Adoption

Sponsor Organizations: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, The Adoption Exchange Association and The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids
Campaign Website: www.adoptuskids.org, 
www.adopte1.org
Volunteer Agencies: kirshenbaum bond + partners, Revolución

Currently, there are 510,000 children in the U.S. foster care system and 129,000 of these children are waiting for families to adopt them. The majority of waiting children are of color with older African American boys waiting the longest for adoption. Sadly each year 26,000 young adults age out of the foster care system without being adopted.

General Market Effort:
The general market campaign launched in July 2004 with the goal of raising awareness of the significant number of children in this country waiting to be adopted. New PSAs have been developed as an extension of the highly successful initial campaign. These new, heartwarming PSAs illustrate that parents do not need to be “perfect” to become a parent to a teen from foster care. The PSAs take a look at some of the ordinary situations that parents experience everyday with their children, thus reinforcing the notion that it is these moments that really count. The public service ads end with the tagline, "You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. There are thousands of teens in foster care who would love to put up with you.”    

Spanish-Language Effort:
The Adoption Spanish-language campaign first launched in April 2005 and also aims to raise awareness of the number of children waiting to be adopted. Among waiting children, 15% are Hispanic. New PSAs have been developed for the campaign that highlight special, yet everyday moments that families share together.  The PSAs also showcase the benefits and fulfillment that adoption through foster care can bring. The PSAs poignantly end with the tagline “Complete a life, complete your own.”

The PSAs direct audiences to visit www.adoptuskids.org or www.adopte1.org (for information in Spanish) or call 1-888-200-4005 or 1-877-ADOPTE1 (to connect with Spanish-speaking staff) for important, accurate information about the foster care system and the adoption process.