[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S15402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President. As we approach this holiday season of 
Thanksgiving, I want to draw attention to National Adoption Month as we 
celebrate it this month.
  I am joining my colleagues on the Congressional Coalition for 
Adoption this month to increase awareness and knowledge of the 
obstacles that children in foster care face while waiting to be adopted 
and to encourage more families to consider adopting.
  Currently, there are 580,000 children in the foster care system in 
America, 126,000 of whom are waiting to be adopted. Yet, only 20 to 25 
percent of foster children waiting for adoption will ever find an 
adoptive family before aging out of government care. The foster care 
system has been extremely important in rescuing abused and neglected 
children. However, the foster care system was designed to be a 
temporary situation, but it is increasingly becoming a permanent 
guardian for many children. This is particularly true for children who 
are not adopted in their early years or who find themselves in foster 
care at an older age. Of the 126,000 children waiting to be adopted 
approximately half are 9 years of age or older.
  Every year an average of 100 children in South Dakota, and 25,000 
children nationally, age out of the foster care system at the age of 
18, often with very little if any support system in pace. These 
children often face the challenges of homelessness, college 
noncompletion, unemployment, and a lack of health care. Transitional 
living and mentoring program can alleviate some of these concerns but 
programs face the strains of staff shortages and underfunding. I must 
commend the South Dakota Coalition for Children for working to secure 
Medicaid coverage for children that age out of the foster care system 
until they reach the age of 22. This eliminates one serious concern 
many former foster care youths face with they are no longer in 
Government care, but it does not replace the support of a loving 
family.
  On November 22, 2003, courts across the country joined State 
agencies, children in foster care and hopeful parents to finalize 
adoptions and demonstrate the large number of children waiting for 
safe, stable, permanent homes.
  As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday and gather with our families, 
we should not forget those children still waiting for a loving, 
permanent family to be thankful for.

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