In 1999/2000, the NB government established a Child Welfare Review and Redesign Project to review, assess and recommend improvements to the Children Welfare System in NB. In April 2001, the Minister of Family and Community Services launched a Special Adoption project to focus on the needs of the children under his permanent care. The project included the organization, by the private sector, of an Adoption Foundation for the purpose of raising money and providing financial, technical, and in-kind assistance to the Minister for the organization of an adoption recruitment campaign. The objective was to increase public awareness of the need and to recruit adoptive parents.

It was in 2002 that the plight of hundreds of children in New Brunswick became better known. These were children who through no fault of their own had birth parents who were unable to care for them. Their original home situation was such that the courts deemed that they would never go back home. They numbered in the hundreds and lived in foster and group homes in New Brunswick. Up until this time, very few were adopted but unfortunately not many.

In response, concerned people both within and outside government came together. Their efforts gave birth to a campaign called “Kids Can’t Wait for A Family” and the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation was born.  It was founded with the focus of raising the public’s awareness of the children in foster care needing adoptive homes. The impact was overwhelming. The adoption rate of children in the permanent care of the New Brunswick Government began to soar. Previously approximately 25 children were adopted each year; since the inception of the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation, each year on average just under 100 children are adopted. Hundreds of children are now living with their permanent families. These children needed and deserved a place to call home. A home for now, as they grow and for their future.