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The Adoption Exchange Is Now Raise The Future

DENVER (CBS4) – The Adoption Exchange has been making connections for children in foster care since 1983. In that time they've found loving homes for thousands of children and teenagers. Now it's time for The Adoption Exchange to begin a brand new chapter, and that starts with a name change.

"For so many years, our name served us incredibly well. As the world changed, maybe over the last 10-15 years, we realized that our name was causing confusion and wasn't really telling people about the breadth and depth of our work. In fact, sometimes could be off putting to our kids, so we decided to embark on this journey of getting something to tell everybody all about the work that we do," said Lauren Arnold, Executive Director of Raise the Future.

The Adoption Exchange started in 1983 as a way for case workers to work together across counties and jurisdictions, to share information on children in foster care, to create the best possible outcomes for them.

"Sometimes children in foster care don't necessarily want to think about adoption in the same way that we do. They want to think about connections, and they want to think about their future, but they don't want to necessarily leave or put behind them their family of origin. So, we wanted to have something that embraces their future, without necessarily saying it was all about adoption," Arnold explained.

Evie (KBCO 4.11.18)- Family (2)
(credit Justin & Amanda)

Raise the Future still believes that every young person deserves to have at least one caring adult in their lives, and will continue to work toward that goal for every child they work with. They use evidence-based programs to recruit kin, foster, and adoptive families for older youths, children living with special needs, and sibling groups living in foster care. They also provide extensive training, and support to families who do connect with a child.

"The wonderful thing is that we're not changing a thing about what we do, we're only changing how we talk about it," Arnold told CBS4.

CBS4 will continue our decades long partnership with Raise the Future. CBS4's Britt Moreno will continue to profile children living in foster care every week for the Wednesday's Child segment. And, CBS4 will continue to host a day of information and fundraising once a year, called A Day for Wednesday's Child.

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