Over the years, the entertainment industry has capitalized on stories about children who are in foster care or adopted. While some of these characters, such as Anne of Green Gables, are heartwarming and inspiring, others put fear in a viewer’s heart, leaving them to wonder why on earth anyone would take a foster child into their homes.
So, what is fact and what is fiction? Are children up for adoption in Orange county and other California areas angelic saints like Pollyanna or should they be avoided at all cost?
Just like Other Kids
The truth is, children in foster care are just like any other kid. Children are put into foster care not because of something that they have done wrong, but because they have no family that can provide them with a safe and supportive home. While the initial goal of foster care is to eventually reunite children with their biological parents, this is not always possible; sometimes parents are struggling with issues such as substance abuse and cannot or will not take steps toward recovering custody of their children. When this happens, children become available for adoption.
Situation of Foster Care Children
At any given time, there are over 400,000 children in foster care in the United States and the average age for a foster child is 6.6 years. These children have often been physically abused, abandoned, and neglected. Their situation has nothing to do with their behavior but has instead been entirely out their control.
Although foster children may need support such as counseling to help them get past their trauma and loss, they have every chance to succeed once given a stable, permanent, loving home. Foster children are just as gifted, talented, beautiful, smart, and important as any other child who is still with their biological family.
They Need a Loving Family
While foster children are anxious to find loving families who will want them, there is a shortage of individuals willing to step up to provide them with that care; the average child who is currently available for adoption has already been waiting two-years to find a forever home.
Work now with adoption agencies like ChildNet Youth and Family Services in California that serve Orange County as well as Kern County to give a place for a foster care child in your loving home. Agencies like ChildNet work to find families for children who are waiting for forever homes, and help potential adoptive parents understand exactly what is involved in the process.
Sources:
Statistics on Foster Care, Foster Club
Foster Care Children Statistics, Statistic Brain Research Institute
