National Adoption Day returns Saturday, November 21, as courts across the country finalize adoptions from foster care. It arrives as adoptions keep declining. Preliminary federal estimates show 43,380 children left foster care through adoption in fiscal year 2025, down from 47,335 the year before and 56,372 in 2020.
Key Takeaways
- National Adoption Day falls on Saturday, November 21, 2026, with courts and organizations in more than 400 communities taking part, according to the National Adoption Day Coalition.
- Adoptions from foster care fell to 43,380 in fiscal year 2025, from 47,335 in 2024, according to preliminary HHS estimates.
- On September 30, 2025, 67,249 children in foster care had adoption as their permanency plan, and 32,160 of them were also legally free to be adopted.
- 39% of children adopted from foster care in fiscal year 2025 had been in care for more than three years.
- Foster parents adopted 42% of those children and relatives adopted 33%.
- 15,030 young people left foster care through emancipation in fiscal year 2025 rather than joining a permanent family.
National Adoption Day Brings Courts Into Session on a Saturday
National Adoption Day began with a backlog. In the late 1990s, Los Angeles judge Michael Nash started opening his courtroom on Saturdays, working with volunteers to finalize adoptions that were waiting for a hearing. A coalition of national partners turned the idea into a national event in 2000, and courts have opened on the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year since. The 2026 observance is the 27th.
The National Adoption Day Coalition says courts and organizations in more than 400 communities now take part. Over the life of the event, it says, more than 90,000 children have been recognized as they moved from foster care to permanent families. On the day, judges finalize adoptions in hearings that families often treat as celebrations, with relatives, caseworkers and attorneys in the courtroom.
Federal Data Shows Adoptions From Foster Care Falling Each Year
The ceremonies take place against a steady decline. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, known as AFCARS, show adoptions from foster care dropping in every year since 2020:
- 2020: 56,372
- 2021: 53,343
- 2022: 52,985
- 2023: 50,717
- 2024: 47,335
- 2025: 43,380
The fiscal year 2025 numbers are preliminary estimates as of February 27, 2026, and HHS notes they will be updated as states improve their submissions. HHS also changed how states report foster care data starting in fiscal year 2023, and it advises treating earlier years separately because the reporting population changed. Even comparing only the years under the new system, adoptions fell from 50,717 in 2023 to 43,380 in 2025, a drop of about 14%. The National Council For Adoption has described the 2024 total as the lowest since 1999.
The Foster Care Population Is Also Smaller
Part of the picture is a smaller foster care system. HHS counted 331,747 children in foster care on September 30, 2025. During fiscal year 2025, 175,008 children entered care and 169,927 left it. Reunification with parents or caregivers accounted for 46% of exits, and adoption for 26%.
How Many Children Are Waiting Depends on the Measure
National Adoption Day materials often refer to children “waiting” to be adopted, but HHS says that term is not an official Children’s Bureau designation. The federal data offer three related counts for September 30, 2025:
- Adoption as the permanency plan: 67,249 children
- Legally free (parental rights terminated for all parents): 46,308 children
- Both legally free and with an adoption plan: 32,160 children
The narrowest count, 32,160, describes children with both the legal clearance and the case plan in place. Those are the cases closest to what Adoption Day hearings complete.
Most Children Are Adopted by People Who Already Know Them
Federal data show that adoption from foster care usually formalizes relationships that already exist. In fiscal year 2025, foster parents adopted 42% of children leaving care through adoption, relatives adopted 33% and kin adopted another 10%. Non-relatives with no prior caregiving role made up 6%.
Married couples accounted for 56% of adoptive parents and single adults for 28%. Young children made up the largest share of adoptions: 53% of children adopted in fiscal year 2025 were between the ages of 1 and 5.
Long Waits and Older Youth Remain the Pressure Points
The time it takes to reach an adoption hearing remains long. Of children adopted in fiscal year 2025, 39% had been in foster care for more than three years, and another 32% for two to three years.
Older children face a wider gap. Children ages 11 to 16 made up 30% of those with an adoption plan on September 30, 2025, but just 17% of the children adopted during the year. That same fiscal year, 15,030 young people left foster care through emancipation, reaching adulthood in care without joining a permanent family. National Adoption Day hearings are one of the few times each year when that national picture plays out in public courtrooms.
FAQs
When is National Adoption Day 2026?
National Adoption Day is Saturday, November 21, 2026. It is held each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, when participating courts finalize adoptions from foster care.
How many children were adopted from foster care in 2025?
Preliminary HHS estimates show 43,380 children left foster care through adoption in fiscal year 2025, down from 47,335 in fiscal year 2024.
How many children in foster care are waiting to be adopted?
On September 30, 2025, 67,249 children in foster care had adoption as their permanency plan, and 32,160 of them were also legally free to be adopted, according to HHS.
Who adopts children from foster care?
In fiscal year 2025, foster parents adopted 42% of children leaving care through adoption, relatives adopted 33% and kin adopted 10%, according to federal data.
When did National Adoption Day start?
National Adoption Day became a national event in 2000. It grew out of Saturday court sessions that Los Angeles judge Michael Nash began in the late 1990s to finalize backlogged adoptions.
