Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption with Rita Sorenon

Rita Soronen is the President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which has just commissioned a Harris poll to survey Americans about their attitude towards adoption.

While more than half of adults in the U.S. (67%) agree that every child is adoptable, many remain wary of adopting teenagers.

In fact, only 3% of respondents considered adopting a teenager as their first choice and 30% felt that teens who were not adopted by the time they turned 18 would be just fine on their own. This opinion was reflected at the start of the pandemic when only a few states implemented policies to prevent youth from aging out of the system during the pandemic leaving them to fend for themselves.

Youth who age out of the foster care system without being adopted – around 20,000 a year – are at higher risk for negative outcomes like homelessness, unemployment, early parenthood or incarceration.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is unique in that it specializes in foster care adoption and provides support for trained adoption professionals dedicated to finding homes for kids who have been in care the longest and are most at risk of aging out.

Here is the complete 2022 U.S. Survey Findings.