As part of his lifelong commitment to protecting some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens and his strong pro-life positions, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) is supporting a resolution to promote adoption and encourage Americans to seek improved safety, permanency and well-being for all children.

The resolution, H.Res. 433, supports National Adoption Day and Month by promoting national awareness of children in foster care awaiting families, celebrating children and families involved in adoption and recognizing current adoption programs and efforts. National Adoption Month is celebrated in November and National Adoption Day will be celebrated on November 19^th.

“These children represent our nation’s future. I feel it is extremely important that we do everything we can to raise awareness about adoption from the foster care system and encourage loving, nurturing families to consider strengthening and expanding their families through the adoption process,” Luetkemeyer said. “There are hundreds of thousands of children who need parents and the more people know about the process of adoption the greater the likelihood that these young people will find loving homes.”

Over 423,000 children are currently in the foster care system nationwide, spending on average more than two years in the system. According to the most recent statistics from the Missouri Department of Social Services, there were approximately 10,000 children in the custody of the department’s Children’s Division with the average age of children in foster care just below 10 years.

“A large percentage of people trying to adopt have misconceptions about the process and cost of adopting children from foster care,” Luetkemeyer said.  “I hope that more families will see how enriched their lives could be by opening their homes and hearts to these innocent children, most of whom have been victims of neglect, abandonment or abuse.  Adoption provides an alternative to abortion for women, who cannot provide for a child or who are not ready to be a mother and an opportunity for these children to be part of a safe and loving family unit.”

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