Andrew is a delightful and affectionate young man with a sense of humor and robust personality. Born in 1992, he is an avid video game guru, but is developing an appreciation for outdoor activities and enjoys playing basketball or tossing a football in the backyard with his peers and staff members. If Andrew were to boast that he has a great outside shot in basketball (and it’s likely he might), you can believe he is telling you the truth. He is a committed Red Sox fan – and of any team that beats the Yankees.

He takes pleasure in and responds well to receiving encouragement and praise for his successes. He has enjoyed participating in swimming and running events at the Special Olympics, and likes playing card games.

Andrew came into DHHS custody and was placed in foster care in May of 2000. Due to experiences in his birth home, he sometimes feels unsafe and will try to control his environment. When feeling unsafe, he may exhibit oppositional and defiant behavior. He continues to work on his listening skills, expressing his needs through use of language and improving his choices about his behavior when he feels anxious. It is important to Andrew to be able to trust the adults working with him.

Andrew wears glasses for an astigmatism correction. He is also hearing impaired and wears hearing aids in both ears. He has a special device he wears at school called an FM Trainer that amplifies the teacher’s voice. The device would also be available to Andrew’s family. However, Andrew can read lips and can engage in regular daily conversation. He has made great gains in school this past year, both in his academics and by reducing his oppositional behaviors.

Andrew looks forward to having a loving, adoptive family to call his own. He is in need of a family that will be patient and understanding and able to advocate for his special educational needs. Andrew’s permanent family will also need to understand the importance of participating in therapy to continue to address issues related to Andrew’s loss of his biological family, as well as those issues that may arise with the transition to his permanent family. An adoption subsidy may be available to the most appropriate family.

Spring hopes to be adopted by a family with pets

Born in 1991, Spring is an active girl with brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. She loves animals and has a wonderful ease with all types of animals. She is a bit shy of dogs at first, but warms up quickly once she knows they are kind. She has talked about being adopted by a family that has pets or who lives on a farm. She loves to ride horses and would like to take lessons one day. She likes to sing, listen to music, read books and play sports.

Spring has talked a lot about having a mother and a father, but would also thrive with a single mother. She would also like to have siblings, younger or older. She has maintained a close relationship with her older brother and wishes to continue that after she is adopted.

The ideal family for Spring would be one with two parents or a single mother who would give her the love and support she needs to continue making gains in her schooling and in different social settings. Her family will need to provide structure, boundaries and supervision in order for her to feel safe and to succeed in the family.

Andrew and Spring are two of the 137 children currently in the Maine Department of Health and Human Service’s care who are seeking an adoptive family. 102 of those children have been waiting for permanency for more than a year.

There are 2,220 children in the state’s care and 1,212 licensed foster homes. These statistics speak to the need for more foster and adoptive families for these deserving children.

Based in Gardiner, A Family for ME is a nonprofit program that works in collaboration with Maine DHHS to find foster and adoptive families for Maine children. For more information, contact A Family for ME toll free at 1-877-505-0545, or visit www.AFamilyForMe.org and see the Heart Gallery of photographs of some of the many children awaiting a “forever family.”