Today we have Kelsey Applebee, Adoptions Coordinator at Aviva. Aviva Family and Children’s Services is a nonprofit, non-sectarian 501(c)(3) organization that believes that every child and every family in our Los Angeles community deserves the chance for a brighter future. They do this by providing compassionate support, therapeutic services and guidance to at-risk children and families. Read all about Kelsey and Aviva below!

Please introduce yourself and Aviva and your impact in LA:

I am the Adoptions Coordinator here at Aviva, and I have been here since 2015. I have always loved working with children and families, so foster care and adoption was the perfect fit for me! I began my career in Pennsylvania, where I am from, after graduating with my Masters in Social Work. After moving to Los Angeles, I heard about Aviva and knew that it would be the ideal Agency for me, because their mission and goals were exactly what foster care is all about. I started at Aviva as a Foster Care Social Worker, and then took over Adoptions in 2016. This is the most fulfilling job that I have ever had, and I love going to work every day.

Aviva is a nonprofit agency serving children and families in Los Angeles County. Our foster care and adoption program provides children in need of a safe and stable home with our certified foster families, for short-term, long-term, or adoption.

Founded in 1915 as the Ida Straus Day Nursery and Settlement, Aviva became a communal residential facility for low salaried, employed women in 1919. The Hamburger Family (founders of the May Company) financed a new residence in 1928 which was renamed Hamburger Home. The agency changed its mission in 1966 to provide therapeutic residential care and services to adolescent girls with behavioral and emotional problems. Hamburger Home remains our legal name, but we do business as Aviva Family and Children’s Services to reflect our continuum of care and services for at-risk children and families.

What is an adoption social worker and what are your main responsibilities?

My responsibilities start with helping to place a foster child with one of our certified families that will be a good fit for the child and can provide all the support that they need. We monitor the placement and support the parents and child during the adjustment period. If adoption becomes the court-ordered plan, I work with the county to complete the paperwork to make it all official and attend the court date with the family when the adoption finalizes (with a lot of happy tears!). After the adoption we continue to support the family, as adoption can be a bumpy road, even after it is made official. There are so many little things in-between those major milestones, but that is just to give a broad idea.

What are the top three questions you get from first time parents interested in fostering or adoption? And how do you (generally) answer them?

I would say the number one question is probably “How long does it take to adopt from foster care”, and this question is difficult to answer because there are so many variables case to case that impact timing. Giving the family a definite timeline would be unfair because I have seen adoptions from foster care take a few months and I have seen it take a few years, so it is hard to say with certainty.

The second question is usually “Isn’t foster care hard, what if the kid has to go back to their parents?”, and my answer is always the same. Foster care is TOUGH stuff. It is tough, but the risk is always worth the reward! The average foster family does end up having a child in their home reunify with the child’s birth parents or even birth family members (grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc.). This can be heartbreaking for everyone, especially if it is after a long period of time, but if they keep fostering and keep giving it their all, they will be able to adopt a child. Something that I always hear myself saying is “even if you don’t get to adopt this child, you changed his/her life forever with the stability and love you showed them”.

The third question is probably “Are adoptions from foster care “open adoptions” and will the birth family always be involved?” This also varies case to case. We as professionals in this field know that more often than not a child does better in general when they have some level of involvement with their biological families. Ultimately, it is typically up to the adoptive parent whether or not they want the birth parents involved. We highly recommend it if the birth parents can be involved in a way that is healthy for the child and the family unit. If that isn’t possible, it’s very important to keep talk about their adoption very positive and be open to all of the child’s questions.

What do you see as the big differences between why someone chooses to foster versus adopt? Is it common for people to foster in the beginning of their adoption journey? Or do people generally choose to do one or the other?

Our agency is first and foremost a foster agency. So, everyone who adopts through Aviva has to foster the child before they can adopt. I think this is a great advantage, because it gives the families, and the children, time to adjust and get comfortable before adoption. We do have families that only foster and do not wish to adopt, but a good portion of our parents are fostering with the goal of adoption. Both foster and foster-adopt families have the same goal, to provide a safe, stable, and loving home for children. Our families treat each child like they are part of their own family and nurture them until the child is either returned to birth family or is adopted.

What kind of support does Aviva provide to parents throughout the process and after children arrive at home?

Such a great question! Aviva walks you through the process of certification, trainings, all the way through to placing a child in your home. After that, Aviva provides the family and children with everything in day-to-day life, like enrolling the child in school or helping them get all of the supplies needed for a new placement (I’ve put together a donated crib at 8pm for a family while they were scrambling to get everything ready for an emergency placement). In addition to that, we link the family/child with services to address any needs they may have, whether that be mental health services, family support services, medical care, developmental enhancement, etc. We are there 24/7 for after-hour emergencies or questions, and visit the child on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. The great thing about Aviva is that we are a smaller agency, so all of the social workers know each other’s families and can help out when needed. Each social worker has a maximum caseload of 15 kids. That allows us to give special attention to each family. I would say the most important thing that we do for the families and children is to advocate. So often their voices get lost in the sometimes chaotic world that is foster care, and I love that we can be there to speak up for them and teach them how to speak up as well.

For families that want to support Aviva but are unable to foster or adopt, how can they do that?

Aviva also has a vibrant volunteer program! We believe a volunteer can have a direct influence on a young person’s life as well as the caregiver. From a one-time event to a long-term commitment, Aviva has various ways to volunteer and be involved that fit your schedule. Please contact Azucena Navarete at anavarrete@aviva.org or your phone number for more information.

Aviva’s doors have remained open to our foster families, mental health services clients, and women and children living in our supportive housing during this time of uncertainty. Now, more than ever support is needed to ensure Aviva can provide quality comprehensive social services to meet the needs of changing times and a diverse population. We count on the generosity of our supporters both new and old for both monetary and in kind donations. For more information, please contact the Development Team at development@aviva.org.

For families that are interested in learning more, how can they reach you?

If families are interested in learning more about fostering, adopting, volunteering, donating, or any of our other services, they should call (323) 876-0550 and we will get them in touch with the right people.

web: aviva.org