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Location
8391 Auburn Blvd, Citrus Heights, CA 95610
Office Hours
Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm
Phone/Fax
(916) 923-5444 / (916) 923-5444
Email
[email protected]
Website
http://www.lilliput.org
Established
1980

Lilliput Children's Services is a private, non-profit agency licensed by the State of California. It bills itself as Northern California's domestic adoption specialists, completing more foster adoptions than any other private California adoption agency. It is a leading Kinship Care services provider in California. It is committed to ensuring that every child is safe and nurtured within a family who has a life-long commitment to the child. It works with birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive families in communities throughout Northern California.

Its mission statement is "To ensure a child's opportunity for permanence in a safe and nurturing family." Its tagline is "We believe that every child needs and deserves a family..."

Lilliput began in 1980 by one social worker, Bill Fuser. After working in public child welfare for over a decade, he believed that a higher quality of service could be offered to foster children and families through a combined effort between the public and private sector. By 1989, Lilliput was one of the state’s first foster family agencies to receive an adoption license.

The Lilliput Services offers a wide range of services to the community of families and professionals.

Donations

Supporting Lilliput Children’s Services means you share our belief that all children need and deserve a family. By working together, we can make this happen. The ultimate beneficiaries of your giving are the children. In California, over 50,000 children are adoptable and are waiting for a family. Donations help us to augment our existing programs, as well as expand services when necessary, thereby making sure that even more children have a family to call their own.

What donating can do?

  • Make a difference in the lives of foster, adopted and kinship children and their families throughout California.
  • Lower the rate of foster youth who "age out" of the system and become adults (emancipation) without having a family to call their own. Together, we will improve the outcomes for these young adults.
  • Support domestic special needs foster adoptions.
  • Provide services for grandparents and other kin who are selflessly raising their grandchildren and other family members.
  • Promote child welfare best practices.
  • Lower your taxable income.

If you choose, your gift can also:

  • Commemorate or thank someone who has made a difference in your life.
  • Recognize a child’s adoption day, birthday, or graduation.
  • Honor adoptive parents.

Needed now:

  • Raffle prizes: i.e. gift cards (restaurant, family activities, etc.), candles, personal care items, home décor or anything else fun! To be used at our upcoming Health & Wellness Retreats being held for both El Dorado and Sacramento County kinship caregivers at separate events.
  • Furniture: couch or chairs and coffee table to for our South Sacramento and Granite Bay Clinical Services Rooms
  • Toys: puppet families, animal puppets, multi-cultural baby dolls, hardwood doll crib, kitchen play set, play food items, painting easel, art materials – all to be used for specialized children’s therapy

Seasonal

  • March: Easter Basket supplies for those families who cannot afford this traditional holiday fun.
  • November: Traditional Thanksgiving food items or grocery gift cards. In 2009, 15 kinship families received Thanksgiving baskets complete with turkeys and all the fixin’s.
  • December: Holiday Toy Shop items like toys, gift cards and clothing for our yearly event. In 2009, over 80 kinship families and nearly 200 children in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties benefited from this service.

On-Going

  • Gift cards, particularly for gas, groceries and super stores like Target or Wal-Mart.
  • Clothing for kinship children and teens. There is a particular need for winter coats, hats and gloves during the cold-weather months.
  • Toys or Sports Items are always a big hit as these are considered “luxuries” to our kinship families.

Please contact our Community Relations Department at [(916) 789-9700] for an up-to-date list of specific clothing and sizes needed, as well as toys or sports items that could be used.

Foster-Adoption Services

Adoption is the most permanent type of family for a child who cannot live with their birth parents. Sometimes adoptive parents have no blood relationship to the child, and sometimes they are relatives (such as grandparents, aunt and uncles) or are close to the child or child’s birth family such as Godparents, neighbors or church members (kinship adoption).

Who are the Children?Children who are adopted through Lilliput are in foster care and are in need of a permanent family. Lilliput places children of all ages. The children are considered to have special needs based on at least one of the following:

  • Three years of age or older
  • Minority ethnicity
  • Part of a sibling group
  • Physical or emotional challenges
  • Adverse parental background

Children are placed into Lilliput certified foster families before they are available for adoption. These children may still be actively visiting with their birth parents or other relatives as part of the reunification plan to safely return home. Foster children are not considered for adoption until efforts to help a child return to his or her birth parents or extended family members have been exhausted. Upon termination of reunification services, the juvenile court may then order adoption for a child. It is best for foster children to be placed with foster families who will also commit to adoption if the child becomes adoptable.

