THE BARKER ADOPTION FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Barker Adoption Foundation is committed to the belief that all children deserve a safe, loving and permanent family. As the 4th oldest adoption organization in the country, Barker serves the communities of Maryland, Virginia and DC, providing life-long adoption-related services and robust educational programs, partnering with all members of the adoption circle in a manner that is respectful, ethical and compassionate. Since 1945, Barker has found devoted families for more than 7,000 children born to birth parents who took the courageous step to make an adoption plan.
About This Cause
Agency Profile The Barker Foundation was founded in 1945 and is a non-profit, child-placing agency, licensed in DC, MD, and VA, with headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, and satellite offices in Washington, DC, and Falls Church, Virginia. Through the agency’s domestic and international adoption services, more than 7,000 children have found loving homes, and more than 30,000 women experiencing unplanned pregnancies have found support and guidance. Now in its seventh decade of service, Barker’s primary commitment is to help children find permanent, loving homes. Barker also places great emphasis on sustaining and nurturing all members of the family of adoption -- birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted persons -- through lifelong post-adoption services. In addition to a strong domestic program, Barker is active in Ethiopia, India, and Korea. Barker is also known for strong outreach in the African-American and Latino communities, an inclusive and multi-lingual staff, and a model public-private partnership (Project Wait No Longer) to find homes for older foster children. Barker has also been at the cutting edge of adoption practice, training, and research, sponsoring an annual conference, workshops and seminars, continuing education for professionals, and support groups for birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees. Barker has a 21-member Board of Trustees, 21 salaried staff, and 28 contractors/consultants. The agency was incorporated as the nation’s first “cooperative adoption agency,” and Barker’s clients play active volunteer roles in many aspects of agency life. A 4-member Board of Trustees directs the Friends of Barker, a separate 501(c) 3 organization which oversees an endowment fund built during a capital campaign in 1998. The endowment provides support for The Barker Foundation through its investment earnings, as well as financial stability for Barker’s future. In 2005, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) selected The Barker Foundation as an Angel in Adoption™ award recipient. The award was given in recognition of Barker’s outstanding leadership in the field of adoption and dedication to positive child welfare practices. In 2008 Barker was among the first U.S. agencies granted Hague Accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) in New York, thus making it possible for our agency to provide international adoption services to more than 70 Hague Convention countries who are also committed to the highest ethical standards. Barker was recently reaccredited through 2017. In a rigorous review process, the Barker Foundation was selected to be featured in the 2009/10 Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. Charities were selected for excellence, innovation, cost-effectiveness, and financial transparency. Barker’s affiliations include membership in National Council for Adoption, Maryland Association of Non-Profits, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, North American Council on Adoptable Children, and Local Independent Charities. MISSION STATEMENT: The Barker Adoption Foundation’s mission is to provide life-long adoption-related services for all in the adoption constellation and to advocate for ethical, respectful, and child-centered adoption practices. Our goals are to increase the number of people served while maintaining the highest quality of service and to increase the practice and environment of adoption by example, education and training. VISION STATEMENT: Barker aspires to expand its leadership role as a model for building and sustaining families through adoption to ensure that every child has a loving, safe and permanent family. CORE VALUES: Child-centered focus – While we serve all members in the constellation of adoption relationships, our primary client is the child who has no voice and often no advocate. The litmus test for all we do is whether it is in the child’s best interest. Integrity – Barker strives to uphold the highest ethical standards of practice, acting with honesty and understanding and respecting the rights of all parties. Inclusiveness – Barker values diversity of perspective, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, economic circumstances, age, sexual orientation and gender expression, and marital status. We strive to remove barriers for clients who seek our programs and services, and we value and seek diversity in our board governance structure and staff composition. Compassion – Our expression of concern for clients extends beyond empathy to true compassion. Compassion moves us to actions that make resources available to make a difference in the lives of our clients. Innovation - Although Barker is one of