Bay Area Legal Services’ L. David Shear Children’s Law Center is soon launching in Hillsborough County its new pro bono project, Adoptions Needed Now (ANN), funded through The Florida Bar Foundation.

In Hillsborough County, recent statistics show 985 out of 2213 (45%) of children in the foster care system are five years old and younger. Further, 221 (22%) of these children are eligible for adoption because the parental rights to these children have been terminated. A recently reported average length of stay for children five years old and younger currently available for adoption from the shelter date to the present date is approximately 31.2 months. Although these children are legally free for adoption, Hillsborough Kid’s Inc., the community base care provider sub-contracted with Department of Children and Families to provide social services to children, reports at least 50 % of these children are waiting over a year for their adoptions to be finalized.

ANN, through the Shear Children’s Law Center, is seeking to unite volunteer lawyers and community partners including the Department of Children and Families and Hillsborough Kids, Inc., to serve these children in the foster care system by more quickly facilitating their adoptions, helping them to have permanent families as quickly as possible.
The Hillsborough County Bar Association staff is assisting in recruiting and training lawyers for ANN. Bay Area Legal Services’ Bay Area Volunteer Lawyers Program is working in conjunction with the L. David Shear Children’s Law Center and will be reporting pro bono hours. Look for further detailed information about ANN in future newsletters.