The Children Who Wait

Each year, there are fewer healthy infants available for adoption. Yet at the same time, there are more and more children with "special needs" waiting in foster care for a permanent family to call their own.

These waiting children may fall into one or more of the following groups:

  • Children who many have emotional, learning, physical or mental impairments
  • Children who must be placed in the same home along with their brothers and/or sisters
  • Minority children of all ages
  • Older children over the age of five years old

In most cases these children have had traumatic past experiences that may include physical, sexual or emotional abuse and/or severe neglect. Others may have been born drug or alcohol exposed. For all these children, the need for a safe and permanent home is essential for their continued healthy growth.

It should be noted that the purpose of a "special needs" adoption program is to find homes for children in need, rather than to find children for waiting families.