More than 20,000 children left Texas foster care in fiscal year 2019, including 6,000 who were adopted, the Department of Family and Protective Services said in a news release.
The 6,107 adoptions that took place in FY 2019 is a 25% increase from a decade ago. Fewer children also entered state custody to begin with, helping to drive down the overall foster care population as the number of foster care exits surpassed foster care entries for the first time in several years.
Children enter the foster care system when their parents have abused or neglected them, or when they are unable to take care of them because of substance abuse issues, incarceration, or other factors.
When a child is taken from his or her parents, Child Protective Services, the unit of DFPS responsible for finding placements for children, often tries to place the child with another relative, such as an aunt or a grandparent. This past year more than half of all adoptions – 3,095 – were by relatives, marking a record.
Governor Greg Abbott commented in the DFPS news release, “Additional resources combined with a tenacious work ethic have led to unprecedented success for the DFPS this year. Texas is better because a record number of children have been adopted in 2019 and are experiencing the joy of a loving home this Christmas season. Equally impressive is the increase in the number of children who are reunited with family.”
National Adoption Month just wrapped up Thanksgiving weekend, and more than 400 children and youth in Texas found permanent homes during the month. Kristene Blackstone, CPS associate commissioner commented, “November is our busiest adoption month, by far, but there is nothing more joyful than an adoption at Christmas time.”
Learn more at AdoptChildren.org.
