Centerville & Layton's FSA Blog Addresses

Just a reminder, the blog for Layton FSA is: laytonfsa.blogspot.com

and Centerville FSA's blog is: centervillefsa.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Did You Know?

Did you know that on June 1st that Davis County FSA split and became two seperate chapters?  The Layton and Centerville Agency are no longer combined.  We are now the Layton FSA and Centerville FSA respectively. 

What does this mean for you???

This means that if you are with the Centerville Agency you will attend activities with Centerville FSA and likewise if you are with the Layton Agency.  For the Centerville FSA this blog will be where you come to find out information and get in touch with your FSA board, etc.  If you are with the Layton FSA we have created a new blog to host that information.  That address is http://www.laytonfsa.blogspot.com/.  We will however be keeping the chat nights combined with both the Layton and Centerville FSA's!

Moral of the Story

Davis County FSA has become two seperate chapters.  This will allow us to get more people involved with FSA and really try to grow and expand and have an impact for good in our communities in regards to adoption.  Both chapters are looking for volunteers and help, so get involved!  If you're with Centerville FSA leave a comment on this post.  If you're with Layton, mosey on over to the Layton FSA blog and let us know you want to help. 

Thanks!!!

Chat Group This Week

Chat Group this month is next Wednesday, May 19 at 7pm.  We will be discussing how to deal with failed placement.  We have a couple coming to talk about their failed placement and would love to get a good discussion going about how others have also dealt with it.  Failed placement is something that a lot of adoptive couples either have gone through or will go through at one point or another.  Please come!

Chat group will be at the home of Jeff and Elizabeth Reed.  If you have any questions, or need an address to come please email elizabethreed_@hotmail.com.   We hope to see you there!

Scratch That - Chat Night is Next Wednesday!

Sorry folks! I have my dates all sorts of mixed up.  Chat night is NEXT Wednesday, April 21st at 7:00 at the Reed's.  Sorry for the confusion!

All of the other information is the same.

Chat Night Tonight!!!!

Chat Group for April will be held at the Reed's home tonight, April 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm. This month we will have a couple who has done foster care come to tell us about their experience. Chat group is a great way to get to know other adoptive couples and find people who are experiencing the same things you are.

Also, mark your calendars for the third Wednesday of each month. In May we will be talking about how to deal with failed placement. In June we will be talking about how to deal with insensitive comments people may make about infertility and adoption.

We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions please email Elizabeth Reed at elizabethreed_@hotmail.com

Thank You

The staff at LDS Family Services-Layton Office want to express our thanks to all of those couples who attended our Adoptive Parent Training last month.  We hope that the information will prove helpful to you as your pursue your goal to add to your family.  We also appreciate the couples who served on the panel and shared their experiences with adoption so far.

We hope you understand our great desire to help you on your adoption journey, where ever it may take you.  Please call us if you have questions or need information along the way.

Help Wanted

Have you wanted to become involved in FSA and just haven't known how?  Well here's your chance!  As we have become more organized as a Davis County FSA chapter we have come to realize that we need help!  We are forming committees over certain areas and need some willing hands to help out.  The areas we need help in are as follows:

• Media/Marketing
• Activities
• Orientation Class (for the Layton office only)

If you are interested or willing to help in any of these areas please either leave a comment or email us at daviscountyfsa@gmail.com with your name, the committee that you'd like to participate on, and your email address.

Thanks!  We're excited to work with you!

Chat Group

Chat group will be Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 7 pm at Jeff and Elizabeth Reed's home. Chat group for this month will be about birth parent letters. Bring your letter in whatever form it's in now. We can review each others letters and talk about what to write. If you are finished with your letter we'd love to have you come give input.   Look for an email with the address. If you have any questions please contact Elizabeth at elizabethreed_@hotmail.com.

Also, please mark Wednesday April 21, 2010 on your calendar. We will be having a family come tell us about their experience with foster care. If you have questions about foster care it will be a great time to ask.

We hope to see you there!

Chat Group Tomorrow!

Our chat group for this month will be this Wednesday February 17 at 7pm at the Reed's home. The topic this month will be what to do during the waiting process. We will discuss things adoptive couples can do to promote themselves, looking into adoption options and anything else you are interested in. Everyone is invited!

Each month we will have a topic regarding adoption we will be discussing, but we are free to talk about anything else adoption related you want. Bring any adoption related questions, comments, or stories you would like to talk about. Chat group is an informal setting where adoptive couples can get to know and support each other.

