last chance’ to have a new permanent family alongside children who have specific needs.
"These are the children we search long and hard to find new parents for, and the best parents are those that are able to accept everything the children bring and love them anyway, take advice on parenting them differently and therapeutically, and be flexible about the change that inevitably occurs!
“Basically you need to NOT just go by a label or a diagnosis… you can’t tell what a child is like by just knowing that they have ‘special needs’ you need to know what these needs are and how they feature in the child, and what can be done to support the child in the short, medium and long term.
"The Family for Me project is looking for families who can look beyond the physical medical needs of the children and see the child needing the support and love of a parent.”
Ruth Marriott, Families for Children CEO
Families for Children can offer support to adoptive parents to meet a child’s individual needs.
They work closely with Local Authorities and health professionals to help assess the social, emotional and physical needs of each child, ensuring that their families are aware of their entitlements and services available to them to meet their child’s needs.
The project’s key objective is to create awareness of those children who wait the longest to be adopted and to encourage those people who feel they could give these specific children, the loving family they deserve.
In searching for families for these children we get to know the children very well, their history and what they are looking for and need from a family.
No family is perfect but we need to ensure that all of the children’s needs can be met.
Families for Children provide ongoing guidance throughout the adoption process and beyond with comprehensive adoption support services right up into adulthood.
The Family for Me campaign is being supported with a dedicated website which can be found here.
If anyone would like to discuss the possibility of being considered as adoptive parents for Texas-Rose, Gabriella or Kevin or if you are interested in adoption and wish to find out more please call us on 01364 400064.