Maggie Lear (ACS) (212) 266-2255
MAYOR GIULIANI AND ACS COMMISSIONER SCOPPETTA LAUNCH ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN TO RECRUIT ADOPTIVE PARENTS
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Administration for Children's Services (ACS) Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today launched "Should I Adopt?" a citywide advertising campaign aimed at recruiting adoptive parents for children in the New York City foster care system. There are currently a total of 18,000 foster care children in ACS's care with a final goal of adoption.
"The Administration for Children's Services cares for many foster children, who need permanent homes," Mayor Giuliani said. "While ACS has dramatically increased the number of adoptions over the past three years, there are still children who need loving parents and a loving home. The 'Should I Adopt?' ad campaign is targeted at New Yorkers who are thinking about adoption. Advertisments in subways and newspapers will urge prospective parents who seek answers to the most commonly asked questions about adoption to call the ACS Adoption Hotline.
"I want to thank both the Kellogg Foundation for providing funding for this project and other ACS adoption initiatives, and Shepardson Stern & Kaminsky for giving us their time and expertise on a pro bono basis to create this wonderful adoption campaign," the Mayor concluded. The Administration for Children's Services completed a record 4,009 adoptions in Fiscal Year '97, a 73 percent increase over Fiscal Year '94 where 2,310 adoptions were completed. Last year, ACS led the nation in adoptions, completing 20 percent of all adoptions in the United States.
Commissioner Scoppetta said, "As part of our comprehensive reform effort, ACS is focusing on streamlining and improving the City's adoption process. We encourage all New Yorkers to consider opening their hearts and their homes to New York City's foster children. Last year, we completed a record breaking 4,009 adoptions but we need to do more. We thank Shepardson Stern & Kaminisky for providing us with an ad campaign that will enable us to continue our commitment to secure loving adoptive homes for our children."
The "Should I Adopt?" campaign will publicize the ACS Adoption Hotline number - (212) 676-WISH. The Adoption Hotline, in operation from 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, is staffed by 10 full-time adoption representatives who can answer questions in English and Spanish. The bilingual print advertisements will appear on buses, subways, in subway stations across the City and in community newspapers.
The "Should I Adopt?" campaign was funded through part of a $4 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's New York City Families for Kids initiative. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation provides funding for a series of special projects designed to achieve the goals of promoting and expediting adoptions. ACS' NYC Family Album, another W.K. Kellogg funded project released last June, contains pages of color photos and informative biographies of available children. ACS' NYC Family Album is available in adoption agencies and at ACS' local field offices located in each of the five boroughs.
Shepardson Stern & Kaminsky, a Manhattan based advertising firm generously provided their services at no charge to ACS. The firm conducted focus groups with prospective adoptive parents and with parents who have already adopted foster children to explore attitudes, opinions, and procedural issues related to adopting of children in foster care. The results of the research were used to design the campaign.
The "Should I Adopt?" advertisement campaign is part of the comprehensive reform of ACS' adoption process which includes streamlining internal procedures and coordinating efforts with the Family Court and the State Department of Social Services.
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