More work still needed to find homes for foster children

“A child in foster care is not in foster care by their own choice. They are there because someone in their lives have let them down,” said Michelle Madrid-Branch, author of “The Tummy Mummy” and “Adoption Means Love,” both on adoption.

“But I guarantee if there is communication, support and constant love, the child, whether 6 or 16, will spread his wings and learn how to trust.”

May is National Foster Care Month, and Madrid-Branch is one of many adoption advocates who praise the recent advent of AdoptUsKids.org — an online directory of children waiting to be adopted that connects families with foster children — for helping more Americans understand the importance of adopting children who are in foster care.

To contact agencies representing foster children listed on the Web site, potential parents must complete a thorough home study conducted by an agency in their local jurisdiction.

Home studies provide information for adoption agencies and parents looking to adopt.

The evaluations include parental training classes, background and reference checks, and visits to the potential adoptive parents’ home, said Rebecca Jones Gaston, of the Adoption Exchange Association, the nonprofit that manages AdoptUsKids.org.

“AdoptUsKids has brought a ‘face’ to the issue of foster care in America today. Through this national photo listing, Americans can look into the eyes of children-in-waiting. We see their faces, we are moved by their stories and we are awakened to the many wonderful U.S. foster children awaiting their ‘forever families,’ ” Madrid-Branch said.

But finding families willing to adopt older foster children is not an easy task, and many exit the foster care system without finding a permanent home.

“Every year, 20,000 18-year-old foster children emancipate onto the streets with nothing,” said Dixie van de Flier Davis, president and executive director of The Adoption Exchange in Colorado.

cmeister@baltimoreexaminer.com