Wednesday’s Child - The Statistics

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - November is National Adoption Month. On this final day, Lori Hutchinson takes a look at key adoption statistics from foster care.

Every week, we feature children in foster care who need to be adopted. We call them our Wednesday’s Children. Finding forever families is no easy task – the need is great on both the national and state levels.

“In the United States there were over 100,000 kids waiting to be adopted that were at risk of aging out in 2020, but currently in Kansas there are 500 kids that are waiting to be adopted and on average most kids will wait about three years before being matched with an adoptive family.”

A majority of the kids are male. In Kansas, they make up about 58 percent. As for ethnicities, it varies.

“About 54% of children that are in care are White and then about 22% are African American and about 14% are biracial 6% are Hispanic and then about 2% would be Native American.”

The average age of kids in care is 12, and more than half are between the ages of 11 and 15. Those ages are a “focus” of Adoption Month. To raise awareness about the older kids who need a family.

“We focus on teens because teens wait longer to be placed with a permanent home and that they’re at a higher risk of aging out and we really want to stress the importance of having a loving and stable home for children of all ages.”

If you can give a child a family of their own, call Adopt Kansas Kids at 855-236-7857 or go to adoptkskids.org. They also feature kids on the Adopt Kansas Kids Facebook page. They have photos and bios of all the kids, plus ways to take that first step toward providing a child with a place to call home.

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