There are over 50,000 foster children who are waiting for adoption. Last year, less than 8,000 of these children found a family, leaving thousands more lingering in foster care. These children are at risk of “aging out” of the system at age 18 without a permanent home. Families are urgently needed for these children.

Steps to Becoming an Adoptive Parent at Lilliput

Lilliput offers three distinct types of adoption programs: 1.Adoption from Foster Care

  • If you are interested in adopting from the foster care system, call the phone number or contact the Lilliput office closest to you. Or you can email us: [email protected]
  • You will be invited to a local orientation meeting.
    • "What is Orientation?" Orientation is a casual, informational meeting with other interested families. Here you will learn about Lilliput, our philosophy and the foster and adoption process. You will have a chance to ask questions. Orientations are held regularly at most of our office locations.
  • If you decide to pursue foster or adoptive parenting with Lilliput, a social worker will walk you through the process. See the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) for specific details about adoptive parenting with Lilliput.

2.Conversion or Kinship Adoption:

  • Lilliput provides adoption home studies for families who are interested in adopting a foster child or a relative’s child already in their care. These families are either:
    • County licensed foster families,
    • Certified foster families with another private agency,
    • Or a caregiver who is caring for a grandchild or another family member’s child who is in foster care.
  • If you are interested in having Lilliput do your adoption home study, call the phone number at the top of this web page or contact the Lilliput office closest to you. Or you can email us: [email protected]

3.Home Studies for Private Adoptions:

  • Lilliput is licensed to do adoption home studies for private domestic adoptions. If you are working with a licensed agency or adoption attorney and need an adoption home study or post-placement supervision services, please call (925) 370-3100 or you can email us at [email protected]

Kinship Care Services

What is Kinship? A kinship care arrangement is when children are living full time with their grandparents, other relatives, or near relatives (such as family friends, God Parents, etc), and these adults have taken on the parental role for the children. Sometimes kinship care is temporary, and sometimes it becomes a permanent family arrangement, possibly leading to legal guardianship or adoption.

What is KSSP? KSSP (Kinship Support Services Program) is a state funded program designed to provide qualifying California Counties with resources to improve the support of and outcomes for families formed through kinship care. Lilliput is the private agency partner in El Dorado, Napa and Sacramento Counties.

What is the Need? It is estimated that over 600,000 grandparents in California are raising their grandchildren, which gives California the highest such number in the nation. In addition to grandparents, other relatives find themselves raising children adding to this alarming national trend.

KSSP provides support to relative caregivers who are struggling with the challenges of raising kin, and to those families who want to connect with other families in their same situation. Lilliput is uniquely positioned to offer the following support services in El Dorado, Napa and Sacramento Counties:

  • In-home Support
  • Counseling
  • Support Groups
  • Respite
  • Advocacy
  • Information & Referrals
  • Assistance with Basic Needs
  • Legal Referrals
  • Guardianship & Adoption Assistance
  • Family Activities
  • Play Care
  • Mentoring
  • Children’s Recreation and Youth Leadership Development
  • Tutoring & Homework Help

Where KSSP Services are Offered? KSSP is currently offered in Sacramento, El Dorado, and Napa Counties. With multiple public and private agency partnerships, we are able to provide comprehensive and easily accessible services to those in need.

Post-Adoption Services

What are Post-Adoption Services? Post-Adoption services are designed to provide support to families after they have adopted. Some families find that they need our services immediately after adopting, while others might have needs that arise months or even years later. Adoption is a life-long process and we are committed to helping our adoptive families find the support that they need for the duration.

Post-Adoption Service Programs: Lilliput offers a variety of support groups and classes for families in many of the communities we serve.

We are fortunate to have solid partnerships with our public agency partners, offering comprehensive Post-Adoption Service programs through our Napa, Redding and Sonora offices. These services are open to all adoptive families living in these counties, regardless of whether your adoption was completed through Lilliput.

