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Kenny, a junior in high school who lives in a Petersburg-area group home, hopes to be adopted before he ages out of the foster care system. |
Kenny has been in foster care so long he doesn't remember having a family.
But it sounds like something he might like.
At 16, Kenny loves to play soccer and basketball. He also loves video games. While playing recently at Swader's Sports Park near Petersburg, Kenny talked about foster care, school and adoption.
With dark blond hair and blue eyes, Kenny speaks so softly you have to lean in to hear him. The 11th-grader is very shy.
But he's also affectionate and polite.
"Kenny is just special," said Krista McCulloch, adoption recruiter for Children's Home Society of Virginia. "He's really sweet."
Kenny is one of more than 1,400 Virginia foster children waiting for adoption. In 2008, Virginia had the worst rate of foster children reaching the age of 18 without adoptive parents.
An initiative aims to get children into permanent homes before they age out. But for now, children like Kenny sometimes wait years for adoptive parents.
McCulloch said Kenny will need a family with time and patience.
But for Kenny's part, his requests are much simpler. At first, he couldn't think of anything he'd want from a family, shrugging and saying he didn't know anything about families. He hasn't been in one "in a long, long time," he said.
But a few moments later, Kenny said in his quiet voice, "If they don't beat on me, I'm OK. That's the only thing I'm scared of."
Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com
The newspaper will periodically feature a Virginia child available for adoption.
Interested in adopting Kenny or any of the other foster children waiting? Contact Krista McCulloch at Children's Home Society of Virginia at 800/247-2888 or 804/353-0191.
