12 Nov NAM Part 2: Fighting for the Cause
November 1-30th 2024
Theme – “Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds”
It is time to take a stand to bring awareness, connections, and improvement for the lives of adoptive children and parents. Adoption puts families through a lot. It also gives opportunity to develop resilience, help children in need, and allow families to serve their purpose and call that God brings upon them. Recognizing the strength and honor of these families is an important aspect of our mission. There are countless children in need of a permanent home. Spreading awareness of adoption can allow more families to give these desperate children the stability of a home and loving family that they long for.
Adoptive children often experience a crisis of identity, feel a sense of not belonging, and even question their relevance compared to non-adoptive children. They often feel out of place and feel looked at differently. What can we do to help these children? Talk about it. Allowing these children to understand who they are, where they come from, and what that means for who they can become is important for their wellbeing.
Every year, thousands of children that are adopted or are in the process of adoption are placed back in the foster system. This is often due to many parents’ lack of training, knowledge, and skills on how to handle trauma caused from abuse and neglect. A lack of resources and support for adoptive families often prevents access to mental health care and lifestyle guidance. That is why it is especially important to learn about what these kids need because of what they have been through before jumping into a world of the unknown. It will help families all around build resilience and understanding, which will lead to better care for traumatized children in need of adoption.
An article by Tim O’Hanlon, “Adoptions Interrupted by the Child’s Return to Foster Care,” that explains more on the studies of this issue. USA Today also conducted an investigation, “A Broken System,” which shares stories and data on the 66,000 US kids that are affected by the broken promises of finding permanency in loving homes.
It is also important to know that teens are at a higher risk of lacking lifelong connections as they reach the aging out mark of foster care. Bringing awareness to the adoption process and experience will help these children and teens find families sooner before they age out and struggle to find their way through life alone.
Statistics
Child Welfare Information Gateway shares statistics about the population of adoptees and how the Children’s Bureau and National Adoption Month aims to bring attention and awareness to these children in need:
- “As of September 30, 2022, there were nearly 109,000 children waiting to be adopted who were at risk of aging out of foster care without permanency,” (Child Welfare Information Gateway).
- “More than one in five children waiting for adoption were ages 13–17.”
- “The average age of all children waiting to be adopted was 7.6 years old.”
- “The average time in care for all children waiting to be adopted was 34.9 months.”
- “The average time in care for children waiting to be adopted after termination of parental rights was 19.1 months.”
- Childwelfare.gov also shares a lot of resources to NAM events. They include events, webinars, campaigns, and other adoption-related resources.
National Today also shares some statistics about the Adoption Awareness Campaign:
- “Approximately 150,000 children are adopted in the U.S. each year, with about a third coming through the foster care system,” (National Today).
- “Agencies such as the National Children’s Bureau organize partnerships with organizations for awareness campaigns and run a national recruitment campaign to find adoptive parents for children.”
This is part 2 of a 4-part series on National Adoption Month. We will be posting a new article each week during the month of November. Make sure to check out next week’s blog: “How to Get Involved.”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.