By: Emily Hendrickson, Adoption Support for Kentucky Program Coordinator
Every November, National Adoption Month invites us to pause and reflect on the transformative power of family, connection, and belonging. It’s a time to celebrate the courage of children waiting for permanent homes, honor the dedication of families who open their hearts, and recognize the professionals and advocates who work tirelessly to bring them together. This year’s theme, “Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds,” places young people in foster care at the center of the conversation—where they’ve always belonged.
In Kentucky, this mission comes to life through collaboration and commitment. The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, and the Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) program work hand in hand to ensure every young person finds not just a home, but a permanent place to belong. These partnerships demonstrate that honoring youth begins with one essential practice: listening to their voices, understanding their needs, and then taking meaningful action to support their journeys toward permanency.
The Heart of the Matter: Youth Voices in Kentucky
Honoring Kentucky’s youth starts with creating space for their stories and recognizing the wisdom they carry. Young people in foster care understand a profound truth that sometimes gets lost in systems and procedures: permanency transcends paperwork and court dates. It is about people who show up consistently, who stay through difficult moments, and who commit to being there for the long haul.
“I just wanted a family who wouldn’t give up on me,” shared one Kentucky teen whose words have resonated throughout the child welfare community. These simple yet powerful words encapsulate the essence of National Adoption Month, celebrating the remarkable resilience of young people while forging the lasting bonds that honor each child’s individual journey, needs, and dreams for the future.
When we truly honor youth, we recognize that they are experts in their own experiences. They know what it feels like to wait, to hope, and sometimes to have those hopes disappointed. They understand the difference between temporary placements and permanent commitment. And they can teach us, if we’re willing to listen, about what they need to heal, grow, and thrive in forever families.
Kentucky’s Adoption Landscape: Understanding the Need
The scope of Kentucky’s commitment to children and families reveals itself in these key figures, each one representing a young person with their own story, strengths, and needs:
- 8,647 children are currently in out-of-home care across the Commonwealth, each waiting for the stability and security they deserve.
- 2,248 children have adoption as their permanency goal, meaning they cannot safely return to their birth families and need adoptive homes.
- 7 years old is the average age at which children enter care. A reminder that many have already experienced years of instability before entering the system.
- 10 years old is the average age of children currently in care, highlighting the need for families willing to adopt school-age children and teens.
- More than 55,000 children across Kentucky are being raised by kin or fictive-kin caregivers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, family friends, and other adults who stepped forward when children needed them most. This remarkable figure stands as a powerful testament to the strength of community bonds and the tradition of extended family support that runs deep in Kentucky culture.
- Kentucky’s kinship care rate stands twice the national average, reflecting the state’s deep-rooted culture of family resilience, community support, and the willingness of relatives to provide safe, loving homes for children when parents cannot.
These numbers tell us that while the need is significant, so too is Kentucky’s response. The Commonwealth has built a foundation of family-centered care that recognizes the importance of keeping children connected to their communities, cultures, and families whenever possible.
ASK: Creating Foundations for Forever Families
The Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) program, based at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, serves as a cornerstone of support for adoptive, foster, and kinship families throughout the Commonwealth. Founded on evidence-based practices and the lived experiences of adoptive families, ASK operates from a fundamental understanding: adoption isn’t the conclusion of a story—it’s the opening chapter of a lifelong relationship that requires ongoing nurturing, support, and understanding.
Many families enter adoption with love, dedication, and good intentions, but may not fully understand the impact of trauma, loss, and attachment challenges that many children in foster care have experienced. ASK bridges this gap by providing education, resources, and connection to help families not just survive, but thrive together.
Through a comprehensive statewide network, ASK provides:
- Peer-led support groups that connect adoptive and kinship families with others who truly understand their journey. These groups create safe spaces where caregivers can share challenges, celebrate victories, and find solidarity with others navigating similar experiences. There’s profound power in knowing you’re not alone.
- Continuous training opportunities grounded in trauma-informed, adoption-competent care practices. These educational offerings help caregivers understand the “why” behind challenging behaviors, develop effective parenting strategies, and build stronger, more connected relationships with their children. Topics range from understanding trauma and attachment to navigating adolescence and supporting educational success.
