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The 54,200 adoptions nationwide in 2021 represent a more than 6% decrease compared with 2020, and a more than 18% decrease from 2019's historic high of 66,200 adoptions, according to federal data.
Over the past decade, more than 1,500 Ohio children who waited in foster care now have permanent homes, thanks to a pilot program focused on placing older kids, ages 12 to 15, who typically have a more difficult path to a permanent home.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services director Matt Damschroder said the program's recruiters have smaller caseloads, and are tasked with regularly visiting and connecting with a child, in addition to reaching out to extended family members, teachers and other adults in a kid's life that might be the right match for adoption.
"Certainly there are programs and supports in place to help that young person transition from being a foster youth into adulthood," he said. "But one of the benefits to a youth of being in a permanent relationship with an adoptive family is that support structure is their family."
The program, known as Wendy's Wonderful Kids, is a partnership between the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Damschroder said there are around 3,000 Ohio youths currently in foster care who are eligible for adoption.
Rita Soronen, the foundation's CEO, said that while the program is a model for other states, and is currently being piloted in more than a dozen, advocates are also looking at strategies to ensure families have post-adoption support.
"These children can have all the wishes, hopes and dreams of every other child, they simply need that safety net of family now," she said. "That the foundation understands that, at the point of adoption, that's not really the end of the story."
According to federal data, more than 54,000 kids were adopted in 2021, a 6% decrease from the year prior.
