2024 Champions for Adoption and Foster Care recognized at annual event

Leaders recognized for their dedication to helping children and families.

“My wish for all kids is that they would have a safe loving permanent family with parents who love them.”

Since parents are voluntarily surrendering their child through the baby box, it’s easier to place the baby with a family that’s already been vetted.

This year’s state legislative session was a big one for foster care and adoption reform.

The Adoption Project applauded Tennessee's governor and state lawmakers for working to expedite the process this session.

Governor Bill Lee signed the legislation into law surrounded by adoptive and foster parents.

New legislation will help lead to stronger families built through adoption & foster care.

Two bills look to reduce waiting times, and place children in permanent homes faster.

On Monday night, Governor Bill Lee outlined his budget for the next fiscal year, and more than $600 million were allocated for families and children’s services.

The Adoption Project was invited to participate in a panel discussion this month before the House Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee on the adoption process in Tennessee.

Project organizers said these recommendations are the result of nearly a year of extensive research and conversations with stakeholders from across the adoption and foster care systems in Tennessee and around the country.

Recommendations will help make Tennessee the best state to build strong families through adoption and foster care.

On our very first date, I told my wife, Michelle, I wanted to adopt one day. We didn’t know much about the process, but we knew we wanted to be a family for a child who needed one.

Participants include Joseph Williams (Chief of Staff for Governor Bill Lee), Tennessee Senate Speaker Pro Tem Ferrell Haile, Tennessee Children's Services Commissioner Margie Quin, Emily Chapman Richards, Laura Troup, Lauren Webb, Kristin Allender, Brittany Farrar, J.R. Garrett, and Jeremy Harrell.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit Adoption Project was launched -- with two people who worked in either the Bill Haslam or Lee governmental administration as its principals -- to reduce the number of children aging out of foster care and to make the adoption process easier.

Michelle and Jeremy Harrell recognized by CCAI for making extraordinary contributions to adoption, permanency, and child welfare.

The coming years will likely show a catchup of adoptions that were delayed during COVID-19. It will take years to see whether adoption rates rise post-Roe, though those who work in the field hope to see more support for birth parents and children implemented sooner.

While adoption may be an option, it’s not necessarily so straightforward, and the process can also be tricky to navigate, both for birth parents and hopeful adoptive parents.

Spurred by his own experiences, Harrell co-founded The Adoption Project in Nashville with the hope of creating policies that make the process easier for all parties involved in both private adoptions and those through the foster care system.