WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) today announced that their resolution supporting National Adoption Month and National Adoption Day passed the Senate. November is National Adoption Month and November 21 is National Adoption Day.
“As Senate co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the power of adoption firsthand,” Klobuchar said. “Recognizing November as National Adoption Month, and November 21 as National Adoption Day, are ways to honor the big hearts and hard work of adoptive families while focusing on how we can provide these families with the support they need and deserve.”
“Adoption is a gift that has enriched the lives of millions of families, including my own,” Blunt said. “Every child deserves a stable, loving home, and I hope more families will use this opportunity to consider welcoming a child into their lives through adoption.”
As the resolution notes, there are currently more than 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, with more than 100,000 ready to be adopted. In 2014, more than 22,000 youth “aged out” of foster care, reaching adulthood without being placed in a permanent home.
As co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, Klobuchar is a strong advocate for adoptive families and children. In July, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill Klobuchar cosponsored to waive recurring visa fees for families whose adoptive children are unable to immigrate in a timely manner due to exceptional circumstances. She has introduced the Supporting Adoptive Families Act to help provide pre- and post-adoption support services, including mental health treatment, to help adoptive families stay strong. In addition, Klobuchar authored the International Adoption Simplification Act to help siblings stay together during an international adoption and protect adoptees from unsafe immunizations in foreign countries, which was signed into law on November 30, 2010.
Klobuchar has also worked closely with adoptive Minnesota families to help them bring their children home from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Russia.
For broadcast-quality video of Klobuchar’s remarks on the Senate floor in support of the resolution, click here.
The full text of the resolution is available below:
Whereas there are millions of unparented children in the world, including 415,129 children in the foster care system in the United States, approximately 108,000 of whom are waiting for families to adopt them;
Whereas 62 percent of the children in foster care in the United States are age 10 or younger;
Whereas the average length of time a child spends in foster care is approximately 2 years;
Whereas for many foster children, the wait for a loving family in which the children are nurtured, comforted, and protected seems endless;
Whereas, in 2014, over 22,000 youth “aged out” of foster care by reaching adulthood without being placed in a permanent home;
Whereas every day, loving and nurturing families are strengthened and expanded when committed and dedicated individuals make an important difference in the life of a child through adoption;
Whereas a 2007 survey conducted by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption demonstrated that although “Americans overwhelmingly support the concept of adoption, and in particular foster care adoption . . . foster care adoptions have not increased significantly over the past 5 years”;
Whereas while 4 in 10 people of the United States have considered adoption, a majority of the people of the United States have misconceptions about the process of adopting children from foster care and the children who are eligible for adoption;
Whereas 50 percent of the people of the United States believe that children enter the foster care system because of juvenile delinquency when, in reality, the vast majority of children who have entered the foster care system were victims of neglect, abandonment, or abuse;
Whereas 39 percent of the people of the United States believe that foster care adoption is expensive when, in reality, there is no substantial cost for adopting from foster care and financial support is available to adoptive parents after the adoption is finalized;
Whereas family reunification, kinship care, and domestic and inter-county adoption promote permanency and stability to a far greater degree than long-term institutionalization and long-term, often disrupted, foster care;
Whereas both National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month occur in the month of November;
Whereas National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to find permanent, loving families for children in the foster care system;
Whereas, since the first National Adoption Day in 2000, nearly 54,500 children have joined permanent families during National Adoption Day;
Whereas, in 2014, nearly 400 events were held in the United States finalizing the adoptions of approximately 4,500 children from foster care;
Whereas the President traditionally issues an annual proclamation to declare the month of November as National Adoption Month; and
Whereas National Adoption Day is on November 21, 2015: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) supports the goals and ideals of both National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month;
(2) recognizes that every child should have a permanent and loving family; and
(3) encourages the people of the United States to consider adoption during the month of November and all throughout the year.
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