- The Kentucky Adoption Mentoring Program (KAMP), which pairs families new to adoption with experienced mentors who have walked the path before them. These mentoring relationships provide practical guidance, emotional support, and the reassurance that comes from learning from someone who has faced similar joys and challenges.
- Strategic partnerships with DCBS and Aetna Better Health of Kentucky to strengthen outcomes for families across the state. These collaborations ensure that families have access to the services, support, and resources they need throughout their adoption journey and beyond.
ASK recognizes that supporting families means supporting the children in their care. When caregivers have the knowledge, skills, and support they need, children benefit through more stable placements, stronger attachments, and better long-term outcomes.
Elevating Youth Voice in the Permanency Process
Research consistently demonstrates that when young people participate meaningfully in decisions about their futures, outcomes improve dramatically. Youth engagement isn’t just a nice idea; it’s the best practice that leads to better matches, more stable placements, and greater satisfaction for both youth and families.
Programs like ASK and KAMP equip caregivers with the tools to build authentic trust and maintain open, honest communication with the children in their care. This includes teaching families how to have difficult conversations, honor a child’s past while building a future together, and create space for young people to express their fears, hopes, and needs without judgment.
By fostering peer connections, facilitating mentorship relationships, and creating learning opportunities for entire families, ASK cultivates a supportive network where both caregivers and youth feel genuinely seen, valued, and heard. This approach strengthens the bedrock of Kentucky’s permanency efforts—ensuring that each young person’s voice actively shapes their path toward a permanent family rather than having decisions made for them without their input.
When youth have a say in their permanency planning, they are more likely to engage positively with the process, develop stronger relationships with their caregivers, and achieve the lasting connections that lead to successful adoptions. Honoring youth means recognizing them as partners in their own permanency journey.
Join Kentucky’s Movement: Ways to Get Involved
National Adoption Month is an opportunity for all Kentuckians—whether you’re an adoptive parent, a kinship caregiver, a professional in child welfare, or simply a community member who cares about children—to get involved in strengthening pathways to permanency.
- Connect with the community by attending an ASK training session or support group. Even if you’re not currently a caregiver, learning about adoption and foster care helps build understanding and support throughout the community.
- Recognize excellence by nominating a deserving family or caregiver for Kentucky’s Adoptive Parent of the Year. These families exemplify the commitment, love, and dedication that children need and deserve.
- Share your experience by volunteering with KAMP to mentor fellow adoptive or kinship caregivers. Your story and your wisdom could be exactly what another family needs to hear.
- Amplify stories of adoption and permanency on social media using #HonoringYouthKY and our National Adoption Month graphic. Sharing positive adoption narratives helps reduce stigma, educate the public, and inspire others to consider adoption or support for families.
- Champion changes by advocating for trauma-informed, youth-centered policies in your community, school system, and across Kentucky. Use your voice to ensure that systems serve the best interests of children and families.
- Consider becoming a resource for children who need families. Whether through adoption, foster care, or supporting kinship caregivers in your community, there are many ways to make a lasting difference in a child’s life.
Moving Forward Together
National Adoption Month represents more than celebration—it’s a call to action and a reminder of our collective responsibility to Kentucky’s youth. Behind every statistic lives a story. Within every story lives a child with dreams, strengths, and an innate desire to belong. And every child deserves the security, love, and stability that comes with a forever family.
The work of honoring youth extends far beyond November. It’s a daily commitment to listening to young people, believing in their potential, and working tirelessly to ensure they have the support and permanency they need to flourish. It’s about recognizing that every child who waits is a child who deserves a family committed to walking alongside them through all of life’s seasons.
Through the dedicated work of programs like ASK and KAMP, the unwavering commitment of DCBS, and the compassionate hearts of Kentucky’s caregiving community, we’re building the pathways that lead to lasting bonds and brighter futures. We’re creating a Kentucky where no child ages out of foster care alone, where kinship caregivers receive the support they need, and where adoptive families have access to lifelong resources.
Together, we’re ensuring that every young person in our care can find what they’ve been seeking all along: a family who will never give up on them, who will celebrate their victories, support them through challenges, and provide the unconditional love that every child needs and deserves. That is how we truly honor youth—not just in November, but every single day.
