Initiative aims to ensure all children have a better chance of finding a family
Phoenix – Today Equality Arizona and Arizona’s Children Association are pleased to announce the release of the new Project Jigsaw Mobile App, now available in both Android and Apple mobile operating systems. The organizations have partnered to launch a grassroots campaign known as Project Jigsaw: Connecting Every Child to a Loving Family. Their newly released mobile app aims to help eliminate barriers and serve as a resource for LGBTQ individuals and families seeking to foster and adopt in Arizona.
Arizona’s child welfare system is overwhelmed with the nearly 19,000 children in state care. Many end up sleeping in crisis shelters because there’s nowhere else for them to go. These children are the reason Equality Arizona and Arizona’s Children Association created the Project Jigsaw campaign and mobile app. Arizona needs more foster and adoptive parents. Yet, there are legal, institutional and discriminatory barriers that make it harder for members of the LGBTQ community to foster and adopt children in Arizona.
“There are a countless number of prospective parents out there who want to build a family and provide a foundation of success for a child. It’s time for Arizonans to do everything they can to make that a reality,” said Kevin Patterson, Board Member of Equality Arizona.
The Project Jigsaw Mobile App has been designed to ensure parents, providers and stakeholders have access to information about the campaign at their fingertips. Benefits of the mobile app include a list of LGBTQ-friendly resources (i.e. attorneys, adoption and foster agencies, counseling services, etc.), push notifications to stay updated on news and events, and tools which allow users to share or read the stories of Arizona families created by fostering and adopting.
“There is a large population of LGBTQ people in Arizona who don’t realize they could foster or adopt, nor do they realize there are resources available to help them navigate the system,” said Denise Ensdorff, President and CEO of Arizona’s Children Association. “That’s why we have recently developed the Project Jigsaw Mobile App. Our mobile app is intended to reach a diverse target audience, and offers the resources they need to navigate the foster care and adoption process.”
To learn more about Project Jigsaw, visit: http://equalityarizona.org/project-jigsaw/. The Project Jigsaw Mobile App is found in the Apple Store here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/project-jigsaw/id1059770769?ls=1&mt=8. Link for Google Android Market link here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.enterprise.projectjigsaw&hl=en.
