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November is National Adoption Month, providing the opportunity to increase awareness of adoption-related issues for children, youth, and young adults experiencing foster care. All children deserve to be supported in a safe, loving, and permanent home. When a child cannot safely return to their parents, adoption is one way to provide positive permanency and stability.
According to the federal Administration of Children and Families, more than one in five children waiting for adoption were ages 13-17. This year, the National Adoption Month campaign, “Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds,” aims to increase awareness of adoption, bring attention to the need for adoptive families for teens experiencing foster care, and emphasize the value of lifelong connections.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) offers multiple supportive resources for adoptive families, including adoption assistance and adoption assistance liaisons, post-adoption services, and post-adoption liaisons. When adoption is not an option, kinship caregivers who meet the qualification criteria can receive financial support through Permanency Care Assistance (PCA).
Included below are a few additional adoption and permanency resources for judges and lawyers to consider:
- Administration of Children & Families:
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National Adoption Month Outreach Toolkit includes tools to support promotional, outreach, and social media activities to raise awareness about National Adoption Month.
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National Adoption Month Resources features resources that highlight strategies that professionals can use to build relational permanency, including information on supporting kin caregivers to positively impact stability and permanency outcomes.
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Youth and Family Voices provides stories from youth and adoptive families about the importance of listening to youth voices and the impact of building a relationship based on mutual trust can have on a young person’s life.
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