Increase in adoptions spells fewer children on rolls, shorter waits

In a report for fosteringconnections .org, a clearinghouse for data on foster care and adoption, the Child Trends researchers found that in 2009:

• Adoptions from foster care reached a record high of 57,000, up from 37,000 in 1998.

• The number of children waiting for adoption fell to a record low of 115,000, down from 135,000 in 2006.

• The average wait to be adopted fell to a record low 35 months, down from 48 months in 1998.

• The likelihood a waiting child would be adopted in a year rose to 45 percent, up from an average 39 percent over the previous decade.

• The average time to free an abused or neglected child for adoption (i.e., terminate parental rights) fell to 14 months, down from 17 months in 1998.