I am so pleased to begin a regular column in Foster Focus Magazine. Chris and I have had many conversations over the past couple of years, and I am tremendously moved by his personal story of aging out of foster care. If you haven’t read Chris’ story, please do so.
It’s because of people like Chris, and the tens of thousands of children each year who turn 18 and age out of care, that I do the work that I do. As the president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, we have lofty goals – to find loving adoptive homes for all children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted. And we place special focus on those children who are most at risk of aging out of care. Sadly, too many children are placed into foster each year, many of whom will have their parents’ ties permanently severed from their lives. This isn’t in any way the fault of the child. It is because the abuse, neglect and abandonment from the very adults who should be protecting them was so severe, they were no longer safe in the home.