Adopt: Assistance, Information, Support. Detailed resources and links to topics such as: international adoptions, surrogacy, open adoptions, using adoption agencies, home studies, private adoptions, single parent adoptions, searching for birth families, and talking to children about being adopted. Question and answers with a variety of experts. Bulletin boards for adoptees, birthmothers and adoptive parents. Lots of links.AdoptioNetwork. AdoptioNetwork is a volunteer information resource for the adoption community. Website includes news, frequently asked questions, as well as sections for adoptive parents, birthmothers, and adoptees.
The Adoption Law Library. Lots of articles and links.
Adoptive Families of America. AFA provides resources to support adoptive parents, people interested in adopting, and children without permanent homes. This website, which is under construction, includes listings of agencies, attorneys, support groups, and resources on multicultural awareness.
China Adoption Resources. For families considering adopting a baby from China. Lots of links.
Faces of Adoption: America's Waiting Children. An online photo gallery of children waiting to be adopted. As the site's authors explain, "This project was created out of a pressing need. Thousands of children in the United States wait for families to adopt them. They live in foster or group homes until a permanent family can be found. The children who are available are not the healthy infants that most people associate with adoption, but are children who have special needs. Most are between 7 and 16 years old; some have physical, emotional or learning disabilities; many are brothers and sisters who need homes together. More than half are African-American." Site also features Answer Line, where you can talk to an adoption specialist for information, referrals and resources and AdoptionQuest, an extensive library of articles on adoption.
Foster Parent Community. A great site full of moving stories, poems and first-person accounts, activities for children and humor. Also includes legal resources, message boards, articles, great information and much more.
Foster Parent Home Page. These web pages are dedicated to foster parents and those interested in foster care. The intention is to create an interactive forum for foster parents, as well as provide information related to foster care. Wonderful links.
Foster Parents CARE: Child Advocates Resource Exchange. Foster Parents CARE is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to promoting the safety, enrichment and success of all children worldwide. It is entirely Internet-based and is run by volunteers. Their site is huge, interactive and full of wonderful resources for everyone involved in foster care. There are discussion areas, places to find mentors, a library, a large database, lots of information, and the site is growing all the time.
Michele Stanley's Parenting and Foster Parenting Page. A great collection of links on foster parenting, and special needs issues, including fetal alcohol syndrome, dissociative disorders and attachment disorders.
Survivors of the System: Foster Children United. The brainchild of two former foster children, the SOS website is a place for current and former foster children to network, share information and resources, find support, and empower themselves. This amazing, well-designed piece of cyberspace features places for current or former foster children to tell their stories; share their poetry, prose, and artwork; build networks with others; and search for lost friends and relatives. The site also includes: bulletin boards where foster children can talk about the special people they've loved and the difficult people they've been forced to deal with; resources for helping with schoolwork; resources on healing; connections to former foster children and others who are working on behalf of children; pages for foster parents; humor, news, classified ads, and much more. The SOS site is full of lots of wonderful, creative, interactive things to do. An affirming, safe, amazing refuge.
Child Care Aware. The mission of Child Care Aware is to ensure that every parent has access to good information about finding high-quality child care and resources in their community. They operate a toll-free hotline for parents seeking child care information and assistance (1-800-424-2246). Their website includes basic information for parents on choosing child care. Its most valuable feature is online access to their national database of resource and referral agencies.Child Care Parent/Provider Information Network. Child Care Parent/Provider Information Network is a CyberCenter for child care professionals and parents. Includes an open forum where you can post questions to child care providers, as well as forums for exchanging activities and recipes, finding out about continued training opportunities, discussing legislative issues and launching a pro-child care media campaign. The site also features chat rooms, articles, periodicals, and conference information.
Choices for Children. Great links for parents and child care professionals regarding child care.
Do I Know You? Who's Watching the Children? A step-by-step guide for parents who are in the process of choosing child care for their children. Includes information on deciding which kind of care is right for you: a baby-sitter, caregiver, child care provider, daycare facility, au pair, or nanny. Provides guidelines for interviewing child care workers, observing interactions between caregivers and children, and performing criminal and pre-employment background checks. A valuable site full of straightforward information.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children. The NAEYC is the nation's largest organization of early childhood professionals dedicated to improving the quality of early childhood education programs for children birth through age eight. Website provides information on NAEYC's journal, Young Children; listings of books and videos, professional development information, conference news, and policy ideas to stimulate effective advocacy on behalf of young children. The section of the website for parents is new and growing. It currently includes limited resources and lists of NAEYC accredited child care centers.
National Network for Child Care: Choosing Quality Child Care. A great set of links to articles about choosing quality child care. Includes sections on in-home care, daycare centers, child care centers, schools and preparing your child for child care.
National Childcare Information Center. A voluminous database with tremendous resources on finding and choosing quality child care, health and safety information, child care legislation, and pending legislation. Designed for both parents and child care professionals. Includes child care research, Native American tribal child care resources, technical assistance programs, funding opportunities, extensive links, and much more. One of the databases in the ERIC system.
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care. A continuously evolving list of selected web sites providing health and safety tips and information applicable to child care settings (and to parents as well!). Topics include: bicycle safety, burn prevention, car safety, child abuse, child care resources and information, children with special health needs, choosing child care, disaster planning, emergency preparedness, environmental exposure, falls, farm safety, head lice, Head Start, health, immunizations, kitchen safety, latex allergies, lead poisoning, military child care, nutrition, oral health, parenting, playground safety, poisoning, safety, SIDS, smoking, support groups, training materials and vaccinations. A wealth of information and support.
The Soho Center. The Virginia-based Soho Center calls itself "the non-profit national resource for quality child care." Current activities include The National Children's Literacy Initiative, a national effort to develop materials that directly enhance children's literacy and school success; the REACH Initiative, which pilots a variety of innovative and cost-effective outreach, networking, and training strategies; training on issues regarding child development, children's health and safety, nutrition, literacy, and learning activities; and free child care-related support services, (including free training materials, brochures, children's clothing, and children's books.) The Soho Project also develops, tests, and demonstrates a model curriculum for "high-quality early education/elementary education," which includes innovative integration of arts, music, dance, and other related educational activities into a curriculum of traditional academic subjects.
