How to Find a Female Relative by a Maiden Name

By Andy Williamson, eHow Contributor
Source: ehow.com

Finding a female relative using a maiden name can be difficult, as it requires you to use information that may be out of date. However, using a few simple tips, your research can prove fruitful. If the person is a relative, chances are that someone in your family will have information that will make your search easier. Even if they don't, many online sites and services are designed to help you look people up.





Instructions

1. Speak to your relatives, however distant. The chances are that some of them will remember whether your female relative moved or changed her name. Any information gleaned will be useful. Write down all the details you can, as this will help in finding her.
2. Look up the maiden name in the telephone book. Sometimes, women keep their maiden name even after marriage. Similarly, searching for your female relative's maiden name on social networking sites may give you a clue, since some allow a person to keep their maiden name. Searching the LinkedIn website also can provide a clue, as some women in business prefer to keep their maiden names.
3. Log on to the Internet and use a look-up service that will help you to find the female relative. Sites such as Abika or People Finders can help, but the site Maiden Name specifically caters to those wanting to find people by maiden name.
4. Look through marriage records in the town where your female relative was from. If she got married in the town or county where it is, there will be a record of the marriage, along with her new last name if she took her spouse's surname. Marriage records are available via the local public records office, although the law on viewing them varies from state to state.

How to Support People When Leaving Prison

By Tyra Marieza, eHow Contributor

Source: ehow.com

The Justice Policy Institute, an organization dedicated to the promotion of just and effective solutions to social problems, stated in 2010 that the United States had "the highest rate of incarceration in the world, holding 5 percent of the world's overall population and 25 percent of its prison population." Of this number, 729,295 prisoners were released from prison in 2009, needing jobs, housing and, in many cases, mental and medical treatment. Knowing how to support someone who is released from incarceration is essential to their successful re-entry into society.

Instructions

1. accommodations. When you agree to allow a released prisoner to stay in your home, be prepared for him to stay with you until he can live independently, which could take anywhere from six months to a year or more. Having a reliable place of residency is a part of the prison release protocol.
2. Have living necessities available for the released prisoner. When someone is released from prison she will immediately need clothes, shoes and access to daily meals. Having these living necessities readily available will help in making her transition from the prison into the community a more welcoming experience.
3. Schedule time to help the former inmate pursue job opportunities. Plan and communicate with the former prisoner on days when you are available to help him get necessary documentation and education for job placement. After being released from prison, former inmates need to get valid state identification cards and training at local career centers for job opportunities. Letting her know that she will have your support and a means of transportation can eliminate the temptation to fall back into illegal activities in an effort to "make it."

The Effects of Semi Open Adoption

By Lyle Burwell, eHow Contributor

Source: ehow.com

o understand the effects of semi-open adoptions, it is necessary to understand the effects of open and closed adoptions as well. Only once the effects of all three possible adoption types are understood can prospective parents properly judge which type of adoption is best for them and the child. Whatever type of adoption is agreed to, once an adoption is finalized the adopted parents are the child's legal parents and their parental rights cannot be rescinded.

Open Adoption

In an open adoption, the adopted child is raised knowing who her mother and, possibly, her father are. It is common for the birth mother to meet the adopting parents either before or shortly after the child is born. The adoptive parents may agree to provide the birth mother with regular updates and, in a minority of cases, even occasional visits. It is also typical in open adoptions that the child communicates with the birth parents as they grow.

Closed Adoption

In closed adoptions, the adoptive parents usually do not meet the birth mother, but this is not always the case. Often, the decision for a closed adoption is made by the birth mother. In closed adoptions, the names of the birth parents are normally sealed and cannot be unsealed, even years later, without the birth mother's consent.

Semi-Open Adoption

In semi-open adoptions, the adoptive parents may know something about the birth mother, but usually full names and contact information are unknown. The usual arrangement is that the adoptive parents provide updates on the child's progress (letters, pictures) to a third party such as the adoption agency or lawyer. The third party then forwards the updates to the birth mother or parents.

Effects

In an open adoption, children grow up knowing their birth mother. Whether this is an advantage or a disadvantage depends on what kind of person the birth mother is. In a closed adoption, the adoptive parents do not have to worry about what kind of people the birth parents are, but the price for this security is making it difficult, if not impossible, for the adopted child to re-establish contact with her birth parents at some point in the future. Child psychologists and others who work with adopted children have long noted the long-term effects adoption has on children. In reviewing the recommendations of these psychologists, the effect of a semi-open adoption is to avoid locking the child into a relationship with a possibly toxic birth mother without closing the door on the child reaching out to her as a young adult.

