adoption in Alabama

Multiple sources say that there are roughly 400,000 kids in the foster care system in the United States currently. There are some things that humans won't fully understand unless they live through them, and the processes surrounding adoption and foster care are likely included in those things. But taking super nuanced concepts and making them less scary to approach is what we do best here at Simplified! Dr. Brian Gannon is an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences. He is a general pediatrician at the University Medical Center as well as the founder of the FRESH Start Clinic at UMC, which serves children in state custody across West Alabama. He is a foster parent himself to eight (!!!) children and an advocate for foster families.

May is National Foster Care Month and is a time to raise awareness for the children in foster care and for the people who make up the child welfare system in the state.

In this week’s Crunk Culture commentary, Robin Boylorn addresses some of the challenges of adoption in the state of Alabama and in our country. Simply put, in Robin’s words, the adoption conversation must not only celebrate the victories, but expose the problems as well...