AAAP

As the Ramsey County (St. Paul) Social Service Director, I assigned several projects to a young man I had rescued from oblivion in a Planning Office position. One of the projects was to supplement efforts already underway to increase the number of Black foster children being adopted. He took it and ran with it. Art Tredwell is his name.

The problem we were trying to address was first that more Black children were being permanently separated from their parents by the courts and then were being adopted at a much slower rate than their White counterparts. It is widely known in Social Service Circles that it is hardest to find adoptive homes for boys, older children and Black children. Older Black boys are at the bottom of the barrel. 

Art partnered with a woman from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and together they established the African American Adoption Project. The project got the word out in both the Black and White communities, made the issue known and organized all kinds of events to push the adoption of Black kids. 

I have noted elsewhere my pride in the two organizations I managed, one in Minnesota and the other in Florida, both of whom broke all-time records in the adoption of children of all colors. This project was a part of that effort. I also have a “Thank You” plaque from the project expressing gratitude for my support for their efforts in promoting the adoption of “our children.” “Our children” in this instance is Black kids.