By: Jamie Jones

Picture this: the year is 1975. A small group of dedicated adoptive and foster parents and professionals are navigating a child welfare system that is confusing, frustrating, and offers little support for families.

They deeply desire to see every child in North America stay connected to at least one loving caregiver for life. They want adoptive and foster families and agencies to be set with every resource they need to make that happen, especially for transracial families. But there is little support for parents post-adoption, and resources like adoption subsidies haven’t been legislated yet.

Eventually working out of a small basement in St. Paul, these individuals work long hours to put together an international conference that could bring together people from across the US and Canada who have been touched by adoption. Together, they begin relentlessly advocating in their local and national contexts for better laws around child welfare.

Several years later, these parents assemble a comprehensive manual for navigating the new US adoption subsidy—a highly confusing system to maneuver. This manual becomes the only resource of its kind in the United States or Canada and is distributed widely to parents and professionals. A second first-of-its-kind manual is created and distributed to help adoptive parents who are parenting children transracially.

Soon, these parents name themselves the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC).

Now, fast-forward to today. Families Rising (formerly NACAC) has continued supporting children, families, and professionals touched by the child welfare system and elevating the voices of those with lived expertise, no matter the obstacles.

And in our 50th year, we look back on our story and recognize how the people of Families Rising have made a difference in the lives of children, families, and professionals in the child welfare system.

Funded by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, our Adoption Subsidy Resource Center is the only center of its kind.

What started simply as a subsidy resource guide printed and distributed for caregivers and professionals has now become a fully developed program that impacts over 10,000 families every year, with Josh Kroll as its current manager.

Not only that, but Families Rising has been a key voice in passing legislation that ensures states families receive funding to provide for the special needs of children impacted by entry in the foster care system. Josh has been a major factor in the US government broadening the definition of special needs and ensuring Congress expands the adoption tax credit to be more inclusive to families adopting from foster care.

Since its beginning, we estimate our center has helped nearly 1 million children and families to access federal and state dollars through adoption subsidies and the adoption tax credit.

Eventually, NACAC staff pushed the organization to implement a post-adoption support program in Minnesota, recognizing that families at “home” needed support and that the organization could demonstrate the efficacy of its theories about peer-to-peer support right in its own back yard!  This led to a renewable state grant to operate adoptive parent support groups across the state. 

Rapidly expanding across MN, Families Rising Minnesota (once known as Adoptive Foster Kinship Connections) began dozens of these groups across the state, operating online and in person. We’ve now held this grant for 26 years and have expanded the program to support adoptive, foster, and kinship parents and their children.

To date, these groups have supported more than 10,000 Minnesota children and families through real-life relationships with caregivers who share similar experiences. 

Together, parents learn to navigate IEPs, birth family connections, challenges around disabilities, and everyday family circumstances.

In 1982, one of Families Rising’s first directors, Joe Kroll toured North America to learn everything he could about providing training for parents and professionals.

Decades later, FASD expert, professional trainer, adoptive parent, and former Families Rising Director of Training, Barb Clark, oversaw this massive sector of Families Rising for nearly 10 years, culminating in hundreds of webinars, dozens of presenters with lived expertise, and thousands of attendees. Our training team currently provides:

• Pre-recorded and live online webinars
• A vast resource library on relevant topics for parents and professionals
• Custom training packages for agencies, meeting each organization’s unique needs for their families and professionals
• A BRAND NEW podcast to help advance child welfare leaders everywhere

Furthermore, to expand our impact on child welfare professionals, we were awarded a grant in 2023 to establish the Center for Workforce Excellence and Leadership (CWEL). This center is dedicated to recruiting and sustaining a strong network of professionals who can meet the needs of children and families.

“I am igniting change in the child welfare system by bringing the voice of those carrying the scars of surviving the system and who often do not have a seat at the table,” says Deanna Jones, Families Rising staff member and lived expert. “Those of us with lived expertise are the change we need to see, and I am honored to be here.”

Individuals with lived expertise—those who have personally lived through adoption, foster care, or kinship care as children—have been involved with Families Rising right from the start. And in recent years, this has become a core commitment for our agency, meaning our training, workshops, support groups, and other resources are created by and delivered alongside individuals with lived expertise. You can read more about our commitment to those with lived expertise here.

“Even as an adoptive parent, I can’t and won’t truly understand the experience of adoptees and others with lived experience,” says Families Rising’s CEO, Ligia Cushman. “We must be informed by the expertise of this community.”

And, of course, the conference. As Families Rising first formed, the annual conference was our largest initiative. From a few hundred to nearly 2,000 attendees, the Adoption & Foster Care Conference brings together individuals with lived expertise, parents and caregivers, and child welfare professionals from across North America each year.

“I remember attending the conference as a little kid,” Josh Kroll says. “Even from a young age, the emphasis I felt was the community. It was a way for people with shared experiences to come together.” These days, Josh is a regular workshop presenter. 

This year marks our 50th Adoption & Foster Care Conference. Join us this October to be in community with people touched by the child welfare system. Registration is live! 

At Families Rising, we are completely committed to supporting children, families, and child welfare professionals for the next 50+ years, no matter the obstacles. Despite our successes, there are hundreds of thousands of children, families, and professionals who we cannot currently reach, and we need your help.

Consider donating to Families Rising. 

Much of the work we do is impossible without the support of our donors. Your gift can ensure that youth in the child welfare system stay connected to at least one loving caregiver for life. Make a one-time or monthly donation here.