The news comes from all over today, so we might as well start with this report from Sri Lanka ... an update on tsunami orphans.

Touting life in a children's home as the cause of making a child happy, the comparison to post-disaster placement with an aunt who beat her regularly does make it sound like an improvement.

Now receiving psycho-social support through programs provided by organizations like UNICEF and the Christian Children's Fund, the girl says:

"I am glad to be alive. I was scared to speak out for almost two years but I'm not afraid any more." She added that she is aware of many other children "whose parents are no longer living and who are beaten like I was".

There are no statistics on the number of children who have been abused.

There are officially 635 children orphaned in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. None are allowed to be adopted without a foster care order issued from the court, and those will go only to guardians and relatives.

The Child First project funded by UNICEF comes to an end in March of next year.

Also from Sri Lanka, this story on AIDS orphans in the country and pediatric infection.

Dealing with the aspect of maternal deaths from AIDS and the impact on children, she said such deaths would lead to the disruption of the family unit, with no one being there to look after infected and non-infected children. Quoting the situation in some other countries, she said when the mother dies, children as young as 11 or 12 have to take the responsibility of looking after younger siblings. “These little girls, in turn, could be vulnerable to abuse leading to their being infected with HIV,” she explained. Halt HIV infection for the sake of children, appeals Dr. Samarakoon.

Good luck with that.

From the Chicago Tribune, this story on stupid questions adoptive parents get.

If your kids are with you already, you know all about this. If you're still in the process, give it a read. It's good prep.

One in a series of articles on special needs kids available for adoption, a story of a twelve-year-old who has had a very hard life, but continues to hope for an upturn in circumstances.

And from Wisconsin another effort to draw attention to children seeking adoptive families. Yes, it's the Heart Gallery making a difference there, too.

Looking for some good resources for loads of information? We got 'em!

Here's a pdf of a preliminary draft called "Compensating for Birth and Adoption".

And for a wealth of knowledge, check out the abstracts the Child Welfare League of America offers on their site. Topics include: "Partitioning the Adoption Process to Better Predict Permanency"; "An Exploratory Study of Drug-exposed Infants: Case Substantiation and Subsequent Child Maltreatment"; "Family Group Decision Making and Disproportionality in Foster Care: A Case Study"; "Characteristics of Difficult-to-Place Youth in State Custody: A Profile of the Exceptional Care Pilot Project Population"; "Mental Health and Behavioral Problems of Youth in the Child Welfare System: Residential Treatment Centers Compared to Therapeutic Foster Care in the Odyssey Project Population"; "Sibling Kinnections: A Clinical Visitation Program"; "Adoption Now: A Joint Initiative of New York's Courts and Child Welfare System"; "Making MEPA-IEP Work: Tools for Professionals"; "Assessing Lesbian and Gay Prospective Foster and Adoptive Families: A Focus on the Home Study Process"; "Strengthening Adoption Practice, Listening to Adoptive Families", and much more.

Voices for Adoption, an organization devoted to improving adoption policies, has a new website providing resources and information for advocates and policymakers. Included on is a 10-page table (updated June 15) of all child-welfare legislation in the 2007 Congress.