If you have any questions please email Elizabeth Reed at elizabethreed_@hotmail.com

We hope to see you there!

Our First Chat Group Night!

This year FSA is going to be starting a Chat Group. We will meet the third Wednesday of each month at the home of Jeff and Elizabeth Reed. Each month we will have a topic regarding adoption we will be discussing, but we are free to talk about anything else adoption related you want. Bring any adoption related questions, comments, or stories you would like to talk about. Chat group is an informal setting where adoptive couples can get to know and support each other.

This month the topic will be Adoptive Parent Profiles. Bring your paper profiles to share and we can also talk about online profiles. Even if you are finished with this part of the adoption process please come anyway. We need your help to facilitate a discussion and provide input to other couples.

Chat group will start
 Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 7pm.
 Watch for an email from FSA with the address. If you have any questions please email elizabethreed_@hotmail.com

We hope to see you there!

2010 Activities

Hey everyone! We hope that you are all doing well and enjoying this holdiay season!  As the year comes to an end we find ourselves looking forward to the things that will come in 2010.  As an FSA board we have lots of ideas and goals for the year 2010, but to make them successful we need your help.  Rhonda Stoker is over the activities for FSA and wants your ideas for activities for the upcoming year.  Whether they be things that we've done in the past such as game nights, pumpkin carving, etc., or you have other ideas for things that you'd like to do, she wants to hear from you!  So please share  your ideas by emailing her at rhondastoker@gmail.com.

Parent Profiles

FYI

Parent Profiles will be raising their fees for LDSFS couples from $50  a month to $75. This is still a 25% discount. This goes into effect January 1st 2010 for all users present or future. If you have any questions please talk to you caseworkers or the supervisor.

Thanks!

For This Child I Prayed

This is a link to an awesome talk given by Sherilyn Clark Stinson at a Families Under Fire Fireside at BYU.  The talk is all about infertility and adoption and is a great read for anyone who is ever faced with infertility.  Enjoy.

For This Child I Prayed

Be An Adoption Advocate!

RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ENSURE THE ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REMAINS PERMANENT

Private and independent domestic adoptions can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000, and expenses for intercountry adoptions generally total between $7,000 and $40,000. Domestic adoptions out of foster care are typically much less expensive, usually costing the adoptive parent $2,500 or less.

Congress introduced the Adoption Promotion and Stability Act in 1996 to “help families defray adoption costs.”

Unfortunately, while the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) made the adoption tax credit permanent, the provisions which raised the amount that adoptive families can claim and increased the income eligibility phase-out range will sunset on December 31, 2010. Thus, beginning in 2011, the amount adoptive parents will be able to claim under the adoption tax credit will revert to the pre-EGTRRA levels of $6,000 per special needs child and $5,000 per non-special needs child. Additionally, adoptive families reporting $75,000-$115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be restricted in the amount they can claim, and those reporting more than $115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be prohibited from claiming the tax credit at all. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to repeal the sunset and make the EGTRRA reforms of the adoption tax credit permanent.

At the center of this debate is a recent Treasury Report which found that parents who adopted children internationally account for a disproportionately large number of adoption tax credit recipients, while parents who adopted children from foster care represent a disproportionately small number. More specifically, international adoptions accounted for 34 percent of all adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up only 15 percent of all adoptions in the United States, while domestic adoptions out of foster care made up 18 percent of adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up nearly 40 percent of all adoptions in the United States. This finding has led some to claim that the adoption tax credit is not fulfilling a primary goal of promoting domestic adoptions out of foster care. Some advocates have suggested that the federal government should therefore eliminate the adoption tax credit and redistribute the funds saved to other pro-adoption programs.

The Adoption Promotion and Stability Act of 1996 had two purposes, first among which was “to defray adoption costs for families seeking to adopt” by establishing the adoption tax credit. The bill made no distinction between adoptions out of foster care and any other type of adoption.

Increasing subsidies to adoptive parents has been one of the most effective ways of boosting the adoption rate.

Most importantly, the EGTRRA provisions to the adoption tax credit due to expire in 2011 should be made permanent.

For 2009, the maximum adoption credit has increased to $12,150. This amount is phased out if your modified adjusted gross income is between $182,180 and $222,180. You cannot claim the credit or exclusion if your modified AGI is $222,180 or more.

For information on Special Needs Adoption Tax Credit for 2009 go to www.nacac,org/postadopt/taxcredit.html.

To take the credit or exclusion, complete Form 8839 (PDF), Qualified Adoption Expenses, and attach the form to your Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF).

