Each year, hundreds and thousands of children wait in foster care until the day they finally get taken home with their forever family. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 108,000 American children were waiting to be adopted in 2014.
While adoption agencies always need more loving families, it turns out there’s an even greater need for volunteers to cuddle and care for these precious babies who desperately need that one-on-one care.
“Agencies are not exactly the best funded today, so volunteers are more important probably than they have ever been,” Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, told ABC News. “All agencies over the years have certainly needed volunteers but … the need has grown. Volunteers have become more and more essential.”
Before being assigned to a baby and taking them home for two to four weeks, volunteers need to pass background checks and home visits to ensure the babies are in a safe and loving environment.
Once approved, the volunteers are given everything they could possibly need for the babies. “We pay 100 percent of all the expenses [to care for the newborn],” Adam Cotumaccio, president of Spence-Chapin told ABC News. “We have a full clinic here where we have pediatricians. We pay for the transportation costs, diapers, even the car seats, as sometimes the volunteer may not have all of the equipment.”
“My job is to make the baby feel safe and loved 24-7. I hold them all the time. I talk to them. I sing to them. We play music. And I get so much joy and pleasure. I feel so good when I’m with an infant that I hope that it does … something for them, too,” Susan Singer said, who became a volunteer after her 22-year-old son died in a skiing accident and was looking for something to do that could fulfill her.
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[Featured image credit: Facebook/Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children]