November is National Adoption Month! This campaign aims to bring awareness to adoption issues and the need for adoptive families.
Since 1900, we have placed more than 17,000 youth into permanent, loving homes. We believe every child deserves a home, and our mission is to build strong families and lifelong relationships for Virginia’s at-risk youth.
Currently, there are more than 1,700 youth in the Virginia foster care system. Of those 1,700 youth, 30% are 13 years or older.
Keep reading our blog to learn why love, permanency, and supporting an adopted child make all the difference in a child’s life.
The Importance of Adoption
This campaign started as National Adoption Week in 1984, proclaimed by President Reagan. In 1995, he proclaimed the first National Adoption Month.
Why is adoption so important? Adoption provides adoptees with a stable home environment, the opportunity for healthier living, and feelings of belonging and love, which impact the rest of their lives.
When youth are not adopted, there are devastating consequences.
- 70% of young women become pregnant before 21
- 20% become instantly homeless
- Less than 3% earn a college degree
- Only 50% find employment by 24
- 25% deal with PTSD
- 25% will be incarcerated within two years of aging out
Unfortunately, teens in foster care wait longer for permanency and are at higher risk of aging out than younger children. Securing lifelong connections for these older children is critical in determining their future well-being and achievement.
Finding Points of Connection
This year’s National Adoption Month theme is “Empowering Youth: Finding Points of Connection.”
Love, stability, and supporting an adopted child are extremely important for their growth. Being part of a strong family can lessen the loss and grief adoptees often experience. A strong family unit also supports the adopted youth’s identity development and helps them overcome adversity.
Bonding with and supporting an adopted child builds trust. When a child learns to determine who is worthy of being trusted, they choose better friends and build stronger relationships. When a child has friends at school, they look forward to learning and have a more positive attitude about school, therefore directly impacting their achievement in the classroom.
Longterm, when an adoptive parent shows love and compassion toward their adoptive child, the child is more likely to show the same amount of love toward their own children.
A child who is adopted is provided with the ability to thrive in life.
Virginia’s Waiting Children
We have several wonderful children who are waiting for a permanent, loving home like yours. Many of them are teenagers who face the fear of aging out of the system before they are adopted. With your help, that can change.
Meet all of our courageous children here.
Adoption Process
We take pride in making the adoption process as easy as possible.
- Schedule a virtual orientation with a CHSVA social worker to learn more about the process and complete an adoption application.
- Complete a self-guided, virtual training series to help prepare you for the special challenges of parenting a child or teen who has faced childhood trauma such as abuse or neglect.
- Complete a home study and receive approval.
- Complete the matching process with a child or teen.
- Make preliminary visits with your child.
- Welcome your child home and begin the six-month supervisory period before legally finalizing the adoption. You will receive post-adoption services during this time.
We are committed to providing high-quality, personalized support services for children and families starting at the adoptive placement through finalization and beyond.
The Children’s Home Society of Virginia | Support Virginia Adoption
If you are thinking about adoption, we encourage you to reach out today. Give the gift of hope to a youth who may be reaching the point of aging out.
We encourage you to share this blog with your family and friends! Spreading the word is how we get more people to understand why permanency is so important and to learn how they can help Virginia’s at-risk youth.
If you would like to start the adoption process, click the button below!