Harlem State Building
163 W. 125th Street, 8th Fl.
New York, NY 10027

Anchor Parent:

• Angela Johnson
• Wade Hanley

Angela Johnson is the mother of natural, adopted and foster children and loves what she does.  Angela has one son in the Navy, one son attending Benedict College in South Carolina and another son attending Cardinal Hayes and is the star quarterback. In addition, Angela runs Annie’s Place; a NYS licensed family Day Care Center from her home.  Angela began her career as a licensed foster parent with Louise Wise Services (LWS) in 1993 and was transferred to Harlem Dowling Westside Center when LWS closed. Angela continues to foster children today with Harlem Dowling. 

Angela has adopted four children thus far and is waiting the adoption of the two children she has been fostering since their placement in her home.  Angela’s first adoptive child, Jyier was placed with her from birth.  Angela worked diligently with Jyier’s mother to plan for Jyier and to get her own life on track and when it was determined that Jyier’s mother would not be able to have Jyier return to her care, Angela adopted him. Angela strongly believes in the family-to-family values and she encouraged Jyier’s mother to maintain contact with him and to keep in contact with Angela and to continue on the path towards improving her life. 

Angela has had several special and exceptional needs children placed in her home, some of which have been returned to their relatives or parents and three of which she has adopted.  The three special needs children she has adopted are a sibling group that was placed with her over a period of time.  All of the children came into Angela’s care shortly after their birth and all were born with prenatal concerns and developmental deficits.  Angela has worked tirelessly with the Early Intervention Programs, the Committee on Special Education, and the clinical departments of LWS and Harlem Hospital to insure that the children continue to overcome the delays and receive the services that they need.

There were several difficulties in regards to the placement of this sibling group. Including, but not limited to, the birth parents who were not willing to follow through with their service plans, cooperate with visitation, incarceration and continued drug use of the biological family.  Throughout this process, Angela continued to reach out to both parents, encourage them and follow the family-to-family values.  Brittany was the first of the siblings to be adopted, and Kenyce and Irving followed a few years later after several postponements by the Courts.

Angela realized that she would need additional training and support in order to meet the needs of the children placed in her home, and she was proactive in spearheading the training of resource parents at LWS. Angela saw to it that the additional training was not only mandatory annually, but that the Resource Parents were fully trained in regards to enhanced visitation.  Angela was instrumental in the work to formulate the team approach between the LWS staff and the resource parents.  Angela worked closely with the LWS Executive Director and the Foster Care Director to incorporate the MAPP training for Resource Parents and staff together, and to facilitate the understanding among the staff and Resource Parents of the team approach.

 Angela soon realized that the team approach achieved at LWS could be the norm for other agencies and she then began to attend the Circle of Support meetings in the hopes of informing other Resource Parents of her success.  Angela became an Anchor Parent so that she could share her story of teamwork with other resource parents, and offer support as well as information and resources.  As an Anchor Parent, Angela believes in empowering the Resource Parent and providing a wide range of informational workshop topics to educate each Resource Parent.

Angela is currently fostering Darin, a 2 year old she has had since he was born two months premature, and Pamela, a 4 year old she has since the age of 10 months.  Both children are on the adoption track and have exceptional needs, and Angela continues to work with Harlem Dowling. The placement of Darin and Pamela has also made Angela aware of the importance of establishing and maintaining contact with he children’s law guardian to insure that they are aware of and receive all of the pertinent information and documentation in regards to the needs and evaluation of the children. As an Anchor Parent, Angela believes in accountability for herself, Resource Parents and for each level of the team of Harlem Dowling. Angela believes in respecting each Resource Parent and in giving respect to each member of the foster care team, the children and birth parents.

Circle of Support has allowed Angela to be available to those Resource Parents who are new as well as experienced but need that outlet to vent their frustration at the system that at times does not appear to have the best interest of anyone in mind.  Through the Circle of Support, Angela is able to be the voice to let you know that everything will be okay and that you are supported, and that what you are experiencing is what we all have experienced at one time or another, and like us, you will survive and flourish and so will the children.

For those of you in this Resource Parent journey with me, I thank you and welcome you to the Circle of Support.

Angela Johnson can be reached at (212) 426 - 0983.

Pre-Adoptive Parent

At the age of 34, in November 2006, I became an anchor parent with the Circle of Support.  As an Anchor Parent, I service the Central Harlem community, which is a responsibility that I share with Angela Johnson. I became a kinship resource parent in 1997 when I received custody of my half brother Robert, who is now age 19. I am a Harlem resident caring for my two pre-adoptive sons Brian who is 17 and Malcolm who is 14. 

I view myself as a strong and committed soldier in the child care and advocacy arenas. I graduated from Herbert H. Lehman College of The City University of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies. During college, my desire to teach grew strong. I was employed for years in the early childhood education field having taught at day cares sites, head start programs, and nursery schools.  These experiences grounded me for my future teaching goals.  

With a strong passion for teaching, I decided to pursue a graduate degree. I elected to attend the State University of New York at Albany where I received a Master degree in Africana Studies. While at SUNY, I was asked to teach classes in African-American Literature, while my professor was on sabbatical. Additionally, during my graduate studies, I was fortunate to be assigned as a teacher's assistant. These experiences offered me increased development as a teacher and shaped me into the parent that I am today.  

While attending graduate school, I was a Residential Supervisor for six at-risk youths in Albany and I was also hired as an intern to teach cultural studies at Albany High School. After receiving my Masters, I returned to New York City to tackle my most challenging job to date, that as a teacher with the Department of Education for The City of New York.  

I have served for twelve years as a sixth, fifth, and fourth grade educator. I also taught social studies for two years at the middle school level. This has been my most rewarding work to date. I acquired eclectic teaching experiences during and after my completion of college and graduate school. As a scholar of history, I have retained the resources, videos, books, articles, references, contacts, and hands-on experiences to be a very effective teacher and parent.  I look forward to my work as an Anchor Parent.