There is a perception, some say, that a family looking to adopt a child would only consider one who is very young.
But as November, National Adoption Month, concluded this weekend, statistics show that perception doesn’t seem to align with the reality of teenage adoption rates in Athens County.
As of Nov. 25, four out of the 10 children adopted in November from Sojourners, a youth-development organization based in Vinton County, were teenagers. And in the past three years, about 22 percent of the 64 finalized adoptions from Athens County Children Services were teenagers, according to a Post analysis of data from the department.
Local officials said the rate of teenage adoption here is probably similar in some other places.
Still, these statistics prove that the against-the-grain perception of adopting an older child doesn’t quite match up with how often it actually happens, said Janie Rhoads, a licensed social worker and director of family development at Sojourners, 62969 U.S. Highway 50 in McArthur, Ohio.
“There is this code out there where people have this perception that people looking to adopt are only looking for blond-haired, blue-eyed kids, and that’s not the case,” Rhoads said. “It’s not one-size-fits-all. You have a lot of different people who are open-minded and could see a lot of different things working for their families.”
The process of matching teens with a prospective adoptive family is similar to any other age group, Rhoads said. Sojourners does a home study process so that it can identify who would work well for the family.
“You have a lot of people who aren’t sure what it will look like in the beginning, while others have a very clear idea of who they want to adopt,” Rhoads said.
The reason teenage adoption in particular is important is that there are many teens who linger in foster care for a long time, said Catherine Hill, executive director of Athens County Children Services.
Between 2010 and 2012, Children Services saw 175 children placed into their programs, which include agency foster homes, kinship, therapeutic foster home, hospital placements, detention and residential placements, said Brittany Dodd, supervisor of adoption for Children Services.
Nationally, teens accounted for 11 percent of adoptions in 2005, according to American Radio Works, part of American Public Media, a nonprofit organization.
Rhoads, who has been at Sojourners since 2009 when she helped launch the adoption program, said there are distinct differences between adopting a teenager and adopting a younger child.
“It’s not about walking the floor with the baby; it’s about helping someone get ready to be independent,” Rhoads said. “Healing some of those experiences from earlier in their lives and learning how to trust and learning how to form healthy attachments and making good decisions in their lives.”
She added that she and her husband had recently been approved for adoption and they might choose to adopt older kids.
“Obviously, teenagers are more vocal about their desires and likes, but when it gets down to it, all of the kids just want a permanent home,” Rhoads said. “They really want a sense of belonging and permanency.”
Although it is about the day-to-day interactions, Rhoads puts a much greater emphasis on establishing the lifelong connections.
“One of the things I tell my teenagers is, ‘I worry about where you’re going to go for Thanksgiving when you’re 35. And I don’t want to worry about that. I want to know that you have people in your life who will always be there for you and with you, and that’s what family is.’ ”
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This story appeared in print under the headline "Teens often adopted in Athens Co."
