Apply Now for the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces List

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - Mar 29, 2012) - Is your company adoption-friendly? The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is compiling its annual list of companies that provide the best adoption benefits across the U.S.

"We want companies across America to tell us why they are adoption-friendly and participate in our sixth annual 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces survey," said Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Foundation. "The list allows us to honor these adoption-friendly workplaces, and let others know how easy and cost-effective it is to offer adoption benefits to employees."

The 2012 application deadline is Monday, April 30. The Foundation's list of the nation's 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces is released in September and featured in Employee Benefit News magazine. The list is determined by an analysis of a company's adoption benefits, including the maximum amount of financial reimbursement and paid leave for families who adopt.

Companies with adoption benefits are encouraged to apply by completing the Foundation's 10-minute survey at adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org.

Every year the Foundation announces America's top 100 adoption-friendly employers, the top 10 by size, and the leaders in each industry. Companies that support the cause of adoption and adoptive families in other ways receive special recognition.

"Adoption benefits are one of the easiest benefit policies a company can offer to its employees while making a huge impact on the lives of children and families," Soronen said. "But we also appreciate the many ways companies support adoption beyond benefits, from participating in fundraisers to celebrating and supporting families who have adopted."

Soronen has these suggestions about how employers can be adoption-friendly:

• Promote the cause of adoption.
• Educate and inform employees about the adoption process.
• Create an adoption-friendly culture to celebrate families formed through adoption.
• Be flexible with time off and work schedules.
• Connect employees with each other by creating an internal adoption network.
• Provide post-adoption resources.
• Host a DTFA Kickball for a Home tournament for staff and their families to raise funds for foster care adoption.

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: adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org. Be sure to follow Adoption-Friendly Workplace on Twitter: @BestAFW, and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption: @DTFA, also facebook.com/davethomasfoundationforadoption.

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 137,000 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.