Adoption Connection helped us facilitate our required pre and post home study for the adoption law…read morefirm we hired in Los Angeles. It was both helpful and convenient to use Adoption Connection here in the Bay Area so that we could successfully meet, interact and take classes with them. The thing that I most appreciated about Adoption Connection were the 2 classes we took, Interracial Adoption and a Intro to Adoption. We learned more than anything we could have read in any book or blog....the classes were awesome and we had a chance to meet with families that had adopted recently. Martha L. helped us for the post adoption home study and she was a pleasure to work with, very organized and easy to talk with. It felt like she genuinely wanted to see our adopted son happy and comfortable in his new home!

We attended our first Adoption 101 class in 2020 and the official outreach program in 2021. In our…read moresearch for agencies, we were really drawn to Adoption Connection (AC) b/c of their commitment and fierce advocacy for Birth mothers. After speaking with other agencies, attorneys and consultants, we felt that they were the most transparent not only with adoptive parents, but also with offering Birth Mothers perspective, counseling, and a listening ear to make the most informed decision during the most difficult time of their lives. We were told from the outset that 3 years+ was a realistic estimate in terms of placement and though we hoped it would be earlier, we understood how delicate this journey was. We were sent quarterly updates with the number of times our brochure had been presented (over 40 by the end of our process), but we had never met a Birth Mother in person yet. It's very easy to go to dark places and play the blame game as to why it hasn't happened yet, but we decided to turn our sadness into a year of yes. Yes to the trips, yes to the dinners, and yes to adventures that came our way. We started therapy and really worked on being the best version of ourselves we could for whenever we got the call. In our research, the best advice we were given is that as adoptive parents, we have to be ok with being 4th place in terms of choices for Birth Mothers who are placing their child up for adoption: 1st is with a birth parent 2nd is with a family member 3rd is with a member of their community We were more than happy to be 4th place and it's with that mindset, we were able to wait (as difficult as it was) almost 3 years for a placement. Our Birth Mother was very confident in her decision to place her child up for adoption, but understandably had second thoughts once the child was born. Those first 30 days were so stressful and AC really stepped up and not only offered comfort, perspective, and options for the Birth Mother, but also coached us through the difficult time of having the child with us and the possibility of things not working out. It was very important to all of us that our Birth Mother felt secure and safe in whatever decision she made and in the end, she felt that we were the best option for her child. Adoption is not for the faint of heart, but if not for the expertise and advice of the team at AC, we definitely would not have been able to honestly tell our child that this decision was not made lightly and was made out of an abundance of love b/c he was so wanted by all parties. We're so thankful for the Adoption Connection Team and their continued support of Birth Mothers and Adoptive Families.

I am an established resource parent in Alameda County, I originally went through the county itself…read more(social services) to be certified for foster care etc and then we later adopted through the county. We now have been finalized with our daughter for 3 years and are ready to expand our family again through fost /adopt, but we decided that we wanted more input than we were allowed to have with the county. My daughters sister (who was also in foster care) ended up in a great home and that all came about through A Better Way, so we decided to look into their program and have begun our pride training classes. Since this is my 2nd time going through pride training (my last training was more than 5 years ago) initially I was not at all excited, but I have to say that I am really enjoying the classes. Being that I have been a foster parent, a concurrent planning placement parent and now an adoptive parent I am quite familiar with how things work, what the kids go through etc... and A Better Way does a really good job of balancing giving out that information (and not scaring people) along with presenting the lighter side of fost/adopt. I am very eager to finish the training and get to the next and so far so good. I would recommend a better way to anyone considering fost/adoption.

Please beware. I experienced the staff within the Another Road to Safety Program as being very…read morenegative and unprofessional. Please beware.

When I first called Family Builders Adoption Agency, I was terrified. As a single gay man I…read morefigured no adoption agency would want to work with me, but to my surprise, they welcomed me with open arms and supported me through every step of the adoption process. Adoption generally and foster-adoption specifically can be a wildly emotional roller-coaster ride. But the social workers at Family Builders were there to guide me at every twist and turn and continued to support me well after my son came to live with me. They helped me understand and navigate the legal and social service systems so that I could focus on caring for my son, and they never failed to calm my nerves when I started to panic as all parents sometimes do. Adoption is not right for everyone and adopting a child out of the foster care system may seem scary and overwhelming, but if you think there is even a chance foster adoption is something you might want to explore, you owe it to yourself to attend one of Family Builders' free info sessions. Making that call to Family Builders was easily one of the hardest calls I have ever made--but it changed my my life in more beautiful and unexpected ways than I ever thought possible and now that my son is in a safe and loving home he is flourishing emotionally, physically and mentally. Family Builders helped me to become a father and more importantly helped my son find a home.

