During National Adoption Month, employers encouraged to help out

November is National Adoption Month and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which compiles an annual list of the 100 most adoption-friendly workplaces, is pulling out all the stops to raise awareness.

“This month literally represents the lives of hundreds of thousands of children,” says foundation president and CEO Rita Soronen in her latest blog. “Children who don’t have parents to explain the difference in political parties, parents to hold them tightly when they’re scared after watching tragedies on the news, parents to teach them about the world in which they live.”

A crucial part of adoption-awareness campaigns is based at the workplace. Thirty-two of the 100 employers on DTFA’s 2012 list added or enhanced adoption benefits this year. Companies on the list offer an average of $6,800 in financial assistance and four weeks of paid leave.

And many of those employers describe the benefit as “a no-brainer”: the cost is low and the payoff is high. Administration of adoption benefits is easy, they say, and the policies are hugely popular; even employees who have no intention of adopting children welcome the support.

Ahead of National Adoption Day on Nov. 17 (it always falls the Saturday before Thanksgiving), businesses can also support the practice in their community with a downloadable guide available here. DTFA offers a free adoption-friendly workplace kit for establishing benefits as well as videos from Jackson Hewitt on the adoption tax credit on its website.