“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
HITTING HOME from Beautiful Feet Productions on Vimeo.
The Nelson’s Mission and Why
Our aim is to raise awareness and dissipate fear of the United States Social Services System.
Because of our personal experience adopting through the Los Angeles Social Services System (foster-adoption) we know how confusing and frightening it can be. The little we did know about the system conjured up hesitance and fear. Our desire is to help edify potential adoptive parents about the numbers of available and waiting children in the US foster care system and to encourage them to learn the facts about the system and how it works. Here are some stats:
FOSTER CARE STATISTICS
Currently, there are approximately 425,000 children in foster care in the United States. It’s estimated that 115,000 are eligible for adoption.
In 2009, about 57,466 children were adopted from foster care.
69% of parents who adopt from foster care are married couples, 31% are single-parent families.
Median age of child in foster care: 8.1 years.
Race/ethnicity of children in foster care: 38% Caucasian, 30% African-American, 22% Hispanic, 10% other.
The average child in foster care goes through three different placements and stays in the system for about 30 months.
Each year, about 26,000 children age out of foster care. www.adoptivefamilies.com
Abuse and neglect results in hundreds of thousands of children drifting in and out of the United States foster system. Many of these children will age out of the system without knowing the permanency of home or family. Many Christian couples and families desire to grow their families through adoption, but they are unfamiliar or fearful of the social services system. Here are some encouraging testimonies from some who have adopted through foster care:
“After being emotionally and financially spent from fertility treatments, we saw this as an affordable way of becoming parents. I’m not sure what we expected when we began, but it’s been amazing. We have adopted five children, and have helped reunite many other foster kids with their biological families.” —Shelly, North Carolina
“I first adopted internationally, and later from foster care, and I found the latter route refreshing. I felt better supported throughout the process, and was made to feel that our family is special and worthy to adopt.” —Maureen, Massachusetts
“When I was matched with a 16-month-old with severe medical needs who had been through several placements, I feared he had too many ‘issues’ for me to adopt him as a single parent. He arrived at my home at 5 p.m.—and by 7 the next morning, I knew he was my son. Today, my three-year-old is happy, healthy, handsome, bright, and the joy of my life.” —Jennifer, California
SEE MORE: http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles
More than 4,500 children waiting for families can be seen right now at adoptuskids.org. AdoptUsKids staff can answer general questions made online or by phone (888-200-4005) about adoption from foster care and connect you with professionals in your state. (The Nelsons are an official AdoptUsKids spokesfamily.)
Thousands of children in the U.S. foster system are waiting for adoptive families. Here are answers to common questions about the foster adoption process.
HELPFUL ARTICLES:
How to Adopt a Waiting Child from the U.S. Foster Care System
Heart of the Game Ministries 
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