PANAMA CITY — There are more than 700 children in Florida that need adoptive parents.
Children’s Home Society of Florida is hoping by highlighting November as National Adoption Month it will help find safe, stable families ready to adopt one or more of these children.
CHS found homes for 807 children last year, including 776 who were adopted from foster care. But even when a home is secured, the work of CHS and adoptive parents does not end.
“These children have seen things, had traumatic things happen in their lives,” said Maria Avila, dependency case manager with CHS. “When we terminate parental rights it is not because of a minor thing. These children will always be working through those issues — it does not end on adoption day.
“Adoptive parents just have to be patient and sensitive to that child’s experiences,” Avila said.
In her two years with CHS, Avila has worked between 13 and 20 cases at a time, she said. CHS tries to have cases finished within a year but often can be prolonged in more severe cases.
And in many of those cases the children often cannot grasp the situation.
“They can’t understand why it is not safe to go back home,” Avila said. “They view it as normal for them.”
In honor of National Adoption Month, CHS is celebrating the seventh consecutive year they have finalized nearly a quarter — or more — of all adoptions of children from Florida’s foster care system.
“As an adoptive father myself, I understand the joys and rewards that accompany adopting a child. It’s an emotional, life-changing, incredibly fulfilling experience, and I celebrate with all of our state’s growing families,” said David Bundy, president of CHS. “While we rejoice with hundreds of children who now have a place to call ‘home,’ we also remember the hundreds still waiting for the day their adoption dreams will come true.”
Most children available for adoption are more than 7 years old, part of a sibling group or have special emotional, medical or developmental needs. CHS provides ongoing support to children and families before, during and after the adoption process.
Since its founding in 1902, CHS has finalized nearly 40,000 adoptions.
Individuals and families interested in learning more about adoption can visit www.chsfl.org/adoption.