CHS Named Congressional Angel in Adoption

Release date: 10/28/2009

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite selected Children's Home Society of Florida (CHS) as a 2009 Congressional Angel in Adoption™ for outstanding advocacy of adoption and foster care issues. Fewer than 200 awards were given nationally. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption™ program, honored CHS with other Angels at an awards ceremony and gala event in Washington D.C.

This honor recognizes CHS’ extraordinary contributions on behalf of children in need of homes; during fiscal year 2008-2009, CHS finalized 928 adoptions, 876 of which involved children from the foster care system. This represents more than 23 percent of Florida’s record-breaking 3,777 public adoptions finalized last fiscal year. Since its founding in 1902, CHS has created families for more than 36,000 children through adoption.

“We’re incredibly proud of this distinct recognition, as it represents our rich legacy of finding loving, permanent families for children,” says CHS CEO David A. Bundy. “Bringing families together through adoption is an incredible opportunity, and it’s rewarding for the entire family.” Bundy is also an adoptive father.

Three CHS adoptive families, Barbara and the late George Kadzis of Tallahassee, John and Karen Burns of Tallahassee, and Dean and Debbie Heaton of Jacksonville, were also named 2009 Angels in Adoption™.

In celebration of the many families created through adoption, and to raise awareness of the thousands of children in foster care still waiting for their “forever families,” the country recognizes November as National Adoption Awareness Month, first proclaimed in 1989.

Throughout the month, CHS divisions across the state will host events to celebrate adoption and provide information on becoming involved in the adoption process. CHS provides foster care, private domestic and international adoption services, including birth mother counseling and pre- and post- adoption support and counseling for all parties involved in the adoption.

About Children's Home Society of Florida
Created in 1902, Children's Home Society of Florida (CHS) is the oldest and largest statewide private not-for-profit provider of services to children and families in Florida. The organization offers a full spectrum of prevention and intervention programs that include foster care, adoption, child development, emergency shelters, residential group homes, independent and transitional living for teens, parent education, counseling, mentoring, treatment for developmentally disabled children, and more. CHS, which served more than 86,000 children and families throughout the state in 2007-2008, is headquartered in Winter Park, Fla., and offers services in more than 100 locations by more than 1,500 staff members dedicated to providing child-focused, family-centered care.

About the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe and loving homes through adoption. CCAI’s goal is the elimination of the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right of a family. CCAI was created in 2001 by the active co-chairs of the bicameral, bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption to more effectively raise Congressional and public awareness about the issue of adoption. The Angels in Adoption™ program was established in 1999 as a Congressional press conference to honor outstanding individuals. Since then, the program has developed into a yearlong public awareness campaign culminating in an extraordinary awards gala and celebration in Washington D.C.

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