Fixing a
Broken System
The goal of Listening to Parents
is to eliminate the
unnecessary barriers that prevent qualified, loving parents
from adopting children in foster care.
Each year, a quarter of a million prospective parents will
approach child welfare agencies to learn about adopting a
child from foster care. Too many will find these agencies
to be unresponsive, bureaucratic, and unwelcoming. Many
will give up in frustration. Waiting children will wonder
why “no one wants me”. The parents who want to adopt will
wonder, “Why is it so hard to adopt?” There is no irony
more tragic in America.
Fact: There are far more people wanting to adopt children
from foster care than there are children in need of
families:
- Joint research by Harvard University and the Urban Institute documented that in any given year, 240,000 Americans will call for information about adopting a child from foster care. Only a tiny fraction of these prospective parents, less than 4%, will actually adopt a child from foster care.
- According to the most recent National Survey of Family Growth, 600,000 American women were actively trying to adopt a child. The overwhelming number were interested in adopting a child that fit the profile of those in foster care. For every black child in foster care there are 12 prospective parents actively trying to adopt who would be willing to adopt a black child. For every child between 6 and 12 years of age, there are 8 prospective parents. For every child 13 years and older, there are 6 prospective parents.
Despite the documented fact that there are far more parents wanting to adopt than children available, each year, 30,000 children age out of foster care leaving foster care at 18 with no family, no resources and, all too often, no future.
Why
is it so hard to adopt a child from foster care?