As Minister of Children and Family Development, I am honoured to proclaim November as Adoption and Permanency Awareness Month. I invite you to celebrate the families who have welcomed children and youth as permanent members of their family, and I ask that you help promote awareness for children and youth who are still waiting for permanent homes.

Adoption and Permanency Awareness Month is about celebrating the devoted families created when people open their hearts and commit to sharing ​​their lives with a vulnerable child or youth. A permanent family environment provides a solid foundation for lifelong connections to community and culture, opportunities to thrive, and all the support these young people need along the way.​

Permanency is transformational for everyone involved. The emotional and social impacts of belonging can last a lifetime. That is why Adoption and Permanency Awareness Month is also about recognizing the children and youth who are still waiting for permanent, stable, and nurturing homes.​​

I encourage you to share the following resources with your community members, teachers, counselors, and support staff in your school district:

• Adopt BC Kids - an online portal that provides British Columbians wishing to adopt children and youth from foster care with information and guidance through their adoption application.

• The Ways to adopt in British Columbia Website provides information on adoption in British Columbia, such as infant adoption, relative and step-parent adoption, and adopting a child or youth from another country.

• https://belongingnetwork.com (formerly Adoptive Families Association of BC) - provides information and support services for families who wish to adopt now or in the future.

• https://adoption-bc.com - a detailed and comprehensive guide to additional adoption resources.

Please join us in marking November as Adoption and Permanency Awareness Month to recognize all the individuals who have grown their family and their hearts through adoption, and to all those who may do so in the future. On behalf of the Government of British Columbia, thank you for your continued leadership in supporting adoptive families in your community.

Sincerely,
Jodie Wickens, Minister