adoption month graphic

 

Over 117,000 children and youth across the country are in foster care waiting for a forever family. For teenagers at risk of aging out of foster care, it is just as important to secure a permanent sense of belonging. This year, during National Adoption Month, the Children's Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urges us to focus on how Small Steps Open Doors for youth along their journey toward permanency. Being the person to ask youth what's important to them, telling them you have their back, and keeping an open mind are some of the small, yet impactful, actions that can build trust and lead to meaningful conversations that uncover possibilities for permanency. National Adoption Month is an annual campaign sponsored by the Children's Bureau in partnership with Child Welfare Information Gateway and AdoptUSKids.  

 

Facts About Adoption

Around 135,000 children are adopted every year in the United States.

1 in 35 children in the United States is adopted.

Most adoptive parents are in their 30s to mid 40s. Single adoptive parents are often women in their 40s. graph that shows ethnic origin of adopted children

More than half (52 percent) of youth awaiting adoption are male, and 48 percent are female. 

The three races or ethnicities with the largest percentages of children waiting were White (37 percent), Hispanic (15 percent), Asian (15%), and Black or African American (23 percent). 

More than one in five children in the U.S. foster care system waiting to be adopted are teens. 

Teens in foster care have an increased risk of homelessness and human trafficking compared with younger children.

Only around 2% of people in the United States have actually adopted a child, adoption statistics show.

More than 50,000 children are adopted through foster care every year.

Of all families who adopted via private domestic adoption, 87% would definitely make the same decision to adopt again.

 

Adoption Resources

There are many websites, podcasts, videos, and articles about Adoption that you will find using an internet search. Here are a few resources to get you started.

Florida Adoptions

http://www.adoptflorida.org/

Adoption.com
http://www.adopting.com/

Child Welfare Information Gateway
http://www.childwelfare.gov

National Adoption Center
www.adopt.org

Adoption Support

https://adoptionsupport.org