Louisiana once again has had a record-breaking year for adoptions from foster care.
According to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), 912 children have been placed permanently with 613 families between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018.
It’s an overall new record for the DCFS and an 18 percent increase compared to last year, when 771 foster children were adopted by 548 families.
Of those adoptions, teen, sibling, and multiple adoptions increased substantially, with over a third (241 of 631) of the families taking in two or more children in need of a home, and 143 families adopting siblings.
Additionally, 2,332 children were reunited with their biological families, either returning to their parents’ care or to the custody or guardianship of a relative.
Factors which contributed to such a successful year of adoptions include hiring and assigning more staff, increased teen and sibling adoptions, as well as decreased turnover of adoption employees.
“We are thrilled to have another record-breaking year of families stepping up to provide loving homes for Louisiana’s foster children,” First Lady of LA, lady Donna Edwards stated.
