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November is National Adoption Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the importance and realities of adoption of all kinds. At The Buckeye Ranch, we support foster care adoption when it is in the child’s best interest. At the heart of National Adoption Month’s message is a commitment to dispelling the misconceptions surrounding adoption.

This month, The Buckeye Ranch wants to ensure our community understands the truths about foster care adoption, as we know myths can create unnecessary barriers for families considering adoption, potentially preventing children from finding the loving, stable homes they deserve. To help break down these barriers and do our part in breaking the stigma, we’re taking a closer look at four of the most common myths about foster care adoption.

1. Myth: Youth Placed in Foster Care are Immediately Adopted into a New Family.

Truth: When a child enters foster care, our primary goal is reunification, not adoption. 

Our team at The Buckeye Ranch works closely with families to ensure the best possible outcome for every child. We know that keeping a child with biological family or kin whenever safe reduces trauma. It is only when reunification is no longer an option that the goal shifts to adoption. 

Even then, children can expect to wait on average three to four years in care as a result of delays in court and continuances, and sometimes longer, for adoption. Of the 17,000 youth waiting in foster care in the state of Ohio, 3,000 are waiting to be adopted. Each one of these children deserve the security of a permanent, loving home.

2. Myth: Foster Care Youth Stay with the Same Family Until Adoption or Reunification.

Truth: While it is the goal that a youth remain with one foster family until they find permanency, there are simply not enough foster parents to meet the needs of youth in care, both on a state and national level. 

Because of this shortage, young people in foster care across the country may experience multiple different placements throughout their time in foster care, which can ultimately lead to increased anxiety about stability and added trauma from displacement.

3. Myth: Foster Care is Unlikely to Affect You.

Truth: Foster care is more likely to impact you than you think. 

Currently, over 17,000 of Ohio’s youth are in the foster care system, marking Ohio as the fifth largest population of youth in foster care in the U.S. On a national level, 6%, about 3.6 million, of all U.S. children are placed in foster care at least once before the age of 18. These statistics are staggering, but this helps to shine a light on the need for individuals in our community to consider making a life-changing impact by becoming a licensed foster parent to support foster care adoption.

The urgent reality is Ohio’s need for more loving foster families. Ohio only has 7,000 licensed foster families, which is far from enough to meet the needs of over 17,000 children state-wide. At present, this disproportionate ratio of foster families to youth continues to stretch the current Ohio child welfare system thinner, inevitably impacting every individual in our community. 

4. Myth: Children in Foster Care Transition Easily Between Schools

Truth: Children can lose four to six months of school on average during foster care placement transitions.

When transitioning placements, it is not a guarantee that the child will be placed in a foster home within their existing school district.

When a child has to transition to foster care homes and schools, it compounds their feelings of displacement and increases trauma, making it even harder to encourage hope and provide healing for a child in care.

Become a Foster Parent in Ohio

If there’s one thing we know for certain, it’s that we need more foster families in Ohio. The more foster families we have, the more likely we are to be able to support the youth in need, allowing them the safety and stability they need when growing up. 

The Buckeye Ranch works continuously to provide resources to youth in foster care, as well as to support our new foster parents and existing network of foster families across Ohio. Join our mission to provide safe, secure, and trauma-informed living arrangements for youth in the custody of child protective services in Ohio by filling out our foster parent inquiry form today. Help us remove obstacles and keep families living safely together in the community.