TAPLINK

Support for
Pennsylvania
Adoptive & Foster Families

Taproot issue 42 - May 2002

Presidents Corner

“Happy Birthday to you,” “Happy Birthday to you,” “Happy Birthday dear TAP,” “Happy Birthday to you,”

   This month TAP is fourteen years old and I am…well…that’s not important. We both have much to celebrate about. As we all know support groups come and go and their have been times when I thought that TAP would not be around much longer. But whenever I would get that “who really cares if this support group is active” feeling, I would receive a call from a family needing help. That call would reinforce to me the need that I must keep on fighting for families.

    There are over 1,000 children in foster care with a goal of adoption in the state of Pennsylvania. Now I know why. I received an email from a family in the Pittsburgh area who is trying to adopt a beautiful little African American girl that has special needs from another county. This county which I will not mention the name but is near Philadelphia and starts with an M. threaten to remove this little girl from the home if the family did not sign a zero base subsidy agreement based on the families income. HELLO, what is wrong with this picture? Here is a child already in a loving home and the wife has chosen to leave her job so that she could better meet the needs of this child. I am always hearing that we need to recruit more families to adopt African Americans. Here is a perfect family that is welling to adopt this child with a little help from the county. The county would rather lose this resource for this child and future children then to help meet the needs of this little girl. Something is very wrong!

    Would you like to talk with other adoptive or foster parents across our state? Are you a support group leader and would like to speak with other leaders? Visit TAP TALK on TAP’s web site www.taplink.org, Incidentally TAP is changing it’s email address. The old one will still work but now you can send to taplink@comcast.net.

    Well, my family is waiting to take me out to dinner for my birthday so I will see you at the picnic.

“Even the smallest can change the course of the future” (Lord of the Rings)

Phyllis