By: Emily Hendrickson, Adoption Support for Kentucky Program Coordinator
A call to honor youth by strengthening pathways to permanency
“I just wanted a family who wouldn’t give up on me.”
When a Kentucky teenager spoke these words, they cut through all the bureaucracy, all the statistics, all the well-meaning policies that make up our child welfare system. In one simple sentence, this young person articulated what National Adoption Month is truly about: the fundamental human need to belong.
This November, as we observe National Adoption Month under the theme “Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds,” we must ask ourselves a difficult question: Are we truly listening to what young people in foster care are telling us?
The Reality Behind the Numbers
Right now, 8,647 Kentucky children are living in out-of-home care. More than 2,200 of them cannot safely return to their birth families and need adoptive homes. The average child enters care at age seven and remains there until age ten. These aren’t just statistics—they’re childhoods marked by uncertainty, transitions, and the exhausting work of wondering if anyone will commit to staying.
But there’s another number that tells a different story: More than 55,000 Kentucky children are being raised by kinship caregivers—grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends who stepped up when children needed them most. Our kinship care rate stands at twice the national average, reflecting something deeply rooted in Kentucky culture: when family needs help, we answer.
So why do thousands of children still wait?
What Youth Really Need
Having worked alongside the child welfare community, I’ve learned that young people in foster care are experts in their own experiences. They understand something that sometimes gets lost in paperwork and court dates: permanency isn’t about a legal status. It’s about people who show up consistently, who stay through difficult moments, who commit to being there for the long haul.
The Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) program, based at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, operates from this understanding. ASK recognizes that adoption isn’t the end of a story—it’s the beginning of a lifelong relationship that requires ongoing support. Through peer-led groups, trauma-informed training, and the Kentucky Adoption Mentoring Program (KAMP), ASK helps families not just survive, but thrive together.
This matters because many families enter adoption with tremendous love but may not fully understand the impact of trauma, loss, and attachment challenges that children in foster care have experienced. Good intentions aren’t enough. Families need preparation, support, and connection with others who understand the journey.
The Power of Voice
Research shows that when young people participate meaningfully in decisions about their futures, outcomes improve dramatically. Better matches. More stable placements. Greater satisfaction for everyone involved. This isn’t surprising—would any of us want the most important decisions of our lives made without our input?
Yet too often, we make plans for youth rather than with them. Honoring youth means recognizing them as partners in their own permanency journey, not simply as recipients of services. It means creating space for them to express their fears, hopes, and needs without judgment. It means teaching caregivers how to have difficult conversations and honor a child’s past while building a future together.
A Call to Action
National Adoption Month shouldn’t be just about celebration—it must be a call to action. Every Kentuckian has a role to play in strengthening pathways to permanency.
If you’ve considered adoption or foster care, now is the time to learn more. Attend an ASK training or support group. The need is particularly urgent for families willing to adopt school-age children and teens—the young people most likely to age out of the system without permanent families.
If you’re already an adoptive or kinship caregiver, consider mentoring through KAMP. Your experience and wisdom could be exactly what another family needs to persevere through challenges.
If you’re a community member, educator, or advocate, champion trauma-informed, youth-centered policies in your sphere of influence. Share positive adoption stories to reduce stigma and inspire others.
The Kentucky We Can Build
Behind every statistic lives a story. Within every story lives a child with dreams, strengths, and an innate desire to belong. The question isn’t whether these young people deserve forever families—of course they do. The question is whether we, as a Commonwealth, will rise to meet this need.
Kentucky has a strong foundation of family-centered care and a culture of kinship support that runs deep. We have dedicated professionals, evidence-based programs, and compassionate caregivers already doing this work. What we need now is more of us stepping forward—not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary.
The work of honoring youth extends far beyond November. It’s a daily commitment to listening to young people, believing in their potential, and ensuring they have the support and permanency they need to flourish. It’s about creating a Kentucky where no child ages out alone, where every young person can find what they’ve been seeking all along: a family who will never give up on them.
That teenager’s words still echo: “I just wanted a family who wouldn’t give up on me.”
Kentucky’s children are waiting. Will we answer?
To learn more about adoption, foster care, or kinship support in Kentucky, visit the Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) website or visit your local Department for Community Based Services office.
