Searcy (LP) November is Adoption Awareness month across the nation! The first major effort to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system occurred in Massachusetts. In 1976, then-Governor Mike Dukakis proclaimed

Adoption Week and the idea grew in popularity and spread throughout the nation. President Gerald Ford made the first National Adoption Week proclamation, and in 1990, the week was expanded to a month due to the number of states participating and the number of events. During the month, states, communities, public and private organizations, businesses, families, and individuals celebrate adoption as a positive way to build families. Across the nation, activities and observances such as recognition dinners, public awareness and recruitment campaigns, and special events spotlight the needs of children who need permanent families. It also includes National Adoption Day, traditionally a Saturday, which is observed in courthouses across the nation as thousands of adoptions are finalized simultaneously.

A student at Searcy High was in our foster care program for a couple of years before she was adopted to her new family! She asked not to be named but said, “I have been through many homes all over Searcy, but thankfully I found my forever family! Going through all of the changes over the years have really done something to me emotionally, but I know I have parents who love and care for me and that just makes everything so much better!”

There is so many events going on across the country, but November 19th is the actual adoption awareness date! But in our own town our radio station KSSN-96 had artists donate their time and talents and sold tickets for non-profit to give a $4,130 check to the adoption agencies! More than 400,000 children lived in foster care across the U.S. in 2015, and over 100,000 of those children were waiting for an adoptive home, according to the Obama administration. More than 23,000 youth aged out of the foster care system last year without having found their “forever families,” a term that indicates foster youth do not have to move again. Every child needs a forever family.