Pictured above are: Front row, from left, Adams County CSB Intake Supervisor, Nicole Williams; Adams County Economic and Community Development Director and Adams County CSB Board Chair, Holly Johnson; Adams County CSB Ongoing Supervisor, Sonya Meyer; Foster/Adoptive Caregiver, Isaac Wooten, Dodge Estle and Jenna Wooten; and Commissioner Diane Ward; Back row, from left,: Adams County CSB Executive Director Jill M. Wright; Adams County CSB Foster/Adoption Specialist, Dawn Grooms; Commissioner Brian Baldridge and Commissioner Ty Pell.

 

Photo provided by Adams County Children’s Services – 

On Oct. 23, 2017, Adams County Children Services employees, board members, and special guests, Isaac and Jenna Wooten and son Dodge, met with the Adams County Commissioners to proclaim November as Adoption Recognition and Recruitment Month.
The theme for National Adoption Recognition and Recruitment Month for November 2017 is “Teens Need Families, No Matter What.” This theme highlights the importance of identifying well-prepared and committed families for the thousands of teenagers in foster care. Many youth in foster care face higher rates of poor outcomes, such as dropping out of high school, unemployment, and homelessness. These youth are less likely to be adopted, often because of their age, and will too often age out of the system without a stable support system.
Securing lifelong connections for these teens, legally and emotionally, is an urgent need and critical component of their future achievement and overall well-being. Teenagers are often hard to place, but they are as much in need of permanency as younger children and risk exiting the foster care system without any legal or emotional ties. A young person without any family ties lacks the foundational support and compass all youth need as they mature into adulthood.” (Child Welfare Information Gateway www.childwelfare.gov). All youth need a sense of belonging and through adoption, youth are connected to a family who can not only provide a sense of stability, but also help them navigate the complicated landscape of their emerging independence.
These lasting connections can help youth with important life tasks such as enrolling in higher education, finding stable housing, securing employment, and establishing healthy relationships.
Ohio’s National Adoption Day celebration is Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. In the U.S., there are approximately 397,122 children who are living without permanent families in the foster care system. Of that number, approximately 110,000 of these children are eligible for adoption, but nearly 32% of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted.
Approximately, 12,500 children are in foster care within the State of Ohio. Over 2,500 children in Ohio are waiting for adoptive homes. More than 1,230 of those children awaiting adoption are 12 years of age and older. Many of those older waiting children have been in foster care for more than 4 years without a permanent family. Children Services Agencies throughout the country are in need of foster homes and adoptive homes for waiting children within the foster care system.
Adams County Children Services currently has eight children, ages two to 18 years, who are awaiting adoptive placements and are in the permanent custody of Adams County Children Services. Of those eight children, two already have identified adoptive homes. Our task is to find permanent homes for all of our children. Every child in America, every child in Ohio and every child in Adams County deserves a permanent, loving family and forever home.
Since 1990, the nation has proclaimed November as National Adoption Month to focus attention on the children in the child welfare system waiting for permanent placement with families. Children of all ages and races throughout the United States are searching for their forever families.
Throughout the month of November and all year long, Adams County Children Services is encouraging families to become foster and/or adoptive parents. For more information about the National Adoption Month 2017 Campaign or Adams County Children Services, call (937 ) 544-2511 or visit www.AdoptUsKids.org or www.davethomasfoundation.org
For more information about foster care and/or adoption, please contact Dawn Grooms, Foster/Adoption Specialist at (937) 544-2511; check out our website at www.adamscountychildren.org or you can find us on Facebook at Adams County Children Services/Wilson Children’s Home.