the oldest adoption agencies in the country, we value innovation that expands opportunities for our clients. We initiate new programs where the need is compelling, and we use the latest social service research and new technologies to guide our practice. OVERVIEW OF BARKER’S PROGRAMS: Compassionate, No-cost Pregnancy Counseling: On an annual basis, Barker receives approximately 75-100 phone inquiries from women and teens experiencing a crisis or unplanned pregnancy. A trained Barker social worker personally counsels each woman and without judgment, guides her through her decision–making process. Our highly trained and credentialed pregnancy counselors will support each client from the earliest stages of pregnancy through delivery of her child, proactively helping to engage the birth father in 70% of the cases. The pregnancy clients represent diverse backgrounds, races, religions and socio-economic levels. The vast majority of women who reach out to Barker are at least six months pregnant; financially distressed and often already parenting one child. Barker works alongside pregnant women to secure essential services and benefits to support the health of the baby, as well as promote the mother’s own health and safety. For example, Barker pregnancy counseling clients are typically between 15 – 30 years old, in financial distress, and often reach out for help when they are already at least six months pregnant. In addition to pregnancy, the expectant women Barker serves are almost always facing other life crises such as homelessness, addiction, rape or mental health issues. Cradle Care for Newborns: A cornerstone of Barker’s support to expectant and birth mothers is the option to place a newborn in “cradle care.” Barker recruits, screens and trains local foster parents to take newborns into their home and provide love and nurturing care for the baby while the birth parents take the time necessary to decide to parent or place the baby for adoption. Older Children Adopted from Foster Care: Since inception of our Project Wait No Longer (PWNL) program, we have found permanent, loving families for 103 children who were languishing in the public foster care system. The children placed through (PWNL) are typically between 10 and 17 years old; survivors of abuse and/or neglect; subject to a history of multiple placements and a fragmented academic record; and "legally free" for adoption. In 2015, 25 children were matched with permanent, loving families and represented the largest number of placements annually since the program began in 2007. Placement of Infants with Permanent, Stable Families: The Barker Adoption Foundation finds permanent, loving families for infants. Infants are born to mothers who took the courageous step to make an adoption plan, and were adopted by local families who were carefully screened, counseled, and trained by Barker social workers prior to the adoption. The placement of the baby is just the start of the lifelong partnership Barker will maintain with the birth parents, the adopted child, and the adoptive parents. Pre-Adoption Education Services: The Barker Adoption Foundation provides all prospective parents with 10 hours of pre-adoption training as one important element in preparation for bringing a child into their lives. The agency also provides a highly specialized 24 hours of P.R.I.D.E. training for parents who plan to adopt an older child with special needs from the public foster care system. Parents who are well educated in the special issues of adoption are more capable of addressing issues of grief and loss, and identify better with their child which increases the likelihood of their child reaching developmental goals, acquiring life management skills and, most importantly, establishing healthy family relationships. Trained Barker staff coordinates home studies, background checks and ensures all other requirements and state laws are adhered to for our domestic and international adoptions. They also provide that all-important emotional support and advice to anxious prospective parents throughout the process and waiting period. Domestic and International Adoption Programs: The agency's domestic adoption program provides married couples and individuals with the services to assist them with the adoption of a child in the U.S. Applicants for Barker's In-Area program should be between the ages of 25-45 years of age at time of application, and the agency staff work with prospective adoptive parents and birth parents who reside in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. For applicants in our Out-Of-Area program, they receive Barker's home study, adoption education and training, administrative support and a dedicated family specialist to help identify a licensed adoption agency or adoption attorney for matching with birth parents. Post-Adoption Education Services: Barker is committed to providing life-long support and education, as needed, to all members of the adoption circle: birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted persons. Post-adoption services include six support and discussion groups that are open to anyone – regardless of whether their adoptions were completed through our organization. Individual counseling, workshops, programs for adopted children and teens and our highly regarded annual conference are also services provided by our post-adoption department.