* On any given day, more than 500,000 children are in the U.S. foster care system.
* 127,000 children in the U.S. are waiting to be adopted - just waiting for the right family to find them.
* More children in foster care wait for adoption each year than those being adopted.
* In 2006, 79,000 children had parental rights terminated by the courts, yet:
*Only 51,000 were adopted from the foster care system.
* The average age of the child waiting to be adopted from foster care is eight years old. Many are older, in sibling groups, they are minority children, and/or have special needs.
* Each year, 20% of children (26,517 in 2006) exit foster care at age 18 without an adoptive family - of those:
* 2% earn a bachelor's degree or higher;
* 51% are unemployed;
* 25% have been homeless at some point;
* 30% receive public assistance;
* Many end up in prison and many have children of their own who also end up in foster care;
* In a recent survey of public opinion, 45% of those surveyed believed children were in foster care because of juvenile delinquency when the reality is that these kids have been abused, neglected or abandoned.
(Source: Focus on the Family)
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