Foster Care Adoption: Facts

Every year, more than 107,000 children in foster care are available for adoption. Many spend more than
five years waiting for permanent, loving homes. Between 2000 and 2010, more than 35,000 children were
joined together with their forever families as part of National Adoption Day activities.
Who are these waiting children?
• There are an estimated 408,425 children in foster care in the United States, and more than 107,000
of them are waiting to be adopted.
• Through no fault of their own, these children enter foster care as a result of abuse, neglect and/or
abandonment.
• The average child waits for an adoptive family for more than three years.
• 11 percent spend 5 years or more waiting for a family (43,083 children).
• The average age of children waiting for an adoptive family is 8.
What happens to them?
• 52,891 children are adopted from foster care.
• Nearly 28,000 children reach the age of 18 without ever finding a forever family.
Who adopts from foster care?
• Children in foster care are adopted by three types of families: former foster parents (53 percent),
relatives (32 percent) and non-relatives (15 percent).
• Of the families who adopt children from foster care, 67 percent are married couples, 28 percent are
single females, 3 percent are single males, and 2 percent are unmarried couples.
• A national survey in 2007 revealed that 48 million Americans have considered adoption from foster
care more so than any other form of adoption, including private adoption of an infant or international
adoption. (National Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey, November 2007. CoCommissioned by the
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and conducted by Harris Interactive.)

MYTH: There are not enough loving families available who want to adopt children from foster care.
FACT: A national survey commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and conducted by
Harris Interactive in 2007 reveals that 48 million Americans have considered adoption from foster care –
more so than any other form of adoption, including private adoption of an infant or international adoption.
The research indicates that there are many families that are interested in foster care adoption but that
more needs to be done to find ways to connect these families with waiting children. Through National
Adoption Day, the Coalition puts a national spotlight on more than 107,000 waiting children in foster care
in the hope that more people will take steps to adopt.
MYTH: There’s too much red tape and bureaucracy involved in adopting a child from foster care.
FACT: Congress has streamlined the foster care adoption process through enactment of the Adoption
and Safe Families Act of 1997. This law stipulates that children in foster care, who cannot be reunited
with their birth parents, are freed for adoption and placed with permanent families as quickly as possible.
MYTH: Adopting a child from foster care is expensive.
FACT: Actually, adopting children from foster care can be virtually free. Many agencies do not charge for
the services they provide to families who are adopting a child from foster care. In addition, a growing
number of companies and government agencies offer adoption assistance as part of their employee
benefit packages, including time off for maternity/paternity leave, financial incentives, and other benefits.
Congress has also made federal tax credits available for foster care adoptions to help offset required
fees, court costs, legal and travel expenses. In 2007, the maximum federal tax credit for qualifying
expenses was $11,390. Benefits such as these are enabling more families to adopt children from foster
care into their homes.
MYTH: Adoptive parents must be a modern version of Ozzie and Harriet.
FACT: Prospective adoptive parents do not have to be rich, married, own a home, or be of a certain race
or age to become an adoptive parent (Nearly one-third of adoptions from foster care are by single
parents). In fact, families are as diverse as the children who are available for adoption. Patience, a good
sense of humor, a love of children and the commitment to be a good parent are the most important
characteristics.
MYTH: All children in foster care have some kind of physical, mental or emotional handicap; that’s why
they are classified as “special needs.”
FACT: The term “special needs” is somewhat misleading, because it can mean that the child is older, a
minority or requires placement with his/her siblings. While some children are dealing with physical or
emotional concerns, they need the nurturing support only a permanent family can provide. Many children
in foster care are in the “system” because their birth parents weren’t protective and nurturing caretakers-
not because the children did anything wrong or because there is something wrong with them.
MYTH: State agencies may withhold information about a child’s past in order to get that child placed with
a family.
FACT: State agencies are legally required to provide full, factual information about a child to any potential
adoptive parents. Agencies have an invested interest in ensuring that parents have a positive experience
with foster care adoption so they will continue to adopt and recommend others do the same. For children
who have physical, emotional or behavioral problems, agencies seek to provide the most comprehensive
post-adoptive services available to help the children transition into their new homes.
MYTH: Families don’t receive support after the adoption is finalized.
FACT: Financial assistance does not end with the child’s placement or adoption. The vast majority of
children adopted from foster care are eligible for federal or state subsidies that help offset both short-and
long-term costs associated with post-adoption adjustments. Such benefits, which vary by state, commonly
include monthly cash subsidies, medical assistance and social services.
More information about federal and state subsidy programs is available from the National Adoption
Assistance Training, Resource, and Information Network helpline at 1-800-470-6665.
MYTH: Children in foster care have too much “baggage.”
FACT: This is perhaps the biggest myth of all. Children in foster care-just like all children-have
enormous potential to thrive given love, patience and a stable environment. Just ask former U.S. Senator
Ben “Nighthorse” Campbell or Minnesota Viking Dante Culpepper. They were both foster children who
were adopted by caring adults.
MYTH: It’s too difficult to find information on how to adopt.
FACT: There are resources available to help potential parents take the first step towards adopting out of
foster care. For more information log on to www.nationaladoptionday.org or simply call 1-800-ASK-DTFA

Source: https://www.nationaladoptionday.org/

Author: international