DCCH Furnishing Futures campaign raises money for residential treatment program ahead of National Adoption Month

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

This year is the 30th annual celebration of National Adoption Month in the month of November. Dedicated by President Bill Clinton in 1995, National Adoption Month raises awareness for the children currently waiting for their forever families in the foster care system.

“It’s a time to raise awareness for the children that are in the foster care system needing an adoptive family,” said Ron Bertsch, therapeutic foster care and adoption director for the DCCH Center for Children and Families, Ft. Mitchell.

“I love that it’s in November,” he said, “this is the month of Thanksgiving, so we offer thanks for the families that have accepted this calling and took on the challenge of adopting children from foster care.”

Currently, there are 1,234 children in the Northern Kentucky foster care system, 222 of whom have an end goal of adoption. In the whole state, there are 8,678 children in the foster care system, with 347 of those children being listed on the state website as eligible for adoption.

“In Kentucky, about eighty-five percent of the adoptions that take place are foster-to-adopt, so people have to take on that fostering role first, then adopt,” said Mr. Bertsch.

“There’s a year, two years fostering timeline that has to happen if it’s a brand-new case, that’s usually because we give the birth parents at least fifteen months to rehabilitate,” said Mr. Bertsch.

Due to this long process, many of the children available for adoption are older. “There are very few that are under the age of six or seven,” said Mr. Bertsch. However, older children are not as likely to be adopted as younger children are.

“I think people are scared of taking an older child,” said Mr. Bertsch, “they have a lot more history and trauma; they have more things that they’re bringing into the home.”

DCCH Center for Children and Families recognizes the need for older children to “feel at home while they heal for the future that awaits them,” wrote Denise Govan, president, in an August newsletter.

The DCCH Center for Children and Families residential treatment program provides 32 of those children a chance of normalcy. There are four apartments in the residential treatment program, each of which has eight bedrooms, a kitchen and common areas like a living and dining room. Currently, DCCH Center for Children and Families is running a “Furnish Futures” donation campaign to help update the furniture in those common spaces.

“The furniture in our four residential apartments is now over a decade old – worn down, patched and no longer reflecting the warm, inviting space our children need,” wrote Ms. Govan.

Mr. Bertsch said, “what we’re looking for is new, heavy-duty, sturdy and good quality that will last.”

While the “Furnishing Futures” campaign is winding down, donations are always accepted. To learn more about the campaign or to donate, go to dcchcenter.org/ff-donate/.