During National Adoption Month in November, KVC Kansas helped facilitate 20+ children’s adoptions throughout the state. On November 21, National Adoption Day, which is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, courthouses across the country opened to help families finalize their adoptions.
There are over 122,000 children and teens in foster care in the U.S. who need loving, permanent forever families and nearly 900 in Kansas. These are children who have experienced abuse, neglect or other serious family challenges.
In 2020, KVC Kansas facilitated 130 adoptions, and 5,539 total in the agency’s history.
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Meet Youth Waiting for Families
You can view profiles of children who need to be adopted at adoption.kvc.org and adoptuskids.org. The profiles include photos, bios and, in many cases, videos.
National Adoption Month highlights the need to connect with teens, who often age out of foster care without a support system. Securing life-long connections for them is critical in determining their future well-being. Approximately one in five children in U.S. foster care waiting to be adopted are teens, but only 5% of all children adopted in 2017 were 15-18 years old.
According to the most recent AFCARS report, of the 122,000 children and youth waiting to be adopted:
- 52% are male and 48% are female
- 23% are African American, 21% are Hispanic, and 44% are white
- The average age is eight years old
- Average time in foster care is about 20 months
KVC’s adoption work is done in partnership with the Kansas Department for Children and Families and Adopt KS Kids.
Families Find New Ways to Celebrate Despite COVID-19
In other years, celebrations are typically marked by gatherings in courthouses, balloon releases and other fun activities. These days, families and KVC staff are taking new approaches to celebrate families who adopted this year. In Kansas, for example, families are holding car parades, drive-in movies, raffles and more. Children’s adoption finalizations are still able to happen with judges using video conferencing.
