November is National Adoption Month

November 1, 2022

November is National Adoption Month. This month and throughout the year, Richland County Children Services (RCCS) urges all communities to remain committed to finding permanency for all youth in foster care. National Adoption Month raises awareness of the more than 117,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the United States.

National Adoption Month also celebrates the families who have grown through adoption, and recognizes the journey of the many children who are still waiting for their “Forever Homes”. More than 2,600 children in Ohio are waiting to be adopted and nearly 1,400 of the children awaiting adoption are age 13 and older. Many of them are part of a sibling group. Every effort is made to keep siblings together because every sibling group deserves the chance to grow up together.

On any given day in Ohio, nearly 16,000 children are being cared for away from their parents. More than 9,000 of them are living with foster parents. The rest of them are in residential care or living with friends or relatives, who are sometimes referred to as kinship caregivers.

This year's National Adoption Month theme is "Small Steps Open Doors." Pursuing permanency for teens can be challenging, but small steps along the way can make all the difference. Taking the time to talk with and listen to youth can help you earn their trust and help the youth become more engaged in their own permanency planning. Taking small steps can have large impacts in engaging youth in permanency planning and can help lead to positive outcomes. These steps can help build trust and ultimately guide a young person toward a brighter future.

 Older youth are much less likely to be adopted than younger children, and older youth themselves are often reluctant to pursue adoption, opting instead to prepare for independent living. Yet studies have shown that having a close relationship with a caring adult is key to improving their opportunities for success.

 Richland County Children Services believes every child deserves a home. When a child cannot remain with their birth family, adoption provides that permanent family. Through our adoption services we create families by placing children in their forever homes.

 RCCS adoption services are provided in conjunction with our foster program. Any family wishing to adopt a child must first become a foster family. Through this system, we are able to screen, train and support prospective adoptive parents and ultimately match them with a child in need of a safe and nurturing home. Many of our foster families adopt their foster children. Other families become foster parents solely in anticipation of adopting a child. Whichever path you take, adoption is a joyous way to create a permanent parent/child relationship.   

If you are ready to provide a child with a forever home, please contact Richland County Children Services today about our foster/adoptive parent program. Please call 419-774-4100 for more information and to start the process visit /foster-adoption/adoption.

 

« Back to News