As part of the 2015 initiative, the Children’s Bureau, in collaboration with Child Welfare Information Gateway and AdoptUSKids, hosted a free, interactive webinar that focused on older youth adoption.

This webinar highlights the adoption story of Mary Lee Esq., who now serves as the National YVLifeSet Coordinator for Youth Villages, and who inspired the creation of the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act (a.k.a the Mary Lee Act). It also showcased resources and tools for recruiting families for older youth, strategies to overcome common barriers to adoption, and examples of how to help older youth be open to the idea of being adopted.

For more real-life stories, visit the 2015 National Adoption Month video gallery.