Family Reunion Welcoming Gifts

By Carrie Burns, eHow Contributor

Source: ehow.com

Family reunion gifts are a great way to send people home with a tangible reminder of the fun they had visiting with relatives. The gifts can be simple and inexpensive or elaborate and expensive, as long as they will remind your family of the importance (and fun) of the annual gathering. If you make a tradition of having a memorable reunion with a useful or thoughtful gift, your family will have that to add to the list of reasons to look forward to next year's reunion.

The Obligatory T-Shirt

Probably the most common of all family reunion gifts is the customized T-shirt. You can make your own T-shirts using heat transfers, or have them made if you prefer. Wait to buy the T-shirts until you have confirmed the list of attendees so you don't make the wrong number of shirts. Save money by buying solid-colored shirts in bulk. If you want to print the shirts at home using heat-transfer paper, stick to using white shirts for the best results. If you take a family photo each year at the reunion, consider using last year's photo as the main image on the shirt. Include the family name, year and slogan of the reunion if there is one.

Family Recipe Book

Making a family recipe book takes a little more planning on everyone's behalf but is also more rewarding and meaningful when finished. Send out a call for favorite family recipes with invitations to this year's family reunion. Once you have received all of the recipe submissions, edit them into a book which you can print and bind for everyone who attends. Mail them as a loving gesture for family members who are unable to attend, as well, letting them know that you were thinking of them in their absence. Make the books at home by printing recipes and binding them either as full A4 paper size, or in smaller notecard-sized sheets bound with a couple of hole punches and binder rings. If resources allow, laminate the books for lasting protection in the kitchen.

Photos and Frames

Make customized family photo frames. Your guests can take these frames home with them, perhaps with a photo of the family from the last reunion. As an added touch, send out a thank-you and recap letter with a photo of the whole group from this year's reunion for them to put in the family frame. This could become a lovely annual tradition, with a new photo and frame for each year's get-together.

Customized Koozies

Customized koozies are a perfect welcome gift for a summertime reunion. These foam drink holders help keep your hands dry and your drinks cold, slipping right onto cans and bottles. Many promotional gift companies and even the Oriental Trading Company make koozies that can be customized with a family name, date of the party or other information. Koozies come in most themes or designs you can imagine, from something as simple as neon colors to something as elaborate as an American flag design. Some designs will limit the amount of text you can have printed on them, and this is not a gift you can easily make yourself.

Themed Gift

If your family reunion has a theme each year, consider a festive gift that corresponds to the theme. For instance, if you are having a luau-themed party complete with roast pig, have leis for the guests or even grass skirts for the children. A themed party favor will get your family in the spirit of the party from the moment they arrive.

Life Skills Camps for Teens

By Matt Scheer, eHow Contributor

Source: ehow.com

Life skills camps focus on improving the wellness of a young teen in a fun group setting. Frustrated teens who are not living up to their potential may benefit from the guidance a life skills camp can offer. These camps may specialize in different areas of life, including drug rehabilitation, confidence, physical fitness, self-discipline, and social skills, while others encompass a more holistic approach.

Academic Camps

Academic camps, such as Super Camp, focus on improving the academic excellence of the participating teens. Because the skills for succeeding academically overlap with those that are needed to succeed in other areas of life, academic camps provide training that can help a teenager after his or academic career is through. Improving teens' self-confidence, for example, can improve their ability to take tests, though before, they may have struggled out of anxiety.

Outdoor Camps

Outdoor camps help teens practice life skills through outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping, tennis, and more. Camp Hillside, the summer program of Hillside School in Massachusetts, for example, features leadership training programs that develop a teen's leadership skills in outdoor obstacle courses. Caring for one's own health is a crucial life skill that many teens may fail to learn; an outdoor camp doesn't just teach a teen how to play a sport or row a boat, commonly offered activities, but how to care for his or her own health and fitness.

Drug Recovery Camps

Drug rehabilitation camps specialize in helping teens who have or are struggling with drug abuse. The Camp Recovery Center, for example, treats drug addiction, in part, by immersing the teenage participant in a new lifestyle and teaching new life skills, such as accurate self-assessments and exercise to build courage. These camps feature the experience and expertise to deal with a teenager who has been or is addicted to drugs, whereas other camps that do not focus on this niche may not.

Multicultural Camps

Multicultural camps teach teenage attendees important life skills in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural setting. Learning how to treat people who come from different backgrounds or hold different beliefs from your own is an important life skill that teens can use and cultivate throughout life. Camp Kupugani, for example, allows diverse group of teenagers to participate together in many fun and challenging group activities, like rock climbing, which help the teens form bonds they may not otherwise have been able to form.