West Hollywood Mayor John Duran with filmmaker and RaiseAChild board member John Ireland and his daughter at a RaiseAChild event in WeHo (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
The Village Family Services is being recognized Tuesday with the All Children?All Families seal of recognition from the Human Rights Campaign during the foster and adoption agency?s Cultural Competency Series workshop Working With LGBTQ Youth: What You Really Need to Know at the Skirball Cultural Center. HRC?s All Children?All Families initiative ?provides a comprehensive framework for agencies to establish policies and practices that welcome, support and affirm LGBT foster and adoptive parents,? according to an HRC press release.
?We?re honored to be recognized as a leader serving LGBTQ youth and families,? said Hugo Villa, CEO of The Village Family Services.? ?From the start, we?ve envisioned a different kind of agency ? one that unites expertise with compassion and cultural competence to focus on the unique needs of children, youth and families whom we feel are being inadequately served. LGBTQ youth need affirming and supportive services and they can count on The Village Family Services to be there for them.?
?We are thrilled to welcome the Village Family Services into the community of child welfare organizations that are truly committed to creating more loving families by removing barriers to qualified LGBT adoptive parents.? The child welfare professionals at the Village have shown us shining examples of putting the best interests of the children first in the adoption and foster care process,? added Ellen Kahn, HRC?s Family Project Director.
?As far as cultural competence to work with our community, HRC?s All Children ? All Families seal is the gold standard. ?In fact, RaiseAChild.US has been collaborating with HRC since our November 2011 campaign here in Los Angeles,? Richard Valenza, Executive Director of RAISE A CHILD, told Frontiers. ??While our efforts recruited over 200 prospective families from all around Los Angeles County, we also heard from gays and lesbians from places like Trucker, GA; Rockville, MD; and New York City. ?For folks outside of Los Angeles, HRC and their network of All Children ? All Families certified agencies proved to be a great resource.?
RaiseAChild.US has partnered with LA County Department of Children and Family Services and other foster and adoption agencies to ?encourage the LGBTQ community to consider building families of their own through fostering and adoption,? Valenza said. ??As we recruit good prospective parents from our community, it is important that we also build a strong network of partner agencies for our recruits.?
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