44 Area Children Adopted As Awareness Campaign Is Feted In Austin

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Austin on Thursday commemorated the beginning of National Adoption Awareness Month in glorious fashion, with a ceremony celebrating the adoption of 44 area children.

Dubbed Austin Adoption Day, the event took place at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center at 2515 S. Congress Ave at 11 a.m.. Among the dignitaries was Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Hank Whitman Commissioner Hank Whitman.

The actual adoptions began at 9:15 a.m. ahead of a news conference announcing the nearly four dozen adoptions. At the event, it was noted that more than 3,900 young children and teenagers statewide were hopeful of being adopted while 119 in Travis County were wishing for the same fate.

More than 5,000 abused or neglected Texas children were adopted from state care last year, officials said, "...but the need has not diminished for more families willing to provide safe, loving homes," a press advisory noted.

“Every day, more children enter foster care in Texas from homes of abuse and neglect,” Whitman said. “These children often find themselves in need of adoptive families that can give them a new start in life. I encourage everyone to ask themselves, ‘Why can’t I adopt? What can I do to help these children?' "

For more information, visit AdoptChildren.org. Those who have thought about adoption are urged to learn more about becoming an adoptive parent and/or take part in adoption events this month throughout Central Texas and across the state.

Austin Adoption Day is sponsored by the Austin Bar Foundation along with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center, CASA of Travis County, Partnerships for Children, the Travis County Children’s Protective Services Board, and the Travis County Office of Child Representation.

Texas Adoption by the Numbers

• 5,395: The number of children adopted from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in fiscal year 2017.
• 6,685: The number of children in DFPS care who were awaiting final adoption as of September 2017.
• 3,939: The number of children awaiting adoption who were not living with a family that intends to adopt them as of September 2017.
• 21 – The minimum age you must be to adopt a child in Texas.

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