Traffic safety Trustees look at options to reduce hazards at NDSS. PAGE 7 Filling dreams Youngster given pirate ship treehouse from charity group. PAGE 15 Tourist centre Architects tasked with transforming washroom facility. PAGE 3
Working overtime PAGE 26
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2012
VOL. 24, NO. 90
NANAIMO
Forever home
Children in B.C. might wait years for a family while organizations try to increase awareness of adoption BY NIOMI PEARSON THE NEWS BULLETIN
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NIOMI PEARSON/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Heather Phillips plays with her children Arianna, 9, and Michael, 12, both of whom she adopted eight years ago.
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oel and Ashleigh Martinflatt will always vividly recall the moment they met their daughter for the first time. “It was magical and beautiful,” Ashleigh said. “I had to catch my breath and hold on to something, it was surreal.” For Joel and Ashleigh, it was a decision they had made long before. Both are social workers and well aware of the hundreds of B.C. children waiting for forever homes. And in those first moments, which may have seemed a lifetime, they waited, having come an hour early, to meet the 22-month-old toddler they adopted through the Ministry of Children and Families. “When we first met her, it was overwhelming, like being outside the delivery room ready to knock,” Joel said. “As soon as you see the child, you’re already head over heels in love with them... sometimes it takes the child a little bit to figure out who the heck you are.” November is adoption awareness month in the province and B.C. Adoption (www.adoptbc.com) is not only using the opportunity to celebrate those families who have come together through adoption but
also for potential new families that might be considering adoption as an option. “Adoption fills a role in society for children who are unable to grow up in their families of origin,” said executive director Karen Madeiros. “The biggest difference is you’re making a commitment to parent children who have two sets of parents, who have two families.” In addition to the Ministry of Children and Families, there are four licensed adoption agencies in the province which can provide opportunity for different types of adoption, such as international adoption. However, the ministry generally deals with children in families where the right to look after the child is terminated. At any given time, the ministry can have 800 to 1,000 children in care, some in assessment, and others waiting for adoption, Madeiros said. Approximately half of those children are of aboriginal or Metis descent, which poses difficulty when trying to place them in culturally similar homes. “It’s tough to do, you’ve got five to 10 per cent of the B.C. population that are aboriginal, but they make up 50 per cent of the kids in care,” Madeiros said. ◆ See ‘CHILDREN’ /4
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