Services include (varies, depending on location):

  • Support & Discussion Groups
  • Counseling & Therapy
  • Resource Libraries & Trainings
  • Supervised Birth-Parent Visits
  • Information and Referrals
  • Social Events
  • Family Camps
  • Respite Services
  • Advocacy

Resources and Links Capitol Adoption Families Alliance, Post Adoption Link The Post Adoption Link is dedicated to helping Sacramento area adoptive families navigate post-adoption supports, resources, and educational information related to the special needs of adoption.

Counseling Services Post-Adoption counseling services are offered by our Lilliput Clinical Team in the greater Sacramento area. Clinicians provide services in El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, and Sacramento. Additionally, clinical case management and therapeutic support is offered in Redding through our Adoptive Family Resource Center.

To learn more about our counseling services contact us at our Sacramento Office or Redding Office.

“We have appreciated the ongoing support that Lilliput has offered to our family after we adopted. Our teens enjoy the monthly activities with their peers and we’ve all appreciated the opportunities to meet other adoptive families like ours.” —Lilliput Post-Adoption Family

What are Post-Adoption Services? Post-Adoption services are designed to provide support to families after they have adopted. Some families find that they need our services immediately after adopting, while others might have needs that arise months or even years later. Adoption is a life-long process and we are committed to helping our adoptive families find the support that they need for the duration.

Clinical Services

Our Treatment Approach Adoption is a family journey and in order to provide the best treatment for children, therapists work with parents to help them develop a specific set of therapeutic parenting skills that will assist them in identifying what triggers their children’s behaviors, and learn how to effectively manage them. Parents are an essential component of the therapy process and, with the guidance and support of their therapist, are encouraged to work with their children in session and at home to foster improved attachment, develop improved social skills, manage challenging behavior and process unresolved trauma and loss.

Top researchers and clinicians in this field have shown how the impact of trauma impacts brain functioning and attachment in relationships. Our therapists utilize treatment approaches that are grounded in the latest research.

Training for Professionals: Lilliput offers an excellent Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) for Mental Health Professionals.

Post Adoption Therapy Services At Lilliput we have over 30 years of experience working with foster and adoptive families. Adoptive families experience both tremendous joy and unique challenges that are not always understood by the traditional mental health professional. Children who have experienced separation from significant attachment figures may exhibit a variety of behaviors that can impact the parent-child relationship. Our post adoption services were created to address the special needs of adopted children and their families. Children coming from foster or institutionalized care have experienced varying levels of separation, abuse and/or neglect, resulting in unresolved grief and loss, lack of trust and intense fear. In order to cope with this unresolved trauma and loss, children may exhibit behaviors that parents, teachers and other caring adults in their lives may find overwhelming.

Our Post Adoption Therapy Services are offered to all adoptive families in the Greater Sacramento area.

Lilliput provides various support groups, parenting seminars and classes for parents, children and adolescents.

All of these services are designed to support families at each stage of the adoption process.

Birth Family and Identity Concerns Experts in the adoption field agree that there are many benefits to helping adopted children and adolescents stay connected to birth family. Although it is not always possible to stay physically connected to birth family, helping children explore their birth and foster family history, teaching them about their culture and ethnic background and being able to answer their questions, goes far in helping them to form a healthy identity and build a trusting parent-child relationship. For some adoptive parents, thinking about birth family can trigger a roller coaster of emotions. We are here to assist you in creating safe ways to support your family at all levels of the birth family connection continuum.

This may include:

  • Helping Children to Understand Their Birth and Foster Family History.
  • Preparing for or Participation in Birth Family visits
  • Exploring Cultural or Sexual Identity
  • Creating Life Books
  • Beginning the Searching Process

Fees All Post Adoption therapy sessions are paid on a fee-for-service basis. We also accept Victim Witness Funding and will furnish any necessary receipts that you request for your health insurance plans.

Fees for our seminars and support groups may be paid for separately or as a package.

Our Clinical Team All therapy services are provided by experienced therapists who specialize in working with adopted children and their families.

For more information or to set up an intake appointment, contact our Clinical Program Director at 916-923-5444, or e-mail us: [email protected]

See also child care and other local services & organizations.

Comments

“This report was written for Cynthia Linville’s English20 class at CSU Sacramento fall 2011.”

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