This is the worst organization I have ever encountered. My husband and I wasted five years trying…read moreto adopt a child through their foster-to-adopt program. In hindsight, we should have gone another route, but we really wanted to help a child in need. Five years later, we gave up and told them to take us off their list of available families. Before doing so, I attended a meeting with a large number of families who have been waiting a long time with no results! I realized that our situation is par for the course for them, and they have no intention of doing anything to improve the situation. They have a really high turnover of their staff, so we went through 5 or 6 social workers in 5 years. The social worker who wrote our home study took 6 months to complete it! I had to complain before anyone would do anything about it. The social workers are not proactive, and the management here does a poor job of making things happen. You often hear horror stories on the news about kids who are abused and neglected by their parents, and no one did anything about it. Now I know why. Families ready to adopt and offer a loving home are lost in the shuffle, and programs like this do the minimum amount of work. If you plan to work with them, ask them for their current statistics regarding how many children they are placing each month, how many families are waiting, and how long those families have been waiting. My recommendation is that you avoid Family Builders like the plague.

I could not do my job without the support of the Seneca staff…read more Ms.Erica, Rob, John, Mr. C love the kids and the kids know it. I teach at an expulsion high school. The teens come with so many social and emotional problems that education is often not foremost on their minds. The Seneca staff meets the needs of the students so that they want to come to school where they are encouraged, supported and loved. Thank you Seneca

Soooo I was a student for them a in school program were it's a bunch of young people who are…read moreinterns and we called them counselor an it was like 4 in our classrooms and when I tell you they made my life for 4 years straight a living hell I'm not even being dramatic about it they always say they support when in fact they just nosy and wont do anything and I had a therapist who I told was homeless and she didn't do nothing about it she didnt even help me get into a shelter and they gave her information that the office gave her didn't even mind telling me the counselors just judge you and hate everything you do when you just sit down and do your work and they also get there pay check by writing about you and send it to medical also my therapist would gossip about my issues to the teachers and counselors and try to gang up on me with the 21 on year old counselor who wreak of weed and only pick favorites

This is a great program that really strives to make a difference in the lives of the children it…read moreserves. It is also unique in that it targets a specific cohort of youth living in a low-income community and works with JUST THAT COHORT for the next 9 years with the intention of preparing them for fulfilling employment or college. The project also gives financial assistance to those accepted to college. The West Oakland group adopted a cohort of 3rd graders from Prescott elementary school back in 1996. Those students received a program of year-round mentoring, tutoring, academic advising and social/emotional support from dedicated counselors and program staff. In 2006 when they graduated from high school the Oakland Unified School District's graduation rate was only 48%...this cohort of Dreamers had a grad rate/GED rate of 74%!!! Currently there are Dreamers from this cohort and such prestigious schools as Harvard, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and Morehouse! check out the national organization here: http://www.ihaveadreamfoundation.org Or our East Oakland project here: http://www.ihad-eastoakland.org =)

I joined AFS as a foster parent and was initially given 3 children who were a part of a family of 9…read morekids. Shortly after we were asked to take a fourth child. A few months later the parents of the 9 gave birth to a tenth child and we were asked to take him at 8 days old. My wife and I had the kids for 22 months. When the initial 3 arrived, the 2 elder ones were 11 and 9 years old while the third was 7. That 7 year old could sing the alphabet song but could no recognize A from B. When he left my home 22 months later he was reading at a Fourth Grade level. During our time one of the kids therapists (Katera) told us that she'd been in this field for 25 years and my wife and I were easily the best foster parents she'd ever worked with. Not only were we involved in every aspect of their lives which included participating in school activities. We were fierce advocates for their education and wellbeing. Bearing in mind that this was a family of 10 and we lived close to Discovery Kingdom I bought at my expense season tickets for all eligible children to that they could attend the park as a family. That meant the other foster parents dropping them off at the park and we took responsibility for the entire group. It was urging Tim's like these that we could see the love these children had for each other. My wife and I discussed it at length and decided we wanted to adopt the 7 youngest children as the older 3 were above the age of 12 and chose not to be adopted. At this point within the Child Protection Services the case was transferred from Foster Care to Adoption Care. Our home was visited maybe on 3 occasions by a Ms.Shipe who turned out to the a**hole of all a**holes. After her third visit she contacted AFS and asked them remove the children immediately from my home. I assume that the agency knowing that the children were at my home for 22 months without any problems waited for about 5 days before taking action then removing them on the sixth day. I tried to prevent this by asking AFS the reason for this, as was told they were removed because Shipe said "she knows there is a problem in that house but she just doesn't know what". Made a follow up attempt to meet with the VP of AFS with no results. Given the emotional investment we had in the kids being our family both my wife and I went into a state of depression and crazy thing is after 1 1/2 years AFS had the verbosity to call and ask us to take 3 more kids. They found no problems with our care for these children but did not defend us from Shipe leading me to believe they are in business not to help children but to make money. It remains to be seen if this is just the way THE SYSTEM WORKS or whether this was just a case that slipped through the cracks. I have sat on this for almost 5 years but it has always bothered me and I feel I need to get it off my chest.

