Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy release In a Heartbeat to share their story

Yesterday, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy of the award winning movie The Blind Side and 2009 National Angel in Adoption, released their book In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving. In the book they directs reader to visit the Making It Happen Tuohy Family Foundation website, which lists CCAI as a charitable organization to support.  Read the below synopsis of the Tuohy’s book from Barnesandnoble.com:

For the first time, the remarkable couple depicted in The Blind Side tells their own deeply inspiring story.  First came the bestselling book, then the Oscar-nominated movie—the story of Michael Oher and the family who adopted him has become one of the most talked-about true stories of our time. But until now, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy have never told this astonishing tale in their own way and with their own words.

For Leigh Anne and Sean, it all begins with family. Leigh Anne, the daughter of a tough-as-nails U.S. Marshal, decided early on that her mission was to raise children who would become “cheerful givers.” Sean, who grew up poor, believed that one day he could provide a home that would be “a place of miracles.” Together, they raised two remarkable children—Collins and Sean Jr.—who shared their deep Christian faith and their commitment to making a difference. And then one day Leigh Anne met a homeless African-American boy named Michael and decided that her family could be his. She and her husband taught Michael what this book teaches all of us: Everyone has a blind side, but a loving heart always sees a path toward true charity.

Michael Oher’s improbable transformation could never have happened if Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy had not opened their hearts to him. In this compelling, funny, and profoundly inspiring book, the Tuohys take us on an extraordinary journey of faith and love—and teach us unforgettable lessons about the power of giving.

Down by the lake, where the watermelons grow…

This past weekend, CCAI and our FYIs packed up and headed to Deep Creek Lake for a retreat outside of the city.  One of CCAI’s board members graciously opened their weekend home, and we could not have been more grateful for this opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle and the 100 degree weather of DC!  I can say without a doubt that I haven’t seen the interns have this much fun all summer–must be something about flying across the water on the back of a jet ski or bumping along the wake while tubing.  Whatever it was, it was the perfect recipe for fun!  At the close of the second night our host gave us a moon lit boat tour of the lake with a stop at the local creamery.  The interns left rejuvenated (and very sore from all the water sports) to return to DC and finish drafting their policy report.

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

The group in front of the house
Latasha and Sam
Jeremy, Nicole, and Chelsea taking a breather while tubing
The group not ready to leave

An Intern’s Reflections

     Currently, I am a student at the George Washington University, majoring in Criminal Justice. From the first moment of orientation, I heard that you can’t fully experience DC without being here for the summer. So far, this summer in DC has been an amazing experience. I was given the opportunity to finally see the various areas in DC and explore the sights without the stress of schoolwork hovering over my head. But I have also been given a chance to intern at the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. Thus far, it is one of the enthralling parts of my summer.

     As one of the programming interns, I have the pleasure of assisting with programs that deal with adoption and foster care. At the moment, I am working on one of the most significant events pertaining to child welfare in the nation, Angels in Adoption. In order for Angels in Adoption to be successful, I have to help make sure that members of the CCA as well as other members of Congress nominate an “Angel.” Angels are constituents that have dedicated their life to adoption and foster care and have done outstanding work related to this field. Day by day and phone call after phone call, at the end day helps us increase the awareness of child welfare in this country, as well as around the world.

       Hailing from Worthington, Ohio, I completely understand the need to increase the awareness of child welfare. In Ohio, there are about 14,000 children in foster care and 2,500 are awaiting homes. I believe that every child has a basic right to a safe and loving home. To know that not every child is being brought up by a loving family they can call their own is extremely heartbreaking. At the same time, there are many people capable of loving a child and looking to build their family. It is this connection that CCAI also helps develop. Another issue of great importance is the need to improve the foster care system. Many that age out of the system, lack the tools and education to be successful and fulfill their goals. The Foster Youth Program allows a select group of those that have been in the system to hold an internship as well as voice their concerns from personal experience on the foster care system in the United States.

     My fellow interns and the staff here all share the same passion to improve the foster care and adoption policies and so far it has been an amazing adventure. Working downstairs and making phone calls or sending countless emails, all matters. I have never once felt like I was done tedious or pointless work because we are all together working toward the same goal. To know that I am part of something bigger than myself, is incredibly rewarding.

–Sabah Siddiqui

“Well, it’s emanicpation season…”

A current member of our Foster Youth Internship program forwarded the article, “For Foster Care Teens, Graduation is No Celebration,” and thought that it highlighted the barriers that face foster youth aging out of the system.  Intrigued, I opened the article and was struck by the following:

It seemed like wherever I turned last week, emancipation was on someone’s lips.

I called Maya Durrett, program director at the San Francisco CASA Program, just to find out what her shop is up to lately. CASAs (court-appointed special advocates) mentor foster children and advocate for them in court.

“Well, it’s emancipation season,” she said.

The article goes on to discuss the many issues that transitioning foster youth face, such as “accessing employment opportunities, mental health services, school, substance abuse treatment and medical care.” Access to services that are already available. How many times do we as practitioners have to hear this before action is taken?  According to the “Midwest Evaluation on the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth,” when asked about receipt of services across six domains (Education, vocational training or employment, budgeting and financial management, health education, housing, and youth development) about one third or less of the youth reported having received the services.  A major reason for this is that youth are either unaware such services exist or misinterpret their eligibility to receive them. 

A particularly creative approach to fixing this very issue was presented in the report “Putting the ‘Foster’ Back Into Foster Care: Recommendations for Improving Foster Care and Adoption.”  In this recommendation, the 2008 Class of Foster Youth Interns thought “creating a federally supported, centralized website that contains all materials and information relevant to the needs of foster youth who are aging out of the system” would alleviate the information gap that currently exists between the youth in care and the services available to them.  The interns modeled this website after the www.AdoptUSkids.org website, which is administered by the Administration of Children and Families Children’s Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services, and provides information to perspective adoptive parents about the children waiting to be adopted from foster care around the county.  FosterUSKids.org could provide detailed information regarding relevant Federal and State programs, child welfare advocacy agencies, as well as a host of non-profit and community organizations dedicated to serving foster youth.

Maybe once FosterUSKids.org is created, we will stop viewing “emancipation season” as a time of disconnection and despair, rather as a time of continued connection to a lifelong support network.

-Chelsea Cathcart, CCAI’s Director of Programs