The Human Rights Campaign Foundation presented the local agency Children's Home and Aid with the All Children-All Families ( ACAF ) seal of recognition Sept. 27. Children's Home and Aid was honored for its fully inclusive policies and practices that welcome, support and affirm LGBT foster and adoptive parents.
Children's Home and Aid is, according to its website, "a leading child and family service agency in Illinois. Each year, it protects, educates and counsels more than 40,000 children, youth and families to overcome the overwhelming obstacles of poverty, abuse and neglect ... with more than 70 programs including foster care, adoption services, early childhood education, family counseling, and youth services in nearly 60 Illinois counties for the past 130 years."
The ACAF initiative, according to its website, "seeks to enhance LGBT cultural competence among child welfare professionals and educate LGBT people about opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents to waiting children. To date, ACAF has over 60 participating agencies across the country, and has awarded 34 seals of recognition."
Bill Bettencourt, member of the national advisory council for HRC's ACAF initiative, presented the seal to Nancy Ronquillo, Children's Home and Aid president and CEO, during a Children's Home and Aid quarterly board meeting.
During the presentation Bettencourt spoke about the initiative's history and the work they do to help child welfare agencies across the country be inclusive of LGBT individuals and families as well as his history working on behalf of child welfare agencies.
"This means so much to Children's Home and Aid and it means so much to the children and families that we serve. Again, I appreciate that you recognized us. We are committed to this mission of helping children have loving families and bright futures," said Ronquillo upon accepting the seal of recognition.
Melissa Ludington, vice-president of Family Centered Services at Children's Home and Aid said, "In Chicago we have always been active in the LGBT community so we appreciate the recognition and the additional knowledge we gained through this process. There are about 1,200 foster youth so we encourage families to come and learn more about fostering and adopting and consider it and to also understand that we appreciate all families."
See www.childrenshomeandaid.org and www.hrc.org/acaf for more information.