342 children in Colorado are available for adoption, and Raise the Future creates family permanency

In Colorado there are currently 342 children who are living in the foster care system and eligible for adoption. Among that group, the nonprofit Raise the Future specializes in finding caring adults for the older youth, sibling groups and young people who have special needs.  

"At Raise the Future, we find families for kids who don't have them," said Ann Ayers, CEO of Raise the Future.

Those kinds of connections transform a child's life.

In 2023, 711 teens were adopted out of foster care. A recent report from the Colorado Department of Human Services found that 70% of kids with Raise the Future found forever homes. That's compared with 44% who got traditional services.

Raise the Future also works to keep those families together.

"These are kids who maybe have gone through a lot of rejection," Ayers said. 

The nonprofit helps children 9 years old or up who have been in five or more homes. 

"They're worth it. They're worth something," Mekialaya White, reporter and anchor at CBS News Colorado, said.  

CBS Colorado hosts A Day for Wednesday's Child to celebrate the families that are created through adoption out of foster care. The donations collected throughout A Day for Wednesday's Child help to pay for the intensive recruiting that Raise the Future does to find those caring adults who will step up for a child in foster care. This year, A Day for Wednesday's Child is April 16.

Kids in foster care with a supportive connection are 110% more likely to go to college, 50% less likely to experience homelessness, and 200% more likely to seek and get mental health support, according to Raise the Future.