November is National Adoption Month. Started as Adoption Week, it began over 45 years ago as a way to shed light on the need for families to adopt children in the foster care system. In 1976, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis spearheaded the idea in hopes to connect children in need of forever families with foster parents who had it on their heart to grow their families through adoption.
Eight years later, Ronald Reagan officially proclaimed the week before the start of the holidays as official National Adoption Week; the holidays being a time when children are longing for a home and a sense of belonging. In 1995, President Bill Clinton expanded the week and proclaimed November as National Adoption Month to highlight the increasing need for matching children and youth in foster care with forever families.
One of the ways of growing your family is adopting through the foster care system. “There are several different ways to get started in the adoption [sic] process. One of the ways is through the Department of Social Services (DSS). From time to time you’re called on to be a foster parent, sometimes those foster parent situations turn into permanent situations, sometimes they don’t,” South Carolina family court lawyer Nancy Jo Thomason explained in a YouTube video. “It’s a lot of hard work; a lot of meaningful work.”
Foster care and foster care adoption
Adoption information for fostering families
There are several places to find support for parents who looking to adopt from foster care. Prospective foster parents with a heart for adoption should begin their search at one of the state-wide lists of children waiting to be adopted. The AdoptUSKids website offers a photo list by state. Additional photo listing service websites can be found on the Child Information Gateway Website.
To learn more about becoming a foster parent, prospective parents can visit the National Foster Parent Association Website. If you’re wondering how to adopt a child from foster care and want to know if this is a good choice for your family, the AdoptUSKids website also offers insight and resources to help you make an informed decision.
