Children never outgrow the need for love and support

In 1984 then-President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week, and 11 years later President Bill Clinton expanded the awareness week to the entire month of November. Since then, November has been celebrated as National Adoption Month across the country. This year, Governor Terence McAuliffe has proclaimed November 2017 as Adoption Awareness Month in Virginia and Mayor McKinley L. Price has made the same declaration for Newport News.

According to Margaret Ross Schultze, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), currently more than 4,800 children are in foster care in Virginia, and of those, nearly 900 await adoption. In celebrating National Adoption Month, campaigns across the State aim to increase awareness and advocacy for children available for adoption. This is particularly important for those children who are on the verge of aging out of foster care. According to the Children’s Bureau, for the 2017 National Adoption Month initiative, the theme “Teens Need Families, No Matter What,” highlights the importance of identifying well-prepared and committed families for the thousands of teenagers in foster care. Each year more than 20,000 children age out of foster care with no family to serve as a loving support system. 

During the last fiscal year, VDSS completed 747 adoptions which was the largest number of adoptions on record for the department and since 2015 there has been a 20% increase in the number of finalized adoptions in Virginia. To learn more about adoption in Virginia, please visit the VDSS adoption and foster care site. For local adoption information, visit the Newport News Department of Human Services Adoption website.