SR513 designates November 22, 2025 as National Adoption Day and November 2025 as National Adoption Month to promote national awareness of adoption and the children awaiting families, celebrate children and families involved in adoption, and encourage the American people to pursue safety, permanency, and well-being for all children. The measure also notes the longstanding practice that the Saturday before Thanksgiving is National Adoption Day, and it acknowledges the President’s traditional role in proclaiming National Adoption Month.
While it signals support for permanency and adoption, the resolution is symbolic and does not impose new obligations or funding on agencies or individuals.
At a Glance
What It Does
Designates a specific day (November 22, 2025) as National Adoption Day and the entire month of November 2025 as National Adoption Month. It also affirms the goal that every child should have a permanent and loving family and encourages adoption among the public.
Who It Affects
The designation reaches adoption advocates, foster care and child welfare organizations, prospective adoptive families, and organizations that coordinate or promote adoption events. It is a national, non-binding signal that may influence participation and awareness efforts.
Why It Matters
The designation can bolster public awareness, volunteer engagement, and community fundraising around adoption while aligning with ongoing child welfare goals. It signals broad societal support for permanency as a priority for children in the foster care system.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
This resolution creates a symbolic national recognition: November 22, 2025 is National Adoption Day, and the entire month of November 2025 is National Adoption Month. It ties the designation to the longstanding tradition that the Saturday before Thanksgiving is National Adoption Day, and notes that in 2025 that date falls on November 22.
The bill emphasizes that many children in foster care are awaiting permanent families and acknowledges the President’s customary practice of issuing a proclamation about National Adoption Month. Importantly, the measure stops short of creating new laws or funding; its effect is to lift awareness and encourage public engagement with adoption.
The resolution states that every child should have a permanent and loving family and highlights the role of families, foster care systems, and adoption advocates in advancing permanency. It invites Americans to consider adoption during November and throughout the year, framing adoption as a shared national priority rather than a private matter.
Although the document is aspirational, it aligns with existing public and private efforts to support children in foster care and to connect them with permanency options.As a non-binding designation, the bill relies on voluntary participation by communities, nonprofits, and government agencies to observe and promote National Adoption Day and Month. There are no new statutory duties or funding requirements attached to the resolution; its power lies in symbolism, awareness, and the potential to mobilize existing programs and resources around adoption.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill designates November 22, 2025 as National Adoption Day.
November 2025 is designated as National Adoption Month.
The designation aligns with the Saturday before Thanksgiving, which in 2025 is November 22.
The resolution emphasizes that every child should have a permanent, loving family.
It is a symbolic act with no new funding or mandatory duties.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Designation of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month
This section designates November 22, 2025 as National Adoption Day and designates the entire month of November 2025 as National Adoption Month. It aligns the observance with the longstanding practice that the Saturday before Thanksgiving has been observed as National Adoption Day, noting that in 2025 that date is November 22. The provision is symbolic and does not create new duties or authorize spending.
Recognition of Permanency for Every Child
This section states that every child should have a permanent and loving family. It signals a national policy aspiration to improve permanency outcomes for children in foster care and to acknowledge ongoing efforts by public and private actors to secure stable, caring homes for these children.
Encouragement to Consider Adoption
This section invites the people of the United States to consider adoption during November and throughout the year. It serves as a social exhortation aimed at increasing adoption awareness and participation without imposing requirements on individuals, families, or organizations.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Social Services across all five countries.
Explore Social Services in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Children in foster care awaiting permanent and loving families, who may gain visibility and potential matches through heightened awareness.
- Prospective adoptive families and their support networks, who may be more motivated to pursue adoption during National Adoption Month.
- Adoption advocacy organizations and nonprofits, which can leverage the designation to energize campaigns and fundraising.
- State and local child welfare agencies coordinating adoptions, which benefit from greater public attention to permanency goals.
- Public institutions and communities that host adoption events, which may see increased participation.
Who Bears the Cost
- There are no new federal mandates or funding requirements created by this resolution; any costs would be voluntary and would fall on participating organizations and communities if they choose to observe events.
- Nonprofit organizations and event organizers may incur minor, voluntary expenses to stage awareness activities or National Adoption Day events.
- Local governments or school districts that participate in observances could incur administrative or communications costs, though none are mandated by the resolution.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is whether a symbolic designation alone can meaningfully advance permanency outcomes for children in foster care without accompanying funding, policy changes, or programmatic investments that address systemic barriers.
The measure is symbolic and relies on voluntary participation by communities, nonprofits, and government agencies. While it can raise awareness and mobilize existing adoption programs, it does not provide new funding or impose duties on states or the private sector.
A potential tension for readers is balancing the value of national recognition with the need for concrete resources and policy reforms that address the barriers to permanency in foster care. The resolution may also be interpreted as setting a annual expectation for adoptions to happen, which is not its aim and does not reflect the complexities of individual cases.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.