The children we have featured on our website who wait for adoptive families

  • are most often in the foster care system and cannot return to their birth families for a variety of reasons.
  • need help overcoming hurt related to past trauma(s) and/or abandonment.
  • are often part of a sibling (brothers and/or sisters) group.
  • are often older than four years of age and behind emotionally.

While you may not see “all” of the children in need of a “no matter what” family in our Gallery, please understand that those who are waiting share similar hopes for a family and similar obstacles to being matched with one. If these children do not seem like a “match,” chances are others who are not featured here will not be a “match,” either. However, if you have patience and perseverance and are willing to adapt your home and life to fit a child’s needs, please keep pursuing and learning more about adopting from foster care.

Please keep in mind that, in order to be considered for a child within our Gallery, you must have an approved public adoption home study. If you are unsure if your home study is public, please contact us via phone (414-475-1246 or 800-762-8063) or email info@coalitionforcyf.org.

Lastly, please keep in mind that circumstances for the children within the Gallery can change rather quickly and for a variety of reasons. When a child is listed as waiting, this means the child is quite literally “waiting” for their “no matter what” family and are still available. If a child is listed as matched, this typically means the child’s social work team has identified a match with a prospective “no matter what” family. The Coalition will continue to collect inquiries for a child listed as matched, and this information will be shared with the child’s social work team in the event that permanency falls through for whatever reason.

We invite you to check out our tip sheet, Not Too Old for Forever: Adopting Older Youth.

Serena

Is there a sweeter sound than a child laughing? Serena has an infectious giggle that accompanies her silly sense of humor. She is empathetic and loving, enjoys being a helper, and thrives on receiving positive praise. Serena has many interests: listening to music, singing along to her favorite [...]

Layla

Layla is a funny, artistic, and caring girl who likes to stay busy and help others. This active teenager likes to assist with cooking, chores around the house, and caring for younger children. Layla is an animal lover who likes to be around horses and would love to volunteer at a farm or animal [...]

Michael

Michael is an outgoing, adventurous boy who enjoys trying new things. He has a great imagination and likes anything mechanical. Michael is adept at building and taking things apart to see how they work. Although he prefers to play alone, he likes cooking and cleaning with his current caregiver. [...]

Dominic

Dominic is a pleasant young man who’s passionate about the environment. He loves science, bird watching, and being in nature. He is skilled in identifying rocks and wants to be a geologist when he grows up. If he could go anywhere in the world, he would visit the Bermuda Triangle because [...]

Dante

Dante is a polite, kind, and sensitive young man who enjoys one-on-one time with people, especially if that time is spent playing games and eating snacks! His favorite board game is Sorry, and he also likes to work on puzzles. Dante is an animal lover and is currently fascinated by goats. One [...]

Mersaydes

Mersaydes is a girl with simple needs for a happy life. She enjoys playing with makeup and dressing up and when she gets older she would love to have a pair of high heels, maybe a pink pair–one of her favorite colors. But she doesn’t mind getting out there in nature either! She likes to […]

Nicholas

Many of us like to spend time randomly scrolling through YouTube videos. One day you may see Nicholas pop up on your computer, entertaining people on his own YouTube channel. This young man dreams of being a YouTuber when he grows up and would love to travel to Spain, home to one of his [...]

Kobe

Kobe is a sweet, happy, and active boy. He can be very affectionate and is friendly and social with other children and familiar adults. Kobe enjoys going to school and to his recreation program. He is easily engaged in play and likes taking part in activities that are familiar to him. He likes [...]

Cameron

As you can see from this photo, a little snow doesn’t keep Cameron away from the playground! He is an active boy who enjoys climbing, swinging, jumping and running. He does work up an appetite with all that playing and it turns out eating is one of his favorite activities too! Cameron does a [...]

Larry

Larry is a kind child with a heartwarming smile who dreams of having a home where he can play with neighborhood kids and ride his bike over to their houses. He loves playing outside and would like a loving family who will play outside with him! Larry interacts positively with adults and his [...]