With Adoption Awareness month just around the corner, the Ministry of Children and Family Development says more Adoptive Families are needed in BC.
Although nearly twice as many children were adopted from ministry care last year as in 2000/2001, the province still has over 600 children waiting to find a home today.
Minister of Children and Family Development Tom Christensen says the province is working on new strategies to increase the number of adoptions, particularly for Aboriginal children, older children and children with special needs.
Over the last seven years, the ministry has been able to nearly double the percentage of Aboriginal children adopted into Aboriginal families.
In addition, the Cowichan band on Vancouver Island, the first delegated Aboriginal agency in the province to assume responsibility for adoption, held its cultural adoption ceremony for 10 children in January 2008.
The ministry is also working to improve its relationships with private adoption agencies in order to facilitate the needs of those who are anxious to adopt and may be willing to look closer to home for their child.
For more information on adoption, visit www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption or call 1 877 ADOPT07.
