Gov. Eric Holcomb and U.S. Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary Lynn Johnson recently announced Indiana is the top state in the nation for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care.
In fiscal year 2019, 2,489 Hoosier children were adopted through the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS).
During a recent ceremony at the Statehouse to recognize this achievement, Johnson awarded Indiana an adoption and legal guardianship incentive award of more than $4.7 million to enhance the state’s child welfare system.
Earlier this year, the governor announced the creation of the first adoption unit within DCS. This unit brings additional staff into each region whose sole focus is to assist family case managers with finding permanent homes for children when parental rights have been terminated.
Additionally, DCS more than doubled the number of adoption consultants in Indiana from seven to 19 and provided them with specialized training. The agency also launched an enhanced database for better tracking of adoption inquiries and a digital picture book of Indiana’s Waiting Children.
Ensuring our children grow up in a safe and loving home is very important to their overall mental and physical health and can be a big determining factor in their future success. As a member of the Indiana General Assembly, I make it a priority to support measures that help DCS better serve our most at-risk children, and I applaud the governor on his efforts to improve the agency and its outcomes.
For more information on adoption in Indiana, click here.