Lutheran Social Services of Michigan Asks Media to Use Ad Council PSAs in November - National Adoption Month

Lutheran Social Services of Michigan Asks Media to Use Ad Council PSAs in November - National Adoption Month

Leading provider of state ward (foster care) adoptions seeks homes for older children

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- November is National Adoption Month, and National Adoption Day is Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005. To raise awareness about the need for adoptive families for foster children, members of the media are urged to avail themselves of the public service announcements produced by the Ad Council. This year, PSAs in Spanish are available.

The PSAs explain that an adoptive foster child needs someone to care. They say: "You don't have to be a 'hero' to be a hero;" and "You don't have to be 'perfect' to be a perfect parent." They end with: "When you adopt a child from foster care, just being there makes all the difference."

To see or hear the campaign PSAs, go to: http://www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/adoption/

Lutheran Social Services of Michigan (http://www.lssm.org/ ), in partnership with Lutheran Child and Family Service of Michigan (http://www.lcfsmi.org/ ), is involved in establishing adoptive homes for foster care children through Lutheran Adoption Service (http://www.lasadoption.org/ ). For the past 10 years, Lutheran Adoption Service (LAS) has placed more state ward children from foster care into adoptive homes than any other agency. In 2004 alone, LAS arranged 224 adoptions.

"Of the 4,500 or so foster children waiting to be adopted, 500 to 600 are unmatched; that is, they have no foster parents or relative willing to adopt them," says Kari Mascar, director of Southfield-based LAS. "Most are older, age 8 and up; mostly minority; more boys than girls; and there are some sibling groups that want to stay together. Many of these children have behavioral problems arising from past emotional or physical abuse and rejection. It's going to take great patience and determination for any parent."

Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, established in 1934, creates communities of service that meet the needs of people, upholding human dignity, advocating equality and justice. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan spans the Lower Peninsula with 79 programs in 43 cities, including subsidized housing, community outreach, and services for children and families, older adults, refugees, and persons with disabilities. LSSM serves all persons, regardless of race, religion or national origin, as an expression of the love of Christ.

Lutheran Adoption Service is Michigan's largest private adoption agency specializing in placing state ward (foster care system) children with emotional and/or physical needs. Headquartered in Southfield, LAS also has offices in Ann Arbor (serving Jackson, Monroe), Bay City (serving Midland, Saginaw, Flint), Lansing and Kalamazoo (also serving Grand Rapids and the lakeshore).

Source: Lutheran Social Services of Michigan

CONTACT: John Elmore, Public Relations Coordinator of Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, +1-616-452-6084, ext. 3400, email: jelmo@lssm.org , or Kari Mascar, director - Lutheran Adoption Service, +1-248-423-2783, email: kmasc@LSSM.org

Web site: http://www.lssm.org/ http://www.lcfsmi.org/ http://www.lasadoption.org/

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