Celebrating National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month, a time to celebrate adoptive families, educate the public about adoption, and raise awareness about the 109,000 children in our child welfare system who are waiting for a family to call their own. Events commemorating National Adoption Month are held around the country, and you can likely find one or two in your community (you can check with your local public and private adoption agencies to find out what they have planned). 

How and why did National Adoption Month begin? The first Adoption Week was designated by Governor Michal Dukakis of Massachusetts in 1976 to celebrate adoption awareness for 7 days. It was a popular celebration, copied by other states, so much so that President Ronald Reagan initiated a National Adoption Week in 1984. By 1995, celebrations across states were becoming more popular, and adoption was receiving such national attention that President Bill Clinton proclaimed National Adoption Month in 1995. 

In his Proclamation in 1995, President Clinton said,

“For many people across the United States, adoption provides a means for building and strengthening families. It places children into loving, permanent homes where they can flourish and grow up to become happy, healthy, productive members of our national community. Adoption also enables adults to experience the unique joys of parenthood.

“As many as 70,000 children in America’s foster care system may need adoptive families in the next few years—young people of all ages and backgrounds who, for whatever reason, cannot return to their original homes. Many, but not all, are children with special needs. These young people long for the same affection, security, and stability that most of us take for granted, yet too many have waited—and will continue to wait—for years to be adopted.

…. “As we observe National Adoption Month, we celebrate these achievements and recognize the rewards of adoption, but we must also remember that much work remains to be done. Citizens from all communities and organizations from the public and private sectors must join together to renew our commitment to finding permanent homes for each one of America’s children.”

Every year since then, the President of the United States offers a Proclamation on National Adoption Month. The Proclamation for 2024 by President Joseph R. Biden can be found on the White House website.

This year’s theme is “Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds.” According to the Children’s Bureau, this theme “highlights the importance of child welfare professionals helping young people build and sustain lifelong networks of support and community that provide a sense of belonging and relational permanency. This theme reflects one of the Children’s Bureau’s highest priorities: ensuring youth benefit from lasting relationships and have holistic supports and opportunities.”

Further, the Children’s Bureau Proclamation states, “All young people should have a strong support network that meets their needs; embraces and affirms their racial, ethnic, and cultural identity; and promotes family, community, and cultural connections. By honoring every youth and their network, professionals can work toward an adoption that is meaningful and purposeful, paving the way for healing, well-being, and long-term stability.”

The Children’s Bureau, Child Welfare Information Gateway, issues a National Adoption Month Toolkit each year. This toolkit offers guidance for agencies and others who wish to publicize National Adoption Month, with chapters on using social media, talking points and facts, ready-to-use graphics, and sample email messages. It offers an easy way to make your community aware of the importance of the meaning of National Adoption Month.

Within National Adoption Month, National Adoption Day was launched in 1999, by a coalition of national partners, including the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Alliance for Children’s Rights, and Children’s Action Network. National Adoption Day is a special day, held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, when many courts across the country finalize the legal adoptions of children in a special group family event. This year, National Adoption Day is on Saturday, November 23, 2024and once again, more than 400 communities across the country will commemorate the day with group finalization celebrations. Many families who are ready to finalize their adoption choose to wait for National Adoption Day to take part in this National Day of Recognition, and they make it a festive occasion with local press coverage and a celebratory event. I have been told that it is also a happy day for the judges who perform the legal process of creating families – a task much more fun than their daily judicial duties!

The initial goals of National Adoption Month remain much the same, although the statistics have understandably changed. As of September 2022, the most recent statistics available, 109,000 children and youth in the child welfare system are waiting to be adopted. Of these, 1 in 5 children are between the ages of 13 and 17 years old. The average time in care for all children waiting to be adopted was 34.9 months, or nearly 3 years. These are all children waiting for the chance to become a member of a loving, supportive permanent family, with a parent or parents who will stand by them and guide them to adulthood and beyond. 

While the intent of National Adoption Month was to call attention to the needs of children in foster care, it is truly a time to celebrate all adoptive parents who have reached out to a child in need of the security of a loving family; to celebrate all adopted youth and adoptive families; and celebrate all of the professionals who support youth and families on their adoption journey. Join us by creating awareness about adoption this November, and if you are an adoptive family, have a special celebration of your family!