November is National Adoption Month. National Adoption Month has been celebrated for 17 years. Every November, a Presidential Proclamation launches activities and celebrations to help build awareness of adoption throughout the nation. Thousands of community organizations arrange and host programs, events, and activities to share positive adoption stories, challenge the myths, and draw attention to the thousands of children in foster care who are waiting for permanent families.
The 2012 National Adoption Month initiative targets adoption professionals by focusing on ways to use social media to build States’ capacity to recruit and retain parents for the 104,000 children and youth in foster care waiting for adoptive families. Visit this link to learn more about National Adoption Month – Virtually: Adoption in the Digital Age.
National Adoption Day celebrates the adoption of children in foster care. It is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. This annual, one-day event has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with policymakers, practitioners and advocates to finalize adoptions and create and celebrate adoptive families.
In total, National Adoption Day helped nearly 40,000 children move from foster care to a forever family. Communities across the county celebrate the Saturday before every Thanksgiving. This year the National Adoption Day Coalition expects 4,500 children in foster care to be adopted on National Adoption Day, on November 17, 2012. National Adoption Day Coalition partners include Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Freddie Mac Foundation, Children’s Action Network, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and The Alliance for Children’s Rights. Learn more on the National Adoption Day website.
Nicki Sanders, MSW, Chief Visionary Officer
The Teen Toolbox provides youth portfolio development and civic engagement and academic empowerment strategies to help teens set goals for life after high school and create a road map to reach those goals through its PACKAGED FOR SUCCESS™ Programs.