At any given moment there are as many as 600,000 children nationally in the U.S. foster care, approximately 130,000 of them will not be returning to their families of origin. The number of children that are available for adoption range widely depending upon the state, time of year, and the year in question. It is safe to say that up to 20 percent of the kids in care are not returning to their biologic parent(s). These children may be available for adoption, guardianship and/or long-term foster care. In some states, children over the age of 13 can have a say in their permanency planning.

Through no fault of their own, children end up in the foster care system for a wide range of reasons. The more common reasons include neglect, abandonment, exposure to drugs and alcohol, physical abuse and sexual abuse. But sometimes it can be a case of a parent(s) dying and there is no one left to care for the child, cases of medical need, or that the family is simply not equipped to parent the child.

Foster kids range in age between newborn to 18 years of age, single children, sibling groups of two or more, boys, girls, and teen parents. Typically there tends to be more boys in foster care than girls but that depends upon a wide range of factors. It is estimated that up to 18% of children in foster care are GLBT&Q youth (gay, lesbian, bi, trans and questioning). For many of these kids foster care is not a safe place and they often hide how they are even more. If you would like to know more about these kids, check out our GLBT&Q Youth in Foster Care section or contact us; we are always looking for SAFE families for GLBT&Q youth in care.

The use of “special needs” for these children does not always apply to a physical or mental disorder, but can also refer to the age of a child, ethnic background, sibling group, how long they have been in the system and even race. It is unusual to have permanent placement of a child in the system that does not qualify as a special needs placement. For example, a sibling group of two that has been in the system for two years, entered the system for neglect and may have a speech delay more then likely would qualify as special needs.

We would suggest that you take a look at our Myth’s and Mission Information Resource Guide to answer additional questions about children in care. But for families feeling that adopting internationally would avoid the “issues” of a children in the foster system, you should think again. All the same concerns, 100% of them are found throughout the adoption spectrum regardless of how you adopt. Drug exposed, abused and aggressive youth can be your birth child, a child from a relative, a child from the foster system, internationally and yes even surrogate and private birth parent placement adoptions.