According to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), most kids are adopted out of foster care in around 18 months, but there are some who slip through the cracks. Here is a hopeful story of a child who’s had experiences like Tim’s of being in foster care for 10 years.
Meet Jacob, in Foster Care for 10 Years Before He Was Adopted
A story by CBS out of Mission, Kansas shares about 15-year-old Jacob, who was adopted last December by Beth and Tim Shelley.
But before this adoption, Jacob had been in 10 different foster home. He had changed schools with each foster home change, totaling 10 schools he’d attended between ages five and age 15. That means he had to develop new friendships 10 different times, get to know 10 different sets of teachers, and learn the hallways and policies of 10 different schools, all while processing the events that led to him being removed from his birth parents’ custody and the trauma that went along with that.
The Shelleys met Jacob in 2021 over video due to the pandemic, and were able to meet months later in person. Jacob’s CASA, Ballard Yeates said of the meeting that it was a “kismet” moment.
The parents recalled, “What mattered was the connection that we found with Jacob and we just knew that was our kid. That was our son.”
So after having been in foster care for 10 years, and having been through 2 failed adoptions, Jacob is now with his forever family.
