Iowa citizens mark National Adoption Month by releasing balloons into the sky

By Staff Writer

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that there is an increasing number of children in the U.S. who are in foster care.

The organization says that many children who are removed from their parents or their childhood homes suffer from a variety of behavioral problems as a result of neglect, abuse, and physical or emotional illnesses.

In Iowa, hundreds of blue balloons recently took flight as the state recognized National Adoption Month. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the balloons represented the 600 Iowa children and more than 114,000 kids nationwide who are in foster care and waiting to be adopted.

A post-adoption support supervisor told the news provider that the greatest need for adoptive families is for the care of teenagers, many of whom turn 18, leave foster care and never have a permanent family. A foster parent who attended one of the balloon-release events said that the helium-filled objects represented the vast amount of kids who can float through life aimlessly without the necessary guidance.