Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics named a ''2013 Best Adoption Friendly Workplace'' by the Dave Thomas Foundation
Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics was named a "2013 Best Adoption Friendly Workplace" by the Dave Thomas Foundation. Children's Mercy tied for No. 2 in the healthcare category overall.
"The formation of a family comes with both joys and challenges," said Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Foundation. "It is critical for parent and child to have the opportunity to adjust when a child joins his or her adoptive home. We'd like to say thank you to the employers who provide family-friendly work environments and offer benefits to make adoption more affordable for families who open their hearts and homes to a child."
Adoption benefits are one of the easiest benefit policies a company can offer and are becoming more popular. In Aon Hewitt's annual survey of 1,000 major U.S. employers, only 12 percent offered a financial adoption benefit in 1990. This year, 56 percent of employers reported offering a financial adoption benefit.
There are more than 100,000 children in the U.S. foster care system waiting to be adopted. Every year, nearly 30,000 children in foster care turn 18 and leave the system without families to call their own. The release of the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces List helps the Foundation increase awareness of adoption from foster care while celebrating those businesses that support adoptive families.
Rankings for the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces List are determined by an analysis of a company's adoption benefits that are made available to employees who adopt, such as financial reimbursement and paid leave. The Foundation compiles the results from its annual survey of U.S. employers and partners with Employee Benefit News, a SourceMedia publication that is the leading source of information for benefits decision makers, to announce the winners.
The Wendy's Company is No. 1 on this year's list, with a combination of up to $25,300 in adoption assistance and up to six weeks of paid adoption leave. The average financial reimbursement for all survey participants is $6,780 and the average paid leave offering is four weeks. Nearly half of the participants also offer unpaid leave beyond what is required by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), ranging from one week to three years. To view the full list, visit adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org.Â
If your organization does not offer adoption benefits, order the Foundation's free kit that makes it easy to propose and establish an adoption benefits policy in your workplace at adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org.
Healthcare industry rankings:
1. Â Â Â Â Â WellStar Health System
2. (tie) Â Â Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics
2. (tie) Â Â Health Dialog
4. (tie) Â Â Children's Hospital and Health System
4 Â (tie) Â Â Johnson & Johnson
5. Â Â Â Â Â McGohan Brabender Inc.
(Editor's note: The Foundation is not an affiliate of The Wendy's Company.)
About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption: The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing the adoptions of the more than 134,000 children waiting in North America's foster care systems. Created by Wendy's® founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national signature programs, foster care adoption awareness initiatives and research-based advocacy efforts. To learn more, visit davethomasfoundation.org, or call 1-800-ASK-DTFA.