Why Focus on Adoption from Foster Care?
Every day 50 youth age out of foster care. Annually nearly 20,000 teens will age out of the foster care system. That means that these youth are at a greater risk for homelessness, unemployment, and delinquent and negative behavior. According to the Dave Thomas Foundation, of the 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, there are 125,000 children that are available for adoption. A common myth about children that are in foster care is that they have ‘behavior problems’ or worse, that they are juvenile delinquents. It is important to remember that a child is in foster care not through any fault of their own. Most are there due to neglect or abuse by their biological parents, having been removed for their own safety and care. It’s also important to remember that the primary purpose of foster care is reunification. When someone becomes a foster parent, they receive training and information about how to support and provide a loving environment for the child until they can be reunited with their family. In some cases, parental rights are terminated, and the child becomes adoptable.Adoption Awareness
While National Adoption Day’s primary focus is on foster care and foster to adopt, it’s also been an important opportunity to shine a light on adoption awareness in general. In the United States, there are approximately 1.5 million children who were adopted – that’s equivalent to 1 in 50 or about 2% of the population. Every year there are approximately 140,000 adoptions by American families.Most people are familiar with domestic adoption – which is a private or independent adoption conducted by an agency or attorney. Domestic adoption is different from foster to adopt in that in domestic adoption, a birth mom is choosing a parenting plan for her child and selecting the prospective adoptive family, and an agency or attorney provides support to legally finalize the adoption in the state where the birth mom resides. Another difference is the cost: domestic adoption costs typically range from $35,000 – $55,000, while foster to adopt families typically will only pay for a home study and perhaps training.International adoption is the process of adopting an identified orphan from another country who is available for adoption. International adoption continues to decline at staggering rates of over 60%. In 2020, the total number of international adoptions in the United States was 1,622, a decline from 2,969 in 2019. Due to economic, political, and social impacts, these numbers continue to decline. A huge barrier for international adoption continues to be the cost with direct expenses ranging from $40,000 – $60,000. In addition, many countries require extended stays which adds to the overall cost. The complexity of the process can also be a barrier for prospective adoptive parents between the stress of navigating paperwork and having to live abroad for an extended period, which may require them to stop working, take an unpaid leave, and essentially put their lives in the United States on hold. Even though the number of international adoptions in the US is declining, there is still a great need, as there are an estimated 140 million orphans worldwide. Many families have the heart and fortitude for international adoption, and it can be very rewarding to the entire family.What Can Employers Do?
Understand that issues such as infertility, adoption, and surrogacy are not being shared with you by your employees. A decision to build one’s family through non-traditional means is confusing, time consuming, stressful, and expensive. For most, this a private journey that often the employer is completely unaware. This can result in a lack or productivity and anxiety while on the job.One in 8 couples suffer from infertility and these numbers are growing. Today more than ever, we have more choices for how we define family. As an employer, it’s important to strike a balance and provide family-building benefits that are inclusive and address the diversity of your workforce.Educate your workforce: 1 in 3 persons has some connection to adoption! That means that more and more people in our workplaces, communities, and our family and friends have some connection to adoption. We can all seek to educate ourselves more on adoption and bring more awareness to our communities. Vesta for Families provides educational webinars for employees on all topics related to non-traditional family-building. National Adoption Day is a popular webinar topic that has had a great deal of interest and success.Promote volunteerism with a local organization or create an event at your workplace on National Adoption Day that helps to spread awareness and promote a better understanding of foster to adopt and adoption in general. Below are some organizations that are dedicated to education and advocacy and can even post an event on their website or social media pages.- National Adoption Day, this website collects and distributes information on events throughout the country on National Adoption Day. You can post your own event, find an event or learn how to create one. They also have links and information on partnering organizations.
- The Dave Thomas Foundation, founded by Dave Thomas of Wendy’s, is dedicated to finding forever families for the more than 140,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the United States and Canada. They have several initiatives including Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and Adoption-Friendly Workplace, which highlights companies across the country that offer adoption benefits.
- National Adoption Council, is the leading expert on adoption issues, providing resources, education, and advocacy for all people and organizations connected to adoption so that every child can thrive in a nurturing permanent family. They publish Adoption by the Numbers which is an excellent directory for statistics for adoption in a state by state guide.
- AdoptUSKids.org raises awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system. They also maintain the nation’s only federally funded photo listing service that connects waiting children with families.
