Hello and welcome to the Adoption Coalition of Texas (ACT).  Many of you know about the Adoption Coalition, but for those of you that do not, I want to take a moment and share with you who we are, and what we are all about. 

To put it simply, we work to find permanent homes -- Forever Families -- for "waiting children" in the Central Texas foster care system.

Now you probably ask, who are waiting children?  Waiting children are children that were removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.  Waiting children are children whose biological parents have had their rights terminated.  Waiting children are children who are now in the state’s custody.  Waiting children live in the foster care system.  Waiting children wait for permanency.  Our goal is to find each child or sibling group a forever family -- a family that will love them and be their family forever.

The Adoption Coalition of Texas is a nonprofit collaborative partnership of child placing agencies that verify and approve foster and adoptive families.  By coming together as a coalition and uniting under one mission, partner agencies can share and leverage resources, reduce barriers, increase communication, and ultimately have a greater impact on moving these children to permanency. 

The children are of all ages and ethnicities.  Many are members of sibling groups.  What they all have in common is the desire to belong, a desire for a permanent family.  We need to reach out into the community and educate our neighbors, friends, and colleagues about the needs of waiting children.  We need to overcome the many misconceptions about these children.  We need to give these children a voice!  With a daily average of 680 children waiting, there is much work to be done!

Warmest regards,