The fact is, the system lets many slip through the cracks.

Willingly signed over

My parents willingly signed me over to foster care when I was 14. While in the group home, I faced abuse, theft, and verbiage. I tried reporting it, but was shut down with "You could have done that to yourself" and I was in that place for almost a year before I finally got an emergency removal. Another youth who arrived days before gave me her old mp3 player, which had a recording feature. I was able to record a staff cusssing her out and threatening her that night. I was temporarily placed with my paternal grandparents until a foster home opened up.

Adoption Rates and Statistics

In 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [1]: On any given day, over 391,000 children are living in the U.S. foster care system and the number has been rising. Over 113,000 of these children are eligible for adoption and they will wait, on average, almost three years for an adoptive family. 53% of the children and youth who left foster care were reunited with their families or living with a relative; 25% were adopted. More than 48,000 youth in U.S. foster care live in institutions, group homes, and other environments, instead of with a family. Of the 53,500 children and youth who were adopted in 2021: 55% were adopted by their foster parent(s) and 34% by a relative. 29% were age nine years or older and the average age of adoption is six years old. Of the families who adopted children from foster care, 68% were married couples, 25% single females, 3% single males, and 4% unmarried couples. 93% of the parents rely on adoption subsidies and/or vital post-adoption services to help meet the children's varied, and often costly, needs.

In pat­terns that have been rel­a­tive­ly sta­ble for more than a decade, the major­i­ty (54% in 2021) of these adoptees are from birth to age 5, just over 1 in 4 is age 6 to 10, 1 in 6 is 11 to 15 and 4% are old­er youth ages 16 to 20.