For Immediate Release:	Contact: 609-633-8507
January 14, 2008	Kate Bernyk

CORZINE ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW STATE RECORD FOR
MOST FOSTER CHILDREN EVER ADOPTED IN A YEAR
Children waiting to be adopted at record low

TRENTON, NJ - The New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) - the child welfare agency created in 2006 by Governor Jon S. Corzine and the New Jersey Legislature - announced today that it has set a new state record for the most foster children ever adopted in a year. DCF achieved adoption for 1,540 foster children in 2007, far exceeding its court-ordered commitment of 1,400 adoptions as part of the child welfare lawsuit settlement, and surpassing the previous state record of 1,418 adoptions in 2004.

The number of children whose parents' rights were terminated and who are legally free to be adopted has also decreased to a historic low of 1,295 children - a 44 percent decrease from January 2006. Historically, there are approximately 1,200 children who become legally free for adoption each year in New Jersey.

"Kids need and deserve families, and this reminds us that anything is possible if we are passionate, focused and committed to finding each child their forever family," DCF Commissioner Kevin M. Ryan said.

"Our incredible adoption staff has truly embraced this new adoption practice as a respected specialization within our offices," Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) Director Eileen Crummy said. "Without their hard work and heartfelt dedication to New Jersey's children, this accomplishment would not have been possible."

At the beginning of the administration, the number of finalized adoptions had fallen more than 14 percent from 2004 to 2005, and a record backlog of 2,300 children were legally free and waiting to be adopted. Since that time, DCF has achieved significant progress with nearly 3,000 former foster children adopted since Governor Corzine took office.  For the first time since the data has been tracked, these same two years witnessed a consistent decrease in the backlog of children waiting to be adopted.

Since early 2006, DCF has been aggressive in creating a strong adoption program to secure every child a permanent and safe family structure. DCF implemented a new adoption model in 2006 by establishing specialized adoption practice units in all offices in DYFS to ensure timely and appropriate permanency results.

DCF also invested in additional resources to achieve adoption targets, such as deploying additional staff as adoption workers to create and achieve caseload standards of 15-18 children per worker and creating specialized teams of adoption experts to reduce the significant backlog.

DCF is also focused on finding permanent homes for older adolescents in DYFS care. A special initiative began in 2006 to recruit adoptive homes for the 100 children who have been in foster care the longest amount of time awaiting a forever adoptive family. Five adoption recruiters from across the state were reassigned to the DYFS central office in Trenton to work exclusively on finding homes for these children. Of the 100 longest waiting children, approximately half are on track to achieve a permanent forever family and three adoptions have been finalized as of December 2007.

For more information on adoption, call 1-800-NJ ADOPT (992-3678) or visit the DYFS adoption Web site at www.njadopt.org.

###