The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), a national, nonpartisan organization that works on Capitol Hill and beyond to raise awareness of adoption issues, has named the HRC Foundation project an “Angel in Adoption.”

The award recognizes the foundation's work in training and supporting child welfare agencies to better serve LGBT youth in foster care, and to recruit and license qualified LGBT adults to foster or adopt children.

“This work ensures that LGBT youth in foster care – many of whom were abandoned by their original families – have the support they need while in foster care, and are placed with families that will support and affirm them,” said Ellen Kahn, director of the HRC Foundation's Children, Youth and Families Program.

The All Children-All Families (ACAF) project was nominated for the award by U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who characterized its efforts as “instrumental in promoting and advocating for LGBTQ youth throughout the nation.”

“The LGBT community has long been overlooked as a resource for foster homes, and ACAF has helped to turn this around,” Sinema wrote in her nominating letter. “For their commitment to providing all children with a safe and secure home, and for their efforts to promote LGBT culture competency within social welfare organizations, we all owe ACAF our utmost respect and appreciation.”

The HRC Foundation has worked closely with Devereux Arizona, the state's largest provider of social services for children and now the first Arizona-based agency to have received the ACAF seal of recognition for strides it has made in policies and practices that better meet the needs of LGBT youth and families.

“We are honored to receive the Angel in Adoption award,” said Kahn, of the HRC Foundation. “Since 2007, our All Children-All Families project has worked with more than 100 agencies across the U.S. to improve their practice with LGBT youth and families. We are particularly grateful for Devereux Arizona's partnership and the positive impact this has had in their own community.”

More information about the HRC Foundation's All Children-All Families project can be found here: http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/all-children-all-families-about-the-initiative

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

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