Indiana top state for increasing adoptions from foster care

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana is the top state in the nation for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care, according to state and federal officials.

In the 2019 fiscal year, 2,489 Hoosier children were adopted through the Indiana Department of Child Services, Gov. Eric Holcomb said. That's up from from the 2,017 adopted the year before, according to the (Franklin) Daily Journal.

'œEvery child deserves to have people who will love and support them forever, so we've set out to ensure each is a part of a permanent, loving family,'ť Holcomb said in a statement.

Assistant Secretary Lynn Johnson of the U.S. Administration of Children and Families awarded the state last week with an adoption and legal guardianship incentive award of more than $4.7 million during a ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse. The funding can be used to enhance the state's child welfare system.

Indiana has more than a thousand children who are still waiting to be adopted, Holcomb said.