Congressman Peter Welch Nominates Lund as
2009 Angel in Adoption™
Congressman Peter Welch has nominated Lund Family Center as a 2009 Angel in Adoption™ for their outstanding advocacy of adoption or foster care issues. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption™ program, will honor Lund Family Center, along with more than 190 Angels, at an awards ceremony and gala event in Washington, DC, September 30, 2009.
Lund Family Center (LFC) is Vermont’s oldest and largest adoption agency and turns 120 years old in 2010. Wanda Audette, an adoptive mother and licensed foster parent has directed the adoption program at LFC for 15 years and has overseen placements of 1,372 children. Since its founding in 1890, LFC has completed over 8,600 adoptions
“The Lund Family Center has a long and successful history of connecting children in need with caring 
families. I commend its philosophy that every child deserves to be part of a strong family and that communities flourish when children and families thrive,” Welch said. “I was honored to nominate them for an Angel in Adoption award.”
Wanda and staff work tirelessly with enormous personal commitment and professional savvy on behalf of families and children. Their work is guided by the philosophy that "there are no unadoptable children, just unfound homes.”
Hallmarks of LFC’s adoption program include a sliding scale to assure that money is not a barrier for children to unite with loving families in permanent homes. Families who meet rigorous home study requirements are eligible to adopt regardless of age, marital status or sexual orientation.
In 2000, a partnership between LFC and VT’s Child Welfare Agency was created and awarded a $2 million federal grant to establish Project Family, a program that finds homes for children up to 18 who are in state custody.
On any day in VT, about 100 children in foster care await adoption. Most are school-aged with physical, emotional or behavioral challenges related to abuse or neglect. Some are part of sibling groups who want to stay together. Since the founding of Project Family, more than 250 children previously considered “unadoptable” have found permanent homes.
LFC offers free services to Project Family participants including counseling, adoption finalization and post-placement visits. Home studies are free if used to support adoption of a VT foster child. Research indicates it is optimal for private nonprofit agencies like LFC, with reputations for excellence, to manage adoptions as opposed to state systems which can feel intimidating and bureaucratic.
Statewide, Project Family has reduced costs associated with supporting children in foster care and residential treatment. The positive economic spillover effects of the program save money and help VT comply with federal mandates to place children within two years of becoming freed for adoption, effectively avoiding loss of federal revenues for being noncompliant with Federal regulations.
When the Project Family grant ended, the state continued this important program. While state funding for human services is tight, the fact that the legislature level funded the program in 2009 speaks to its enormous success under Wanda’s leadership. For example, in 2000 eight state workers completed 60 adoptions in one year. Today, seven workers finalize an average of 200 adoptions annually. Time from from entry into the child welfare system to adoption has decreased from four and a half years in 2000 to an average of two years in 2009.
LFC is actively engaged in statewide and national initiatives including VT Adoption Consortium, VT Kin as Parents, VT Foster Parent Association, Child Welfare League of America and Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. LFC has earned a national reputation for excellence. Wanda Audette received an Angel in Adoption Award in 2002; the adoption program was awarded a Federal Adoption Excellence award in 2004. Other agency awards include the March of Dimes Lifetime Achievement Award and GlaxoWellcome Child Health Recognition award.
The Angels in Adoption™ program is CCAI’s signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad.
“The Angels in Adoption program is unlike any other program in the Nation’s Capitol. Because of it, over 1400 “Angels’ have come to share with Washington their adoption experience and left with a renewed excitement of all that adoption makes possible,” said Kathleen Strottman. “I learned one simple lesson from my time on the hill, knowledge is power. Angels in Adoption is meant to give Members of Congress the knowledge they need to use the power they have toward making the dream of a family a reality for every child.”
In addition to the more than 190 local angels from around the country, several National Angels will also be recognized at the ceremony and gala for their dedication and commitment nationally and internationally to child welfare on a grand scale. Former “National Angels” include First Lady Laura Bush, Patti LaBelle, Jane Seymour, Muhammad Ali, the late Dave Thomas, Steven Curtis Chapman, Bruce Willis, Alonzo Mourning, and Marcus Samuelsson.
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 (CCA) 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 and agencies. Since then, the program has developed into a yearlong public awareness campaign culminating in an extraordinary awards Gala and celebration in Washington, D.C.
CCAI does not receive any government funding and they rely on the generous support of foundations, corporations, and individuals to accomplish their mission. For more information visit http://www.ccainstitute.org/