November is National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month and a time to raise awareness about adopting a child from the foster care system. Currently in the United States there are over 400,000 children in foster care with more than 100,000 of these children waiting for permanent homes. 

The children in care who need permanent homes range in ages from infancy all the way up to the age of 21, as children never outgrow the need for a family. Unfortunately, each year approximately 20,000 children age out of the foster care system without having found their forever family. 

Did you know that teens that are adopted are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in higher education and obtain a greater degree of emotional stability than their peers who remain in foster care? 

In honor of National Adoption Month, the Tioga County Department of Social Services would like to honor one of our own foster and adoptive families who have opened up their hearts and their home with the intent of helping siblings stay together. 

Krystle and Brian Burdick have been foster parents since 2016. After relocating to Tioga County for employment purposes, Krystle and Brian began to explore foster care and adoption as a way to help children and families and possibly add to their family through adoption. From the beginning, Krystle and Brian were interested in the thought of bringing sibling groups into their home as they could not imagine having to separate siblings at a time when they are also dealing with the separation from their parents.  

The Burdick’s were asked to reflect on their experiences from fostering to adoption and if they any advice for families considering becoming a foster parent. Krystle said that in looking back, it was a lot harder than she thought it was going to be and if it wasn’t for Brian there were days she didn’t know how she would do it. She tells families that are considering fostering to adopt that you and your partner need to both be on the same page and have your home in order because “life is going to change.” 

Krystle, who had never had children of her own before she fostered her four boys, says, “You enter fostering with ideas of how you want to parent the kids that enter your home, and I learned after a while that those ways are not always going to work. Overall, the boys have taught me to be more flexible and that sometimes it’s us that needs to adapt, not them.” 

Have you been considering foster care and adoption? Do you have room in your heart and in your home? If so, join the team that cares about kids, the Tioga County Foster Parenting Program, were we know that temporary care makes a permanent different. 

Tioga County needs caring foster and adoptive families like the Burdick’s, who are able to provide a nurturing home for children. They are especially in need of foster and adoptive families who can provide care to teenagers, siblings and children with special needs. 

The Tioga County Foster Parenting program will be holding two informational and orientation sessions in the month of November where you can come learn more about the foster parenting program in Tioga County. The first session will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Coburn Free Library, located at 275 Main St. in Owego. The second session will be on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Tioga County Department of Health and Human Services Building, 1062 State Route 38, Owego. Registration is not required. 

For more information about becoming a certified foster and/or adoptive parent, contact Sarah Moore at the Tioga County Department of Social Services by calling (607) 687-8346 or emailing sarah.moore2@dfa.state.ny.us.