| Sometimes children are abused or neglected and it is not safe for them to stay at home. When this happens, family courts transfer their custody to the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF).
Some children, but most often teens, come into DCF custody because they’ve either committed a delinquent act or they are without or beyond their parents’ control.
In all of these situations, the state needs to find safe, nurturing places for the children to live while they can’t be at home. This is called foster care. While it is not a magical cure-all, foster care is a time-proven way of helping children and families in need.
The majority of children in foster care return home to their parents; however, when children cannot safely go home, their parents’ legal rights are terminated and the children are freed for adoption. In Vermont, most children who become freed for adoption are adopted by their foster parents. Sometimes, however, foster parents are unable to adopt and new families need to be found.
Adopting A Waiting Child
On any given day in Vermont, there are about 100 children waiting in foster care for families to adopt them. Most are school-aged and many have special needs related to the abuse or neglect they've experienced. Some are part of a group of siblings who would like to stay together.
What they all have in common is the desire to belong. They all want a place to go for the holidays, someone to call to share good news with or ask for advice, and people to depend on. They want families.
Imagine what it would feel like to provide one of these children a safe home, a loving family, and a chance for a new life.
Share your home and heart with a waiting child. Become an adoptive parent!
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