National Adoption Month was created by the national Children’s Bureau to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the U.S. foster care system.
This year’s National Adoption Month theme is “Engage Youth: Listen and Learn.” It is well known that teenagers are less likely to be adopted, often because of their age, and are much more likely to age out of foster care without strong or stable family support. Securing lifelong connections for teens in foster care, both legally and emotionally, is a critical component in determining their future achievement, health, and well-being.
Each year, they award families, individuals and organizations that have made contributions to finding permanency for teens in foster care. The 2020 Adoption Excellence Awards this year included two former foster youth:
La Tika Jeffery
- Former youth in foster care who aged out of care and was adopted as an adult at age 21.
- Current member of the AdoptUSKids speakers bureau.
- Leader in several advocacy and media engagements supporting adoption from foster care including, youth panels, media interviews, webinars, and national media interviews and events.
- Mentor with the YA (Youth Advocate program) where former youth from foster care mentor other youth in care.
- Assists the state of Virginia with PRIDE/kinship training
(read more of her story at Foster Family News in VA)
Aria Williams
- Former youth in foster care adopted as a teen.
- Current member of the AdoptUSKids speakers bureau.
- Speaker and advocate on a national stage for multiple opportunities supporting adoption from foster care including an Adoption Summit panelist, a media tour, webinars, and blogs.
- Used her experience and voice to inform and advise child welfare professionals on agency and individual worker practices that empower youth to participate fully in their own permanency planning.
- Provided child welfare professionals with new and innovative strategies solutions for teens in care based on her personal experiences
(Aria’s story on AdoptUSKids from 2018 )
See all of the recipients and their achievements online