Would not recommend working with this agency if you are a working parent. My partner and I filled…read moreout a form inquiring about the fost-adopt program and registered for orientation. Almost immediately we got a call from a woman named Lisa. Her first question was "so who is quitting their job to take care of the child?" I explained that we had good parental leave at our jobs (almost a year), and then we'd look into licensed childcare providers. She responded "foster kids can't go to daycare, because their brains are damaged! Anyway, NO child should be put in day care, even bio kids." Yikes! Definitely trauma affects brain development, but calling all foster kids "brain damaged" is misleading and creates stigma. I was also surprised about the daycare-for-bio-kids comments. That kind of shaming is bad for all families (bio, foster, and adoptive) - makes you wonder how they treat the parents trying to reunify! This woman also asked "why haven't you already arranged parental leave from your jobs?" It seems bizarre to expect that prospective foster parents have parental leave arranged before attending an info session. Most foster parents we know start talking to their workplace about leave as they complete training and can accept placements. The experience put us off applying to be foster parents for a while. We eventually did identify another agency that seemed a little more professional.

My husband and I were so lucky to have Nina involved in our adoption process. She prepared our…read morehome study, follow-up home study and post placement review. We have also utilized adoption trainings from her private practice. I can say nothing but good things about Nina. We were terrified when we began the process of adoption and her friendly nature and extensive knowledge immediately alleviated our fears and reservations. Any question we had, she could answer it. We felt completely at ease with Nina. She was so excited for us when our daughter was placed with us and that meant she was invested in the process with us. That was very important. If you are a family thinking about adoption, I would highly recommend you speak with her. She will give you not only knowledge and guidance, she will give you comfort. Trish and Francisco Gomez

Nina is an inspirational therapist! In 2012 I placed my daughter for adoption and I was very lucky…read moreto be referred to Nina immediately. She was my rock during a time of chaos and change. She motivated me to be strong and gave me the tools to heal. She is a fantastic listener and is able to read body cues and address core issues that need to be dealt with. I strongly recommend her!

Gracious, friendly, and helpful staff. They arranged a last minute ride for me with a volunteer,…read moreproviding required transportation to and from a hospital procedure. Very grateful for their help.

The mission of this organization is simple and clear - spend an hour of your time with a lonely…read moresenior and make a huge difference in their life! I have visited several different 'old friends', each more interesting than the next, but what I have enjoyed the most is making a connection with someone and being able to see them regularly. Little Brothers always needs volunteers and they have a great new website that is easy to navigate. You really do walk away from the volunteer experience with a huge grin on your face and a skip in your step. No one wants to grow older alone. I really felt like my time was well spent.

I was very pleased with Tamara's work; a combination of accuracy and speed at a reasonable price. I…read morewill certainly be using her services again.

From the owner: We develop deep background on individuals and companies related to assets, interests, activity,…read morepolitical and social associations, employment, litigation and business history, reputation and ownership. Tamara Thompson Investigations specializes in Internet, database and genealogical investigations. Tamara provides in-house trainings to law firms, financial service companies, and other businesses and speaks at conferences of professional associations. I have presented at the State Bar of California, the California Association of Licensed Investigators and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, "So You Think You Know Google?" and "Social Networking Sites: Investigating People On The Internet". My articles, "RESEARCH: Me, Myself & I" and "Cut to the Chase: A Primer for Using Public Records Databases", were published in Law Technology News. The Contra Costa Times profiled Tamara in a front page article titled, Privacy Predicaments Catch Gumshoe's Eye.

We adopted our triplets from Bulgaria through Heartsent. We received the assistance, support,…read moreconstant questions from me , and continual aftercare if needed. The panels and classes they hold are very helpful. I recommend my agency to colleagues and friends looking to adopt.

my husband and i came here in 2015. we met with employees + an adoptive family (& their baby). they…read moretalked very positively about the agency, so we had a good feeling about coming back and working with them. the staff was friendly and answered all questions we had, plus other families questions who were there as well. when we got in the car, we looked at our package from them and oh my word, we're their services crazy expensive. and that didn't include a profile book or attorney. it's robbery. we ended up using another agency and absolutely loved them. i'm giving two stars because the staff was helpful and friendly and professional.