Adoption
Adoption is the social, emotional, and legal process in which children who will not be raised by their birth parents become full and permanent legal members of another family while maintaining genetic and psychological connections to their birth family. (3)
National Adoption Statistics:
- In the United States, 402,378 children were living without permanent families in the foster care system during 2013. Of these children, 101,840 were eligible for adoption but nearly 32% of them will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted. (4)
- Of children waiting to be adopted, 52% are male and 48% are female. The average age is five years old. (4)
- In 2013, 42% of the children waiting to be adopted were Caucasian with Hispanic (23%) and African American (24%) children making up the remaining majority. (4)
- S. families adopted more than 7,000 children in 2013. (2)
- In 2014, Americans adopted the highest number of children from China followed by Ethiopia, Ukraine, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. (1)
- Roughly 55% of children living in foster care who are waiting to be adopted will have three or more placements, and 33% of children change elementary schools five or more times. (1)
- In San Diego County, 342 children were placed in adoptive homes during fiscal year 2013-2014.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Federal laws provide overarching standards with which State adoption laws must comply. New Federal legislation generally obligates States to enact new laws. In some cases of inter-country adoption, international treaty requirements regulate adoption as a result of the United States becoming party to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption (Hague Convention). This international treaty implements safeguards for all parties in adoptions involving countries that have joined the Convention. However, adoption is primarily regulated by State laws, and these laws vary from State to State. (3)
San Diego County Adoption Statistics:
- According to the San Diego Health & Human Services Agency Child Welfare Services, in fiscal year 2013-2014 there were 342 children placed in adoptive homes. (5)
- Voices for Children, a private, nonprofit based in San Diego that recruits, trains, and supervises, Court Appointed Special Advocates (or CASA volunteers), saw 60 children with CASAs become adopted in fiscal year 2013-2014. (6)
- Each week News 8 anchor Marcella Lee hosts Adopt 8— a special segment featuring the stories of children living in San Diego County who are awaiting adoption. Since Adopt 8 began, more than 500 children have found their exceptional forever families. (7)
Additional Resources:
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute; www.ccainstitute.org/
Children’s Bureau; www.acf.hhs.gov
San Diego Health & Human Services Agency; www.sandiegocounty.gov/hhsa/programs/cs/adoptions_program/
Sources: (1) Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (2). Bureau of Consular Affairs (3) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (4) AFCARS Report, No. 20 (5) San Diego Health & Human Services Agency Child Welfare Services (6) Voices for Children San Diego 2013-2014 Impact Report (7) CBS8.com
