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Prospective Adoption Meetings Going Virtual
LOS ANGELES – The adoption process is adapting because of COVID-19.
Ocean, 11, is a foster child in Los Angeles county looking for a family to adopt him. On the weekends he participates in big, virtual meetings with potential parents.
Ocean is part of Kidsave, a nonprofit working to find adoptive parents for older foster kids. COVID-19 canceled all the in-person prospective adoption meetings. Now they have them virtually.
“We’re absolutely amazed at how successful it is,” said Randi Thompson, the CEO of Kidsave.
Thompson says parts of the adoption process like home visits have slowed or even stopped for the time-being. Yet there’s a silver lining. The online meetings are more frequent than the in-person events, which they used to host only once a month.
“In a small way it’s really better because when there’s an in-person event there’s a lot of activity going on, a lot of people around so you may not necessarily get that one-on-one time with a child, where in these virtual breakout rooms it’s just you and the child,” said Robyn Reynolds who wants to adopt a child some day.
Ocean dreams big. Those dreams include loving parents.
“They’ll support me. They’ll be there when I graduate and they’ll give me allowance when I do my chores so I can have money so I can buy my Ferrari and a Lamborghini,” said Ocean.
The virus isn’t stopping him from finding his forever family.
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Kidsave is also raising funds from the community in order to put together care packages for the teen foster youth.
