Our adoption total for 2020: 201
Great news – Hamilton County Job and Family Services facilitated 201 adoptions in 2020.
So in spite of the covid-19 pandemic and delays it caused, our caseworkers still helped 201 kids join their forever families.
The 201 compares to 259 adoptions in 2018 and 207 in 2018. Increasing numbers of adoptions has been a national trend, in part because of the opioid crisis. Five years ago in 2015, Hamilton County counted 102 adoptions.
One of the finalizations drew international attention. Robert Carter, once in foster care himself, adopted five siblings. He initially had only the boys, but asked for the girls also because he didn’t want them to be separated.
Family recruitment always continues. We currently have just under 1,800 youth in HCJFS custody. Of those, about 410 are in permanent custody and are looking for forever homes. See some of their photos on hckids.org.