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This comprehensive approach recognizes that the experience of adoption and foster care involves lifelong journeys, and the associated challenges are not easily overcome with temporary solutions.  When reviewing the statistical data published by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, a nonprofit advocate for equitable public policies and programs for children, ARI noted that they touched the lives of approximately 90% of children eligible for public adoption in the state—some intensively for years, and others through referrals, consultation, or support for foster parents. 

This reach has established ARI as Rhode Island’s primary resource for children in the state needing families. 

Beyond facilitating adoptions, ARI provides behavioral health services, trauma-informed care, basic needs assistance, offers education and professional development opportunities for families, caregivers, teachers and clinicians, and advocates for child welfare on both state and national levels – along with what Allen describes as the “key ingredients” for all their programming: “a sense of safety, belonging, and connectedness.” Many ARI services also aid young adults transitioning out of the foster care system to independent living, helping with education, life skills, housing, and other critical supports. 

The Foundation’s funding has been instrumental in ARI’s growth, particularly in addressing what the American Association of Pediatrics identifies as the largest unmet need for youth in foster care: mental and behavioral health services. Through Foundation-directed responsive grants and other strategic funding, the Foundation assisted ARI in expanding its clinical workforce and developing specialized trauma-informed care programs.  

Support from generous donor-advised grants has further strengthened ARI’s ability to serve children and families.  These investments proved especially invaluable as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge of mental health needs. The Foundation’s COVID-related funding, as well as additional emergency grants, helped ARI maintain critical services during the crisis.  

Beyond grant support, ARI has partnered with the Foundation to create three endowed funds that ensure the organization’s sustainability while honoring the memory of beloved colleagues. The Adoption Rhode Island Children First Fund serves as the organization’s endowment, with annual returns helping to support general operating costs as well as assisting children and families.  

Two memorial funds celebrate staff members who embodied ARI’s mission. The Judith McSoley Fund for Children honors a former ARI Director of Development, remembered as a fierce and tireless advocate for children in foster care, and helps provide opportunities for young people who otherwise might not have them. The Amanda Choiniere Bee Kind Fund, established in memory of a compassionate and enthusiastic Adoption and Permanency Specialist who enhanced ARI’s sibling programming, assists with creating and fostering important sibling connections for kids.  

“When you’re with an organization focused on building  and supporting families, love, and connection, your colleagues become part of your family too,” Allen reflects. “Both Judy and Amanda are part of the heart and soul of Adoption Rhode Island.” 

The successful collaboration between ARI and the Rhode Island Foundation demonstrates the power of strategic partnership in strengthening families, and in turn, strengthening communities. Explains ARI’s Chief Advancement Officer Jennifer Foster, “Being able to tell  our donors and supporters that the Rhode Island  Foundation stands with us as our trusted partner—that means everything to us. Between grant support, our endowment funds, and advocacy, the Foundation is there to help us find the resources we need to do the work.” 

Reflects Allen, “I feel thankful that the Rhode Island Foundation is such a strong voice for the nonprofit sector, and its impact on our community. Having the Foundation here, in our state, to lift up and advocate for nonprofits is critical  to the economy and the well-being of all Rhode Islanders. These are really important things all the time, and especially so right now.”  

As ARI enters its fifth decade, the organization continues  its evolution to meet emerging challenges. Allen notes that children’s needs continue to become more complex, with increasing instances of poor mental health, loneliness, and disconnection. “The child that used to have one need, now  has ten,” she observes, “there is more work to do.”  

In response, Allen and her colleagues are working to develop new initiatives, including an online course in partnership with Rhode Island College to support professional development, expansion of behavioral health services as a newly licensed behavioral health facility, and the growth of their Center for Advanced Practice to deliver greater impact through the dissemination of best practices. “We are already seeing benefits—we are able to deliver more services with better outcomes,” Allen reports.  

As the organization continues its work to build forever families and break cycles of trauma, the Foundation’s sustained investment helps to ensure that Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children will always have advocates working to create a sense of belonging and connectedness, crucial to a healthy, meaningful, and successful experience of life. 

In Allen’s words: “I come at this from my heart; these are all our kids. Growing up in foster care and not having a sense of family or people who are like family – if we don’t have that, the outcomes are poor. When we do have that, the outcomes are transformational, and the change is real. We’ve seen it.”