National Adoption Month
April Ferguson LCSW-C
Senior Practice Associate Children and Adolescents
November 2024
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) acknowledges November as National Adoption Month. The White House Proclamation on National Adoption Month highlights how adoptive families provide permanency, love, and stability so children can grow to be happy, healthy, strong and resilient. In addition, national efforts to support adoptive homes included parental leave and policies that reduce financial burdens for families.
Social workers have long supported children’s education, health and mental well-being, while also providing adoption services for those in need. Adoptive families and their children need social workers that support adoption through macro-level advocacy and direct practice. Social workers can advocate for policies that fund post-adoption support and policies that make the adoption tax credit fully refundable. Social workers can also provide case management services, interventions and treatment that specifically address the challenges faced by adoptive families. This month is a reminder of the joys and lasting impact adoption has on children, youth and families and the role social workers play in ensuring permanency for children.
Child Welfare
There are over 100,000 children and adolescents in the child welfare system awaiting adoption. Children placed in the child welfare system may have experienced abuse, neglect, trauma and multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and they need supportive connections that offer healing. For children that are not reunified with family, adoption may be their step to permanency and adoptive families are needed to provide relationships, bonding, connections, and well-being. Child welfare social workers can support adoption in various capacities. Workers may work with youth to develop case plans and incorporate their input into permanency planning. Workers may also support agencies to train and recruit foster parents.
Adolescents
As of September 30, 2022, one in five children waiting for adoption were ages 13–17. During adolescence, teens are learning and growing, and they need loving families to help them navigate multiple challenges but also celebrate milestones like starting high school and learning to drive. Awaiting adoption can be challenging for teenagers and campaigns that break stigma around adolescent adoption educate families, so they are prepared to welcome teenagers into their home. Storytelling campaigns share the wonderful experiences of adolescent adoption and the impact of adoption on teenagers and their families.
NASW
Youth may be adopted by relatives, foster parents, or other fictive kin and it is important that social workers are engaged in family finding, foster parent recruitment and awareness campaigns that support adoption. NASW offers education, professional development and resources to help social workers develop skills to work with adoptees and their families. Recently NASW hosted the October 2024 Virtual Fall Forum Mental Health Matters: Working with Children, Youth, and Families. The forum addressed a wide range of topics including child welfare, mental health, social media use and policies impacting children. NASW also supported a sign on letter, Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act, to reauthorize child welfare programs under part B of title IV of the Social Security Act.
Resources
Children’s Bureau
https://www.cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/
The White House: A Proclamation on National Adoption Month
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/10/31/a-proclamation-on-national-adoption-month/
National Adoption Month | Child Welfare Information Gateway
https://www.childwelfare.gov/adoptionmonth/
Related Organizations
AdoptUSKids
https://adoptuskids.org/
Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.)
https://adoptionsupport.org/
Dave Thomas Foundation
https://www.davethomasfoundation.org/
National Adoption Association
https://www.adoptnaa.org/
National Council For Adoption
https://adoptioncouncil.org/