November 18, 2011 By Jennifer A. Marshall Adoption advocates
hope to recruit enough parents to take in the 107,000 children
in America’s foster care system who are waiting for permanent
families. And it’s not just because November is National
Adoption Month. For too many children, foster care has become
more of a trap door than a safety net, says Thomas Atwood,
former president of the National Council for Adoption. “[T]hey
languish for years in multiple placements without the loving
parents and permanent family that all children need and
deserve,” Atwood writes in a paper published earlier this year
by The Heritage Foundation. “As a result, every year tens of
thousands of youth age out of foster care without a family.”
When young people “age out” of the system at age 18 or 21
(depending on state law), they often face daunting
circumstances. Compared to peers, they are less likely to
graduate from high school, more likely to be unemployed, have a
child out outside of marriage, depend on welfare or be convicted