October Is African American Adoption Awareness Month

Proclamation from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

WHEREAS, all children need permanent, loving families, and the children in foster care who wait the longest for their forever families are African American; and

WHEREAS, in November 2007, Fairfax County held a community summit to address the disproportionate number of African American children in the foster care and juvenile justice systems and to improve school readiness and performance; and

WHEREAS, Fairfax County had 429 children in foster care, of which more than 40 percent were African American as of August 1, 2008; and

WHEREAS, recent data tells us that children who age out of foster care without a permanent family are more likely to transition to homelessness, become incarcerated, have employment and health problems or remain undereducated; NOW THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all residents of Fairfax County, does hereby proclaim October 2008 as

African American Adoption
Awareness Month

in Fairfax County, and urges all residents to remember that it is never too late for a child to have a family, recognize families who have adopted African American children and further the awareness of this critical need.