The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) ALL-IN Foster Adoption Challenge is a national effort led by Assistant Secretary Lynn Johnson with the goal of finding loving, permanent homes for the 122,000 children and youth who are currently waiting for adoption in the U.S. foster care system.

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Every child deserves a family who will love and support them, forever. Right now there are over 400,000 children in the foster care system. While many of these will be reunified with their families, 122,000 of these children and youth are waiting for adoption. There is a particular need for families willing to open their hearts and homes to children in sibling groups, those with special needs, and older youth.  

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Some of these children will wait years for a forever family, and sadly some will age out of foster care on their own with no family, mentor, or supports in place. This is the experience of nearly 20,000 youth who age out each year.  Without a loving, permanent family to help navigate their entry into adulthood, evidence shows these young adults will experience poor outcomes, such as higher rates of homelessness and unemployment, after they leave foster care.

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The ALL-IN Challenge is a national call to immediate action – a call for partners in every state, including governors, public figures, agencies, courts, faith-based and community organizations, businesses, and the public, to commit to being ALL IN for waiting children in care.

Let’s work together to find forever families for kids in foster care waiting for adoption. To learn more, go to the ALL-IN Foster Adoption Challenge website and share this information with your friends, family, and faith community:

 

https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/allinadoptionchallenge/publicengagement/

 

Share a picture or video of yourself with the sign on your social media and let us know what you’ve committed to do to be ALL IN! Use hashtag #ALLINforWaitingKids to show your support for this challenge and share this link so people can learn more.

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#ALLINforWaitingKids

 

Texas Numbers

 

# in foster care – as of September 30, 2019 – 31,427

# legally free for adoption – of those children\youth waiting for adoption as of September 30, 2019 –8,578

# emancipated – those leaving care during FY 2019 – 1,163

# waiting for adoption – as of September 30, 2019 – 12,932