Commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
Conducted by Harris Interactive

More than 104,000 children in the United States are waiting in foster care to be adopted by permanent, loving parents. These youngsters, who are on average 8 years old, typically remain in temporary situations over three years before being placed with “forever families.” The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 aimed to promote adoptions of waiting children by requiring states to provide subsidies to adoptive parents. These subsidies, at a median of just $485 a month, help families meet the basic needs of their children and may include amounts to help pay for critical services such as healthcare, therapy or tutoring to address their children’s physical, mental, cognitive and developmental challenges.

Published by:
Adoption Institute.org

The number of youth who age out of foster care has risen steadily over the past decade, even in the wake of increased efforts to achieve permanence for all children in foster care.
For far too many youth, aging out of care results in homelessness, work instability, and a lack of stable, loving relationships with adults. These grim facts are even more heartbreaking because we know these youth could have found a permanent family, if only they had been given the chance.
Younger foster children have a much better chance of finding a permanent family. Once waiting children in foster care are nine or older, they are much less likely to be adopted.  About 43 percent of waiting children are nine or older, but 72 percent of those who are adopted are under age nine.  The average age of children when they are adopted from foster care is 6.6 years, while the average age of waiting children is 8.2 years. The average waiting child has been in foster care for more than three years.  Every day that a waiting child remains in foster care, his chances of being adopted decrease.

Published by:
North American Council on Adoptable Children

Every year, more and more children in foster care find permanent homes with relatives when they cannot return to live with their parents. Most children will find permanent homes through relative adoption, which continued to increase throughout the decade. In 2000, 21 percent of the children adopted from foster care were adopted by relatives. By 2007, relative adoptions from foster care accounted for 28 percent of the children exiting foster care.

This publication was a collaborative effort between ChildFocus and the North American Council on Adoptable Children

The national recognition that family connections are essential for children is applauded; though, it must come with assurances that children outside of foster care who have been removed from their parent’s home are afforded the equal protections and services received by those children who live in the foster care system.

The National Kinship Alliance for Children joins the voices of these extended families into one voice speaking out on behalf of these children. This GrandKin Guide has been written to help explain what extended families can expect when asked to care for children. Please share this with others you may know and join with us to bring our children out of the shadows and into the light. They, too, deserve our protection and our commitment.

Published by:
National Kinship Alliance for Children
P.O. Box 85
Ashland, VA 23005

Published by
Family Law
A publishing imprint of Jordan Publishing Limited
21 St Thomas Street
Bristol BSI 6JS
For the Hague Conference on Private International Law
Permanent Bureau
6, Scheveningseweg
2517 KT The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone +31(0)70 363 3303 fax +31(0)70 360 4867
e-mail secretariat@hcch.net website http://www.hcch.net
© Hague Conference on Private International Law 2012

Published by
Family Law
A publishing imprint of Jordan Publishing Limited
21 St Thomas Street
Bristol BSI 6JS
For the Hague Conference on Private International Law
Permanent Bureau
6, Scheveningseweg
2517 KT The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone +31(0)70 363 3303 fax +31(0)70 360 4867
e-mail secretariat@hcch.net website http://www.hcch.net
© Hague Conference on Private International Law 2012