The Adoption Exchange Association received a 5-year grant in 2013 from the Children’s Bureau to create and operate, in collaboration with its partner, The Advertising Council, Inc., a multimedia National Public Service Adoption Recruitment Campaign and Response Initiative to promote the adoption of children from the public child welfare system, to ensure that children have permanent homes with loving adoptive or guardianship families, and to establish a support system for the States in the utilization of the newly established media resources and in appropriate recruitment response mechanisms. The national ad campaign utilizes the tag line “You Don’t Have to be Perfect to be a Perfect Parent”. The grant supports state exchanges, in collaboration with the Ad Council, in localizing the national ad campaign material, allowing people responding to the ads to be connected directly with the proper agency in their state. In addition, families from around the country are being trained to respond to media requests to speak about their experiences as foster or adoptive parents. The Center for Social Work Research is contracted to evaluate the Adoption Exchange Association programming activities on this project.
