What Is National Adoption Day?

Meta: What is national adoption day? When and where did it first start? Let us look in detail at the importance of national adoption day.

Have you ever thought about adopting a child? You must have seen on social media and other timelines about a foster child being adopted by some family. Sometimes it takes a few years before a child gets finally adopted, as it does not happen frequently.

So, What is National Adoption Day? This day is an initiative to create awareness among people about the number of children who are in foster care centers waiting to get a permanent home in the US. 

More than 123,000 children are awaiting adoption to get a permanent home for themselves in the US. 45% of the children are looking for guidance, love, and support provided by adoptive families. 

In this article, let us look at the history of national adoption day and other related facts.

What Day Is National Adoption Day?

National Adoption Day is celebrated annually in the US on Saturday before Thanksgiving. It was started in 2000 as an initiative to create awareness about more than 115,000 homeless children waiting to get a permanent home in the US. 

National Adoption Day was initiated with the partnership of foundations and community groups like the Dave Thomas Foundation, Children’s Action Network, Freddie Mac Foundation, and Alliance For Children’s Rights.

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History Of National Adoption Day

1970s

In the 1970s, new adoption law reforms were made to help adoptees find their birth parents if they wanted to. More number of states started supporting and considering the reforms to help adoptees access the information about themselves.

2000 (National Adoption Day)

In the year 2000, a coalition of organizations such as foster care organizations, courts, and law firms helped make the adoption day possible with events held across the country.

2003

There was awareness about foster care adoptions across the organizations and courts in more than 120 jurisdictions.

2011

A milestone was achieved with 300 adoption day events organized across the country.

2014

The events related to adoption day were spread across 400 cities in the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

2018

By 2018, over 70,000 children were adopted by families across the country. Since then, the families have started celebrating this day.

You might also like to read: What Does An Adoption Lawyer Do?

Foster Care Facts

Neglect is one of the main reasons why children enter the foster care units. This further leads to emotional, academic, and social challenges, and they experience loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and anger.

Let us look at the real picture of the foster care units today.

• More than 437,000 children stay in foster care centers across the country.
• The average age of the children staying in the foster care center is 8 years.
• More than 25,600 foster youth spend years in foster care centers.
• 4 out of 10 foster children lived with non-relatives foster families.
• 61% of the children moved out of their homes fue to neglect. While 34% of children moved out due to parental drug abuse.
• Children living in adoption care centers have to wait for three years to be adopted by foster families.
• 51% of the foster children get reunited with their parents or primary relatives.
• 52% of the children get adopted by foster families.
• Among youth in the foster care units nationwide, around 44% of them are Caucasian,23% are African American, 21% are Hispanic, and 12% belong to another ethnicity.
• On 2015 National Adoption day, more than 4000 children were adopted by the families.
• Every year more than 20,000 foster children age out without having a permanent home or foster families.

Why Is National Adoption Day Important?

Over the years, National Adoption day has helped adopt more than 70,000 children. This day has increased awareness among people and has helped support foster care agencies.

More than thousands of foster children stay in foster care units for a long time and still waiting to be adopted by families. These children need security, acceptance, love, and support from their families.

National Adoption Day has helped open up the world for these foster children, so they don’t have to worry about living with any families. 

National Adoption Day is celebrated because of the following reasons:

Honor The Families

It is one of the ways to honor foster families that have adopted the children and provided them with everything that they were unable to experience in life.

Awareness

November is a great time to spread awareness among people and educate them about the significance of adoption. There are a lot of children across the country hoping to get adopted by foster families.

Volunteer

There are a lot of organizations that help promote adoption. People get to volunteer their time and help create awareness among people and find a permanent home for thousands of foster children.

You might also like to read: How Much Does It Cost To Adopt A Child In Texas?

How To Observe National Adoption Day?

There are different ways to observe the national adoption day. 

Volunteering

You can volunteer in one of the foster care centers such as the Dave Thomas foundation or any other organization for adoption. Participate in the events and rallies and give your time raising funds through the events.

Internet

Try promoting and creating awareness about the adoption through social media. The more we create awareness about the adoption, the more families might come up, and the foster children will be able to find permanent homes.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Few Final Words

Adoption is different for everyone. However, every adoption provides a foster child with a permanent home and a family who will love and care for them and watch them grow. 

National Adoption Day is a great initiative that helps create awareness among prospective adoptive parents and other people about the importance of adoption. To date, the dreams of over 75000 children have come true through the national adoption day.

I hope reading this article helped you understand the significance of national adoption day and its history.