MAY 7, 2009 ISSUE
Mother’s Day 2009—A Look at Adoption Services in Watauga County
What is it that forms the bond between mother and child? It’s not merely the act of birth, said Roberta Yates, an adoptive mother of two and a licensing social worker. It’s love.
Although Yates did not give birth to her son and daughter, ages 9 and 6, “I can’t imagine loving our children any more [than we already do] or feeling that they’re not a part of us,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve given birth to them—you are that child’s parent.”
The Watauga County Department of Social Services (DSS) coordinates an Adoption Services program that places children who are cleared for adoption with qualified adoptive parents. This includes children in foster care and children who are adopted by relatives or stepparents. The DSS Foster Home Program is responsible for licensing foster homes through the state and placing children who need foster care.
Yates has worked at Watauga County DSS since 1996. She serves as a licensing social worker who helps prospective foster and adoptive parents meet statewide training and licensing requirements.
Currently, 34 children are in foster care in Watauga County, ranging from ages 1 to 17, Yates said. Sometimes more younger children come into foster care, while other times DSS sees more adolescents, who are more difficult to place in foster and adoptive homes.
“That’s a challenging age to try to foster,” she said.
Yates pointed out that every child’s case is different.
“Our first obligation is obviously to look for relative placements,” Yates said. In recent years, DSS has seen the frequency of relative adoptions increase, she said. If no relatives are able or qualified to adopt, DSS works to place children in foster homes and to provide them with access to therapeutic services.
Persons who are interested in becoming a foster parent or in adopting a child must first complete a 30-hour training course that includes information about the child welfare system, grief and loss, managing behaviors, the effects of trauma on children and working with the birth family. In addition, all prospective foster and adoptive parents are fingerprinted, receive background checks and undergo a “home study,” Yates said. They also must have CPR, first aid and communicable disease certifications.
“We want to ensure that our children are in safe and appropriate families,” she said.
Families who adopt or serve as foster parents are eligible for government assistance for educational and therapeutic services for children up to the age of 18.
Yates said that interest in adoption is much higher than it used to be.
“I think adoption in general has become more socially acceptable,” she said. Many couples are waiting until later in life to have children, which means that women or men might not find out about fertility issues until their mid-30s or 40s, when the window of opportunity for childbirth is shorter.
But fertility problems are not the only reason parents decide to adopt.
“[It is] also for community … [people] realizing there are children who need families,” Yates said.
Yates said she doesn’t believe the economic recession has affected the number of families interested in adoption, but DSS has seen that more foster or adoptive families are in need of government assistance.
“It is fair to say that the recession has impacted a variety of families in many different ways,” she said. “People who may not have needed resources [before] now are seeking assistance.”
Yates adopted her two children through the Children’s Home Society when her son was 14 months old and when her daughter was six weeks old. Both were in the state foster care system.
Adoption doesn’t come without its challenges, she added.
“I think that when you adopt, that you have to recognize that at some point in your child’s development that adoption will become a part of your family discussion,” she said. “It could be a challenge knowing that your child may want to find their real parent or their birth parent.” She said that adoption is not a secret in her family and that she has been very open about it to her children.
Many people tell Yates and other adoptive parents, “Oh, your children are so lucky to have you,” she said.
“But those of us who have adopted and fostered feel that we’re the ones that are blessed to have these children in our lives,” she said. “As much as you give, you get back 100 times more.”
It has been said that “to love one’s own child is nature, to love another’s child is nurture,” said Yates.
“I think that’s so fitting,” she said. “It’s hard not to fall in love with a lot of the kids that we work with.”
An adoption training class began on Wednesday, May 6. To join the class or for more information about adoption and foster care in Watauga County, call DSS at 828-265-8100.
Mother’s Day Facts
The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia 101 years to the day of this year’s Mother’s Day—on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Following are a few statistics related to mothers compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
82.8 million The estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2004.
55 percent Percentage of 15- to 44-year-olds who were mothers in 2006.
2.1 The total fertility rate (TFR) or number of births per woman in the U.S. in 2006 (based on current birth rates by age). The TFR in 2006 per woman in Utah led the nation with 2.6, while Vermont, the District of Columbia and Rhode Island had the lowest TFRs of 1.7 births per woman.
4.3 million Number of births registered in the United States in 2006. Of this number, 435,436 were to teens 15 to 19, 112,513 to mothers 40 or older and 494 to those 50 or older.
25.0 Average age of women in 2006 when they gave birth for the first time, down from 25.2 years in 2005. This marks the first decline since this measure became available in 1968.
32.1 Number of twin births per 1,000 total births in 2006.
153.3 Number of triplet and higher order multiple births per 100,000 total births in 2006.
August The month with the highest number of births, with 387,798 taking place that month in 2006.
Wednesday The most common day of the week to deliver, with an average of 13,482 births taking place on Wednesdays during 2006. This is the first time since at least 1990 that a day other than Tuesday had this distinction.
Jacob and Emily The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2007.
5.3 million Number of stay-at-home moms in 2008.
9.8 million The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18, up from 3.4 million in 1970.
6.1 million Number of custodial mothers entitled to child support in 2005.
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