By Akilah Monifa
November 12, 2003
Nov. 22 is National Adoption Day and this is National Adoption Month. I appreciate the recognition.
My partner and I are the mothers of two children, and although they joined our family, we do not refer to them as my "adopted" children.
It is amazing to me the number of strangers who approach me and ask questions in front of my children about how they may have joined my family. Questions like, "What do you know about the 'real' or 'natural' mother or father?" "Aren't you afraid they will want their kids back?" "Why were they given away?"
I struggle with how to reply to these questions because my main goal is to protect my children. I do not want them to feel stigmatized in any way.
My partner suggests a universal response to all such questions: "I'm sure you wouldn't have asked if you had known, but in our family, we don't discuss with strangers how our family was formed."
For me it's quite simple. I am a woman who wanted children. Our children know in an age-appropriate way how our family was formed. Our son is too young, but we talk to our daughter, who is now almost 3, about adoption, tell her the story of how she joined our family and let her know about how other families were created through adoption.
There are about 150,000 children and youth waiting in the foster-care system in the United States for permanent placement, according to recent estimates available from the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Thousands of eligible children in need of adoptive families are children of color. Many are older children and siblings who want to stay together.
A study released last year by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption found that nearly 40 percent of American adults have considered adopting a child. With the advent of the Internet and with easily accessible information now available about adoption, people interested in adopting don't have far to look.
As for me, I will concentrate on raising and protecting my children. My wish for National Adoption Month and beyond is for all of us to understand that every child -- regardless of how they joined a family -- needs a loving home.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Reorganizing Head Start will hurt nation's poor children
By Akilah Monifa
July 22, 2003
The nation's Head Start program, which is up for a vote in the House of Representatives, should be left alone.
It was started in 1965, and the idea was to give low-income kids between ages 3 and 5 a "head start" before beginning kindergarten. Since then, Head Start has helped more than 20 million underprivileged children, and it currently has another 1 million children in the program.
Head Start is up for reauthorization this year, and the House is scheduled to vote soon on the School Readiness Act, which would establish a pilot program in eight states, giving them oversight of the program's funding and standards.
It would move Head Start from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Education, which would shift it away from a comprehensive social services program and toward one that emphasizes academics.
The bill, according to its sponsors and the Bush administration, will strengthen Head Start by increasing its focus on literacy and school readiness.
But there are two major problems that could occur.
First, the Head Start program, under Health and Human Services, properly emphasizes comprehensive child development. The early years of a child's life are the most crucial ones, and kids need more than just rudimentary academics. They also need nutritious meals, dental and medical care, social skills, and parental involvement -- all of which Head Start provides. Once these social supports are in place, academic success is more likely.
Second, by giving more power to the states to run the program, the bill would set up Head Start for failure. Most states are in fiscal crisis and would have a strong incentive to divert funds from the program.
What's more, the bill would require half of all the teachers in the program to have bachelor's degrees by 2008, but it does not allocate money for the higher salaries that the advanced degrees will require, so it might make the states' budget headaches even more painful.
This should not be a partisan issue. If we care about children and education, we should commit ourselves to continuing the successful Head Start program -- not toying with it or dismantling it.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
July 22, 2003
The nation's Head Start program, which is up for a vote in the House of Representatives, should be left alone.
It was started in 1965, and the idea was to give low-income kids between ages 3 and 5 a "head start" before beginning kindergarten. Since then, Head Start has helped more than 20 million underprivileged children, and it currently has another 1 million children in the program.
Head Start is up for reauthorization this year, and the House is scheduled to vote soon on the School Readiness Act, which would establish a pilot program in eight states, giving them oversight of the program's funding and standards.
It would move Head Start from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Education, which would shift it away from a comprehensive social services program and toward one that emphasizes academics.
The bill, according to its sponsors and the Bush administration, will strengthen Head Start by increasing its focus on literacy and school readiness.
But there are two major problems that could occur.
First, the Head Start program, under Health and Human Services, properly emphasizes comprehensive child development. The early years of a child's life are the most crucial ones, and kids need more than just rudimentary academics. They also need nutritious meals, dental and medical care, social skills, and parental involvement -- all of which Head Start provides. Once these social supports are in place, academic success is more likely.
Second, by giving more power to the states to run the program, the bill would set up Head Start for failure. Most states are in fiscal crisis and would have a strong incentive to divert funds from the program.
What's more, the bill would require half of all the teachers in the program to have bachelor's degrees by 2008, but it does not allocate money for the higher salaries that the advanced degrees will require, so it might make the states' budget headaches even more painful.
This should not be a partisan issue. If we care about children and education, we should commit ourselves to continuing the successful Head Start program -- not toying with it or dismantling it.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Early detection for HIV/AIDS will save lives
By Akilah Monifa
June 19, 2003
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, and with the soaring rates of infection in the United States, we need to raise awareness about testing.
AIDS affects people of all ethnicities and identities. HIV infection rates in folks who identify as gay have decreased since the early 1980s, when HIV and AIDS were first identified, but rates for women and people of color have increased. Of the 43,000 new AIDS cases reported in the United States in 2001, nearly half were African Americans. And among women with AIDS, nearly two-thirds were African Americans.
Statistics show that 1 in 3 people who are infected with HIV do not know about their infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the more unfortunate statistic is the number of folks who simply don't care whether they are or not.
Educating people about HIV and AIDS is key. Past campaigns have emphasized abstinence and condom use. While these are good ways of reducing the risk of new infections, they must be supplemented with facts about testing, not stymied by stigma.
The AIDS epidemic has already cost more than 28 million lives worldwide. Thousands contract the disease daily, mostly through unprotected sex. With testing, many of these cases could be detected early and treated with new vaccines now available on the market.
Testing facilities should help educate communities and encourage sexually active individuals to get tested with regularity. Organizations like the National AIDS Hotline (800-342-AIDS) can help people find testing locations near their hometowns.
Although many people with HIV/AIDS in the United States are living longer and more productive lives, there is still no cure. We need to encourage testing year round so that early detection can prevent this epidemic from prematurely claiming more lives.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
June 19, 2003
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, and with the soaring rates of infection in the United States, we need to raise awareness about testing.
AIDS affects people of all ethnicities and identities. HIV infection rates in folks who identify as gay have decreased since the early 1980s, when HIV and AIDS were first identified, but rates for women and people of color have increased. Of the 43,000 new AIDS cases reported in the United States in 2001, nearly half were African Americans. And among women with AIDS, nearly two-thirds were African Americans.
Statistics show that 1 in 3 people who are infected with HIV do not know about their infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the more unfortunate statistic is the number of folks who simply don't care whether they are or not.
Educating people about HIV and AIDS is key. Past campaigns have emphasized abstinence and condom use. While these are good ways of reducing the risk of new infections, they must be supplemented with facts about testing, not stymied by stigma.
The AIDS epidemic has already cost more than 28 million lives worldwide. Thousands contract the disease daily, mostly through unprotected sex. With testing, many of these cases could be detected early and treated with new vaccines now available on the market.
Testing facilities should help educate communities and encourage sexually active individuals to get tested with regularity. Organizations like the National AIDS Hotline (800-342-AIDS) can help people find testing locations near their hometowns.
Although many people with HIV/AIDS in the United States are living longer and more productive lives, there is still no cure. We need to encourage testing year round so that early detection can prevent this epidemic from prematurely claiming more lives.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
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