$31 raised by 1 donor
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$8,000 Goal
Capital Adoptive Families Alliance (CAFA) is a non-profit organization that is professionally run by parents. We were formed in 2009 by two parents that were social workers who needed support raising their adopted children.
Since this time, we have learned a lot about what our families need. There is a common assumption that once a child is adopted or placed in permanent homes everyone in the new family lives "happily ever after." In reality, there is no adoption without trauma. Often there is an increase in stress, grief and loss after a child is adopted. An estimated 9-11% of children wind up back in the system as their adoptions are dissolved. The outcomes for these children are grim. At CAFA we aim to support all adoptive families to prevent this situation. Because 100% of our employees, volunteers and board of directors are touched by adoption in some way, we truly understand the needs of our families.
Since its inception, CAFA has grown to support hundreds of families in the greater Sacramento area. We provide respite, support groups, trainings and community support with the intention of keeping adoptive families together in an environment where everyone thrives.
Our mission is to provide support and education to the adoptive, kinship and guardianship communities while advocating for the needs of families providing permanence with a commitment to racial equity and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Through the years, CAFA has found the most valuable service we offer our parents is a sense of community. 99% of the families we support have adopted through foster care. All of the adoptive children in these families suffer from complex trauma and many have mental health challenges. This can lead to poorer outcomes for the youth and family. A lot of these negative outcomes are due to feelings of isolation, stress, and a lack of appropriate services.
Our answer to effectively handle these difficult feelings is to connect people that are going through similar situations. We believe this because research indicates the positive outcomes that occur for adoptive families when they have peer support. Therefore, this vital component is woven into each of our programs.
This philosophy has been successful in meeting the needs of our family and we are receiving additional requests for services from our neighboring counties. Every program we run has been statistically successful. This is largely due to the fact that CAFA is an organization operated and supported by those touched by those who have a personal connection to adoption and a deep understanding of the need to create a community of support and help.
We offer several community based services and support to our families including; support groups, family events, trainings, respite program, phone support, resource library... Our goal is to keep these services very low cost or free. We rely on support from people like to to achieve this goal!
Capital Adoptive Families Alliance Executive Director, employees and Board of Directors stand with the Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color communities in the fight for equality and justice. We acknowledge that systemic racism has resulted in foster and adoptive structures that disproportionately devalue BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ families. We commit to using our education and support resources to raise awareness and ignite change within our organization, our families, and our communities.
Organization name
Capital Adoptive Families Alliance
2009
Tax id (EIN)
27-0148185
Mission Category
Community Improvement, Capacity Building
Operating Budget
$100,001-$250,000
Organization Need
Funding: Other, Funding: Unrestricted, Other
Demographics Served
General population
BIPOC Leadership
Executive Director/CEO
Local Counties Served
El Dorado, Sacramento, Yolo
Address
PO Box 5292Sacramento, CA, US
Yolo, CA, US
El Dorado, CA, US
Placer, CA, US
CA, US