See irs.gov (topic 607 adoption credit)

“The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213.” Written to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs. This legislation will make the tax credit permanent. Unless legislation is passed, the Federal adoption tax credit that allows many adopting families to take a credit of up to $12,150 (2009) is scheduled to expire in December 2010. (For information on other legislation involving adoption go to adoptioncouncil.org/policy/fed_leg.html.)

Help Make the Current Federal Adoption Credit Permanent by Writing to your Representative. Here is how:

1.  Find the name and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators at http://www.congress.org/. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or Congressperson’s Web site.

2.  Next, log on to http://thomas.loc.gov/ to find out whether your Congresspersons are already co-sponsors of the legislation. On the thomas.loc.gov opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213. Then click on “Bill summary and Status.” On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors,” “Text of Legislation,” or “All Congressional Actions” to follow the progress of the bill.

3.  If your representatives have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so. Tell them how important the tax credit was to you when you adopted your children, or how much you and other families you know are counting on it to be available in the future.

Act today, your efforts make a difference.

Just FYI

There is a local photographer that is offering a free photo session for adoptive families and their newly placed children. To receive the free photo shoot click on the coupon below and contact her at the provided number.

November is National Adoption Month

And there are lots of things going on to celebrate it that we wanted to let you know about.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Also, remember the Adoption Walk on Saturday, and the Family Day at Boondocks on the 14th! See this post for more details!

Mark Your Calendars

FSA members we have lots of really great events coming up in the next month, so get your pens out and mark your calendars with the following dates!

Thursday, October 29th at 7:00 p.m.

Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza for all FSA members and their families.

Come dressed in costume ready to carve some pumpkins and enjoy some treats!

You may bring your own pumpkins or there will be some there for purchase.

It will be held at a home. The address is 790 E. Birch Circle in Layton.

Directions will be coming soon!

Saturday, November 7th at 9:00 a.m.

Come and celebrate National Adoption Month with us at the 4th Annual Walk With Me Adoption Walk.

We are going to meet at 9:00 a.m. at Liberty Park and gather as Davis County FSA members to do the walk together. Wear lots of orange and bring anyone you want to that wants to support adoption! This is a great opportunity to show your support of adoption and National Adoption Month! Please come and join us! The more the merrier for sure at this event!

Saturday, November 14th from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

The Utah Adoption Council is celebrating National Adoption Month by hosting an event at Boondocks Fun Center in Draper. Click on the Boondocks logo for more information. This is always a fun event!

Chat Nights

FSA members! We need your input once again. We are going to start having "Chat Nights" once a month where we will get together and have "experts" come and lead a discussion on adoption related topics (ie taxes, international adoption, etc.). This will be an opportunity to get together and provide support for one another and gain knowledge or get advice on certain topics. What we are wanting is your input on what topics you would like to have discussed at these chat nights so that we can get our experts lined up, and make sure that we are discussing things you want information on. So please leave us your ideas in the comment section! Also, if you know anyone that would be willing to teach on a certain topic, let us know that as well! Thanks!

Couples Date Night This Friday!

What: Families Supporting Adoption Date Night
When: Friday, September 25th at 7:00 p.m.
Where: 1000 W. 2700 S. in Syracuse (It is a church house right on the corner)
Bring: $10 per couple

Come and enjoy a night of pizza, home made ice cream, games and good company! It's also a great opportunity to come and meet James Wadman, the new director of the Layton Agency. So grab your spouse and bring some friends and join us for a night of good food and good times! We hope to see you all there!

Adoption Alternatives

We warmly invite you to attend our Adoption Alternatives meeting scheduled for Thursday September 24. We have created a personable network of LDS Families that assist adopting families to prepare for and find children who will thrive in their home.

Ryan and Myrna Brophy worked with LDS Family Services toward adoption. When LDSFS received a call from a partner agency about a special new born child, Ryan and Myrna were informed and chose to pursue the adoption. Based on the circumstances of the child, LDSFS, Ryan and Myrna coordinated with the State to insure all possible support services were made available.

Ryan and Myrna have agreed to attend our meeting and to share their adoption story. They can help answer questions about their experience working with LDSFS and the State.

We will also have Brenda Durtschi from the Utah Foster Care Foundation present to provide information and answer questions.

We invite you to come, learn, and network with others. Our meeting will begin at 7:00 PM on September 24.

Meetings are held at the Farmington North Stake Center, 729 West Shepard Lane, Farmington, in the Relief Society Room.