Moore says there is no typical family that comes forward to adopt children in foster care...

Moore: What we do find however is that probably about 65% of our adoptions are foster parent adoptions. They're people who have come to us as foster parents and some of those people never even considered adoption. They were coming to us as foster parents but had a child placed in their home, fell in love with that child, and proceeded to adopt.

Dottie Klemm works in the adoption department in Cuyahoga County's Department of Children and Family Services. She believes parents who adopt children from the foster care system are heroes...

Klemm: I don't want people to be put off by it. I think it sounds frightening at first. It sounds, you know, when you just hear about it through the television or radio, you hear all the horror stories, you hear all the frightening things...but there are so many children out there that need somebody to reach out to them. They might not be in a safe situation, they need somebody who can provide safety for them. The folks who do that, who come forward, the foster parents and adoption parents, we think of them as the heroes of the community, probably the unsung heroes because nobody realizes it because they're not real visible. You don't go to the mall and recognize them because they look like everyday families. So, you know, talk to other people who have done it, get more information about it. We need more families to come forward. Children should not have to grow up without a mom or a dad or a single parent too. We need families into our old age. Where do we spend our holidays? With family. Where do we go when we are in trouble, or need comfort, or we want to share some happiness, even when we're 35 or 50? We go to our families. I just came back from vacation with my sister, you know, if I hadn't had that my life would be very different and everybody deserves to have a family.

Coming up, we'll look at a number of different issues surrounding adoption and foster care, including non-traditional and international adoptions, the debate over when parental rights should be taken away, and what happens to children who never are adopted. I'm Vincent Duffy...89.7 WKSU.