Johnson & Johnson benefits support employees growing their families through adoption
Jonathan, a Director for Patient Data Solutions for Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and his wife Megan, began serving as foster parents seven years ago with the goal of supporting successful reunifications with each child’s family of origin. When reunification proved not possible for one of the children, Jonathan and Megan decided to grow their family through adoption.
Around the same time of the adoption, Jonathan and Megan learned that the child they were adopting also had a sibling who had just been born. That child also came to live with them directly from the hospital, and Jonathan and Megan’s family expanded once again to keep the siblings together.
Thanks to Johnson & Johnson’s employee benefits, Jonathan was supported as he and Megan stepped forward to adopt the child.
“Johnson & Johnson supports employees who want to help and engage with their community. Everybody I’ve interacted with has particularly supported my family’s unique circumstances,” Jonathan shared. “I’ve made important connections with other foster parents throughout the company. Interacting and conversing with other working parents to share similar experiences is truly rewarding.”
Jonathan’s experience supporting children in foster care has allowed him to introduce impactful change to Johnson & Johnson. He recently helped shape the company’s expanded parental leave policy and worked with the HR and Benefits teams to offer time off for foster parents when a child is placed in their home — in addition to the organization’s adoption leave policy.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption celebrates organizations, like Johnson & Johnson, that are raising the bar with their adoption and foster care benefits. As our founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted, always said, “It’s the right thing to do.”
Getting Started with Adoption Workplace Benefits
If your organization doesn’t yet offer these benefits, get the conversation started by downloading the Adoption-Friendly Workplace employer toolkit. And if benefits are already in place, invite your HR Benefits Manager to register for the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplace survey now for the chance to be recognized and gain valuable benchmark reports to inform your policy.
By offering best-in-class benefits, organizations can demonstrate the importance of being equitable to all the ways families are formed.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national, nonprofit public charity dedicated to finding permanent homes for the more than 140,000 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 service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking. To learn more, visit davethomasfoundation.org or call 1-800-ASK-DTFA.