Washington —Senator Evan Bayh is highlighting efforts at the local and federal level to find more than 3,300 Hoosier children loving, permanent homes as Saturday marks National Adoption Day.

Today, in Fort Wayne, the Allen Superior Court will finalize a group of local foster care adoptions at the Allen County Adoption Celebration. Next Tuesday, in Marion County, the Children’s Bureau will host the Thanks-for-Giving Dinner as part of a series of similar events nationally to raise the awareness of the needs of foster children. Last year, 4,300 adoptions were finalized nationwide in more than 300 events across America as part of National Adoption Month.

“National Adoption Day is about realizing the urgency to act,” said Senator Bayh, a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. “For thousands of children, how we respond to this challenge means the difference between spending their childhood bouncing between foster families and finding permanent, loving homes. We have to do everything in our power to make the adoption process easier for families, so children in foster care can get the attention and stability that all young people deserve.”

Last month, President Bush signed into law legislation cosponsored by Senator Bayh to reauthorize the Adoption Incentives Program (AIP), which creates incentives for states to improve their adoption practices by providing federal “bonuses” to states that increase their adoption rate. The legislation also encourages states to provide assistance to grandparents and other relatives who become legal guardians of children for whom they have been foster parents.

Since the program’s enactment in 1998, Indiana has earned nearly $6.4 million in adoption incentives, and more than 8,000 children in foster care in the state have been adopted. Approximately 510,000 children are currently in foster care in the United States, and more than 127,000 of them are eligible for adoption.

“Adoption can change a child’s life forever,” Bayh said. “It is my hope that National Adoption Month will help potential adoptive families see the many benefits of adoption and take the first steps toward making a foster child part of their family.”

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