The Adoption Exchange Nevada

The goal of The Adoption Exchange's Nevada Family Services Program is to find loving adoptive families for the longest-waiting children in the Nevada foster care system. Each year, we help to connect the most vulnerable children with loving families who provide the life-long guidance, support, and stability that all children deserve. The result of our program is that fewer children grow up without a family, and Nevada families are stronger. The need for this program is great, since there are currently 7,700 children in Nevada's foster care system (Nevada Division of Child and Family Services, 2013). The children served by The Adoption Exchange are the most vulnerable to aging out of the foster care system at 18 years of age. The children we serve are over the age of 9, in sibling groups, may have disabilities and/or special needs, and often have emotional and/or behavioral challenges resulting from past trauma. For these reasons, they are considered difficult-to-place. Children who age out of foster care without being adopted face a difficult future. Many drop out of high school and will encounter drugs, poverty, and crime in their lifetimes. Children who are adopted, in contrast, have significantly improved educational, behavioral, health, and economic outcomes. When a child is adopted, the entire community benefits.