What is National Adoption Day?
National Adoption Day is celebrated every November 23. Did you know that last year alone, 4,000 adoptions were finalized on the Saturday before Thanksgiving? Events are held all over the country to celebrate this holiday — during which communities and courts join efforts to find the right families for children in the foster care system. Let’s celebrate National Adoption Day as thousands of foster children are welcomed into their forever homes!
History of National Adoption Day
National Adoption Day is an effort to focus attention on the more than 125,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the U.S. A coalition of national partners — the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Alliance for Children’s Rights and Children’s Action Network — founded National Adoption Day.
The coalition, along with the Freddie Mac Foundation, encouraged seven cities in 2000 to open their courts on or around the Saturday before Thanksgiving to finalize and celebrate adoptions from foster care.
Michael Nash, a former presiding judge of Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Court, inspired the first National Adoption Day with his innovative efforts. Nash opened the court on Saturdays, engaged the volunteer efforts of court personnel, and finalized adoptions to reduce the backlog of one of the busiest courts in the nation.
Today policymakers, practitioners and advocates collaborate to plan these annual, one-day events in 400 U.S. cities. To date the dreams of 75,000 children in foster care have come true as part of National Adoption Day events.
Approximately 2 million Americans are adopted — with about 150,000 adoptions happening each year, including about 50,000 through foster-care. U.S. adoptions may be either domestic or international. Domestic adoptions can be arranged either through a state agency, an adoption agency, or independently.
