Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

National Adoption Day 2022:  Nearly 1,000 Children in Washington Foster Care are Looking for New Families

There’s Katelynn, 13, who loves art, cooking and is learning to crochet. There’s Romell, 11, a jokester and athlete. There’s Rachelle, 14, a kind-hearted 8th grader who loves math and puzzles, and there’s Tyson, 12, who has an infectious smile and loves to bowl. There’s Viktor and Matthew and Maddie, and so many more.

Nearly 1,000 children in state foster care are legally free to be adopted and are hoping to find families where they can belong. A few dozen of them will do just that this week, as Washington courts and child welfare offices celebrate National Adoption Day by hosting families and the public, and by completing adoptions.

Washington will celebrate the state’s 18th National Adoption Day on Friday, Nov. 18th. It is a day set aside to highlight the critical role that stable, nurturing families play in the lives of children as they move into adulthood, and to highlight how many children in Washington are free to be adopted. Many celebrations are open to the public or can be viewed by the public over Zoom. Information on individual county celebrations can be found on the Washington Courts’ National Adoption Day web page.

At the beginning of November, 6,272 children were in foster care in Washington state, with 992 legally free to be adopted into new families.

“We hope by celebrating National Adoption Day we can highlight how many children in our own communities and state are hoping to find a new family where they can find love and stability,” said Washington Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen, chair of the Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care. “Watching adoptive parents and children come together to create new families is inspiring. It is hard to describe how important this is in the lives of the children, and to our communities.”

Many resources are available to help potential adoptive parents learn more about adopting from foster care. Some of those resources include:

• “About Adoption From Foster Care,” provides a comprehensive overview and answers many questions posed by potential parents;
• Northwest Adoption Exchange works with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to help foster youth find their new families. They provide a Help Center, webinars, steps for adoption and much more; 
• Profiles of children available for adoption can also be found on the Exchange web page, including new youth-driven “In-Depth Profiles” in which children ages 9 and up take a greater role in telling their stories and finding their new families.  

National Adoption Day was founded in the U.S. in 2000 by a handful of courts, child welfare agencies and businesses to raise awareness of the thousands of foster children awaiting adoption. Washington’s statewide celebration — set for the Friday before Thanksgiving — was launched in 2005 by the Washington Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care and is co-sponsored by the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Superior Court Judges’ Association, and by WARM 106.9’s Teddy Bear Patrol program.

CONTACT:  Lorrie Thompson, Senior Communications Officer, Administrative Office of the Courts, (360) 705-5347, Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov; Nancy Gutierrez, Communications Consultant Manager, Department of Children, Youth and Families, 360-789-3451, nancy.gutierrez@dcyf.wa.gov.