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January jobs report: Unemployment rate falls to 4%, wages rise more than forecast; Trump signs order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel; Ten Commandments in public schools debate reaches South Dakota; Virginia ranks among worst states for wage theft; Mexican long-nosed bat makes appearance in Arizona.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

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During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Remembering older kids in foster care on National Adoption Day

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Tuesday, November 19, 2024   

This coming Saturday is National Adoption Day and it is a good time to think about children who are older or have special needs and face more difficulty in finding adoptive parents.

More than 113,000 children in foster care across the U.S. are eligible for adoption, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. In South Dakota, More than 1,600 kids were in foster care in 2021 and 30% of them were between ages 11 and 20, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Saara McEachnie, director of domestic adoption programs for the Barker Adoption Foundation, runs the "Project Wait No Longer" program, focused on finding adoptive homes for older children, groups of siblings and those with other special needs.

"Families that are seeking to adopt are most often feeling most comfortable, and most equipped or prepared, to be able to adopt a younger child," McEachnie explained. "That leaves fewer options for our older kiddos that are very much in need of family, and we have few families that are stepping forward."

McEachnie pointed out children sometimes struggle with attachment or bonding after being removed from their birth families and placed with strangers. She emphasized it is important to educate people who want to become adoptive parents, to better prepare them to adopt older kids.

McEachnie noted potential adoptive families can learn to make their homes what she calls "more attachment friendly," including understanding the attachment difficulties that may come from a child's complex trauma. She added it helps to create networks of fellow adoptive families in order to build a like-minded community for the child.

"Building an attachment-friendly home first has to come from a place of understanding, empathy, flexibility, willingness to seek and access resources, willingness to continue to understand the population," McEachnie outlined.

Children of color are disproportionately more likely to be in foster care. In 2021, 62% of South Dakota children in foster care were American Indian or Alaska Native, according to the National Indian Child Welfare Association.


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