Louisiana Celebrated 650 Adoptions, Including 311 Brothers and Sisters Kept Together

Every November, Louisiana's Department of Children and Family Services throws a party. In 2025 it was at the Governor's Mansion, and it celebrated 650 children and youth adopted from foster care by 508 families, the 27th annual Adoption Celebration.

Siblings, together

The number that stops us: 311 of those children were siblings adopted together, by 191 families. Keeping brothers and sisters together is one of the hardest things in foster care, because it takes a family willing to say yes to two, three or four children at once. In Louisiana last year, 191 families did.

Teens, too

DCFS reported that 50 teens ages 13 to 17 were adopted, up from 36 the year before. Teens wait the longest for families, and many age out of care without one. Each of those 50 is a young person who will have somewhere to go home to for Thanksgiving.

How this fits the official counts

DCFS's March 2026 fact sheet, which uses the calendar year, counts 634 adoptions in 2025. The celebration's 650 covers "the past year" as DCFS defined it for the event. Its HCR 74 management report counts 637 finalized in state fiscal year 2025. Different calendars, same story: more than 600 Louisiana children a year find a permanent family through adoption.

Could you be next year's family?

As of September 28, 2026, Louisiana had 4,487 children in foster care and 2,133 certified foster homes. See where the need is greatest, or take DCFS's first step.