Foster Care Adoption Quick Facts from Dave Thomas

I was on Dave Thomas web page http://www.davethomasfoundation.org and found these quick facts on foster care adoption...

Foster Care Quick Facts:

• Foster care adoption is the adoption of a child from the U.S. foster care system who is legally available for adoption and whose birthparents’ rights have been terminated.

• There are an estimated 513,000 children in foster care in the United States, and more than114,000 of them are eligible and waiting to be adopted.

• Of the 114,000 children waiting for adoption, 36 percent are Black Non-Hispanic, 40 percent are White Non-Hispanic, 15 percent are Hispanic, 2 percent are American Indian/Alaskan Native, 4 percent two or more Races Non-Hispanic and 3 percent unable to determine.

• The average child waits for an adoptive family for more than 3 years.

• 21 percent spend 5 years or more waiting for a family (24,395 children).

• The average age of children waiting for an adoptive family is 8 1/2.

• Each year about 18 percent of the foster care population is adopted from foster care (51,000 children).

• 24,407 children reach the age of 18 without ever finding a forever family (9 percent).

• Of the families who adopt children from foster care, 68 percent are married couples, 27 percent are single females, 3 percent are single males, and 2 percent are unmarried couples.