HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRO Archive - 11/20/2017 - National Adoption MonthNational Adoption Month 2017
WHEREAS, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week, and President Bill
Clinton expanded the awareness week to the entire month of November, and
WHEREAS, expressing support for the goals of National Adoption Month by promoting national and local
awareness of adoption and children awaiting families, celebrating children and families involved in
adoption, and encouraging the people of the United States and the State of Georgia to secure safety,
permanency, and well-being for all children; and
WHEREAS, there are millions of unparented children in the world, including 427,910 children in the foster care
system in the United States, approximately 1 1 1,820 of whom are waiting for families to adopt them,
of which 62 percent are age 10 or younger; and
WHEREAS, Whereas 50 percent of individuals in the United States believe that children enter the foster care
system because of juvenile delinquency, when in reality the vast majority of children who have
entered the foster care system were victims of neglect, abandonment, or abuse;
WHEREAS, in the State of Georgia in 2016 there were approximately 1 1,000 children in foster care last
year; 2,370 of these children have a permanency goal of adoption. Out of those children, there are
approximately 250 children who are available for adoption and in need of loving, permanent homes;
and
WHEREAS, between the years of 2000 and 2016 there have been 25 1,38 1 intercountry adoptions in the United
States from a wide variety of countries including 7,102 intercountry adoptions completed by
families here in the State of Georgia; and
WHEREAS, family reunification, kinship care, and domestic and intercountry adoption promote permanency and
stability to a far greater degree than long-term institutionalization or long-term, often disrupted,
foster care;
WHEREAS, every day, loving and nurturing families are strengthened and expanded when committed and
dedicated individuals make an important difference in the life of a child through adoption.
NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Milton, Georgia hereby dedicate and proclaim
November 2017 as "National Adoption Month" in the City of Milton and call this observance to the attention of all of
our citizens.
Given under my hand and seal of the City of Milton, Georgia on this 20th day of November, 2017.
i
Joe Lockw od, Mayor