The White House Blog: Family

Celebrating National Adoption Day

This past Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and key leaders on adoption issues marked the 10th anniversary of National Adoption Day. The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships was proud to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to organize this exciting event. 

Secretary Sebelius, Senator Landrieu and others celebrate National Adoption Day on November 20, 2009. Photo by Chris Smith, HHS

National Adoption Day is an opportunity for courts across the country to open their doors and finalize adoptions for children out of foster care. There are currently over 500,000 youth in foster care and over 125,000 legally separated from their parents and waiting to find permanent, loving families.

Secretary Sebelius participated in a ceremony to finalize the adoptions of two D.C.-area foster children, the first two adoptions of National Adoption Day in the District.  Two-year-old Emma, who has a chronic inflammatory condition of her esophagus, lit up the stage as her adoption was processed and she officially joined her lovely family.  Sixteen-year-old Dominique was adopted by her mom Karen, with whom she has lived since she was 11. Dominique and her mother share similar interests, even down to their favorite colors of purple and pink.

In her remarks, Secretary Sebelius sought to “draw attention to the hundreds of thousands of children around the country who don’t have permanent families.” The Secretary noted that the “evidence is clear: Children who don’t have stable, permanent homes are more likely to drop out of school, more likely to be unemployed, more likely to go to jail, and more likely have kids out of wedlock.” The Secretary highlighted several HHS initiatives that work to promote adoption and connect children with the families they deserve, including:

• AdoptUSKids.org,
• The Adoption Incentives Program,
• A Public Service Announcement campaign with the AD Council, and
• National Child Welfare Resource Centers.

Also on stage and delivering remarks were Senator Mary Landrieu (LA); Representative Jim McDermott (WA); Joan Lombardi, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood, Administration for Children and Families; D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Lee F. Satterfield; Rita Soronen, National Adoption Day Representative; and Kathleen Strottman of Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. 

For additional information on Administration efforts around adoption and foster care, you can visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov .

Joshua DuBois is the Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

The Work of the Office: White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

President Obama announced the creation of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on the 17th day of the President’s new Administration. Since then, our Office has been pretty busy! I thought it'd be helpful to give you a little context on what we've been up to.

• Our office is situated within the Domestic Policy Council. This placement allows our office to have close interaction with governmental leadership on issues of importance to nonprofit organizations, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the President’s Budget.
• The President has tasked this office with focusing on four special priorities: involving faith-based and neighborhood groups in the economic recovery, promoting responsible fatherhood, fostering interfaith cooperation and building common ground to reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion, along with the White House Council on Women and Girls.
• The Office also coordinates the President's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This Advisory Council is a group of 25 leaders from both faith-based and non-sectarian organizations, each serving 1-year terms. The Advisory Council forms recommendations on how the Federal Government can more effectively partner with faith-based and neighborhood organizations.
• The White House Office also coordinates and works with 11 Centers and 1 Strategic Advisor placed in Departments throughout government to implement the President’s priorities for this office. Each Center works to connect its own agency to local faith-based and neighborhood organizations. For example, our Center at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) connects local organizations and groups preparing to respond to disaster situations to the ongoing activities at DHS and FEMA. Our Center at the Department of Education works to connect that Department with local organizations to provide after-school programs. So each Center is an important link between the federal government and local neighborhood organizations.

Our Office has been active on numerous fronts, from coordinating President Obama’s fatherhood initiative  to working with the National Security Council on President Obama’s ‘New Beginnings’ speech given in Cairo, Egypt to Muslim communities around the world. We also engage faith-based and neighborhood organizations on a range of issues, from the upcoming 2010 Census through our office at the Department of Commerce to foreclosure counseling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Our job is to make sure that the Federal Government is coming into responsible interaction with local nonprofit organizations. We look forward to working with you on these priorities!

Dr. Jill Biden: A Mother's Gratitude on Veterans Day

(Dr. Biden and Vice President Biden greet soldiers from the Delaware Army National Guard 261st Signal Brigade at their homecoming in September. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Like military moms across the country, Dr. Jill Biden looked for small ways to send the comforts of home to son Beau during his deployment: she and Vice President Biden sent him a Christmas stocking stuffed with candy and playing cards; she baked him his favorite brownies for his birthday; she helped him keep up with children Natalie and Hunter by mailing artwork and photos of soccer games. This Veterans Day, with Beau safely home after almost a year in Iraq, Dr. Biden expresses her gratitude for the sacrifices of all military families in an essay published today in USA WEEKEND Magazine, and shares how she plans to honor the men and women who risk their lives for our country:

It helps that families such as ours realize we're never alone, as I've seen this year how powerful the support of the community can be: A local restaurant provides pizzas at a welcome-home event; a minor-league baseball team, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, dedicates a game night in support of our troops; one of our schools adopts a military unit. Then, there's an organization I've worked with in the past few years called Delaware Boots on the Ground. It started as a group of military moms and spouses who came together to support our Delaware National Guard members and their families. "Boots" now performs simple acts of service for deployed soldiers and their families, like supporting summer camps for children who have a deployed parent. There are just so many ways that each American can lend a hand and make a difference.

Beau came home safely Sept. 25, after almost a year in Iraq. My family feels so blessed.

Joe and I plan to visit Arlington National Cemetery this Veterans Day and spend time with veterans and soldiers to show our thanks. On Veterans Day and every day, it's our duty to show appreciation for their service and remember that each of us has the ability to make a difference in the life of a service member. Even though Beau's deployment is complete, I still consider myself a member of the military family. I always will.

Vaccinations for the First Family

We've been asked about whether the President, Mrs. Obama, and Sasha and Malia have received their H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. All four members of the Obama family have received their seasonal flu vaccine.  Malia and Sasha were both vaccinated for H1N1 last week, after the vaccine became available to Washington, DC schoolchildren.  President and Mrs. Obama have not yet been vaccinated for H1N1, and they will wait until the needs of the priority groups identified by the CDC – including young people under the age of 24, pregnant women, and people with underlying conditions – have been met.  The girls' H1N1 vaccine was administered by a White House physician, who applied for and received the vaccine from the DC Department of Health using the same process as every other vaccination site in the District. 

While the initial distribution of vaccine is being administered to priority target groups, there are steps every family can take to help protect against H1N1 and seasonal flu.  Remember to check Flu.gov for the latest on vaccine availability near you, steps you can take to protect your family, and what to do if you or a loved one gets the flu.

Catherine Mccormick-Lelyveld is Press Secretary for the First Lady