Ohio Congressman Patrick J. Tiberi

Congressman Patrick J. Tiberi was our last Ohio visit of the day. His actions demonstrate that he is aware of the urgency of foster care.

Amanda Dunlap took the lead in this conversation. She lives in the 12th district and has had firsthand experience with foster care and adoption.

Lisa Dickson shared the entire roster of bills, including the de-linking bill, kinship care, the adoption equality act, the Boxer and Clinton bills, because we want Tiberi to sponsor them all.

Legislative assistant, Lindsay S Vogtsberger (white pants, second from right) won't be our long-term contact regarding this initiative. We will continue to search for the right contact.

113 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-5355

Ohio Congresswoman Deborah Pryce

Congresswoman Deborah Pryce is reported to care about adoption.

Therefore, Amanda shared her personal story to introduce the Adoption Equality Act.

The person that we met with was Caitlin Short (tan sweater, middle of photo), and her focus is on the environment.

Legal assistant Lauren Neff will make a better contact for us...

320 Cannon Building
Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-2015
lauren.neff@mail.house.gov

Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt

Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's parents provided kinship care for another member of her family while she was growing up.

Therefore, while talking with her legal assistant Ben LaRocco (on the far right), our focus was on the Kinship Caregiver Support Act.

Steven(far left) shared his personal story; after he aged out of care, his aunt told him that she had wanted to take him and his siblings so that they could stay together - but she couldn't afford to do so.

Then Kevin (second from the left) suggested that, in situations where family members are the best placement, they should receive financial support.

Ben might not work directly on this issue, so he asked us to email him all the facts so that he can get them to the right person...

2nd district OH
238 Cannon Building
Washington DC 20515
ben.larocco@mail.house.gov

Ohio Senator George Voinovich

Since Ohio Senator George Voinovich cares deeply about dollars and sense...

We focused on the cost-effectiveness of investing in young people aging out of foster care, while talking with his legal assistant Angela Mikolajewski (gray suit, brown pants in picture on the left).

524 Hart Senate Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3353
angela_mikolajewski@voinovich.senate.gov

1. Kevin Brown shared his personal story and it was obvious how ETV funds were a wise investment for his future. It pays to invest in young people aging out of foster care.

2. Lisa Dickson shared information about the Boxer Bill and Clinton Bill.

3. Ruthie White outlined the cost/benefit ratio of investing in foster care youth.

4. Amanda Dunlap went over the packet of information about the Kids Are Waiting campaign in great detail.

It should be mentioned that Angela Mikolajewski is an amazingly good listener. She is, without a doubt, the best listener that I have ever met in my life.