Adoption Delays & How We Fix the Turbulence

Imagine you’re flying into Tampa International Airport, just 30 minutes from landing. The seatbelt sign is on, you’re already thinking about what’s waiting for you at home, when suddenly the plane jolts. Turbulence rattles the cabin. Oxygen masks drop. People gasp and clutch the armrests.

Then, in the middle of the chaos, one of the pilots announces: “I quit!” Not because he doesn’t care, but because this is the fifth time this year he’s been through this exact turbulence, and he’s burned out. He walks away from the cockpit, leaving the co-pilot scrambling to take control.

But here’s the good news: the co-pilot refuses to give up. The flight attendants move quickly, calming passengers and keeping everyone focused. And as luck would have it, there’s even an Air Force pilot onboard who steps in to help guide the landing.

Despite the fear and chaos, the plane lands. Everyone makes it home. Everyone ends up exactly where they were supposed to be.

Here’s the question for you: Does the safe landing erase what happened in the air? Or do those 30 minutes of turbulence still matter?

The seatbelt sign may have gone off after landing, but for the people on board, the turbulence is never forgotten.

A Conversation at DCF

Back when I was a case manager, I used to make unannounced visits to clients’ homes. Not to surprise them or catch them off guard, but because sometimes the best conversations happen when formal channels fail. That one-on-one interaction, raw and real, often made the biggest difference.

A week ago, I did it again. Only this time, it wasn’t at a client’s home, it was at the Department of Children and Families office. The security guard greeted me with warmth, and the staff member I spoke with made me feel truly heard. It was a small step, but a meaningful one.

So, what did we talk about?

We talked about something that doesn’t show up in any state report, but that deeply shapes the lives of children and families across Florida: contested adoptions.

The Turbulence Families Feel

On paper, Florida’s adoption system measures success by the numbers. Reports track how many children exit foster care into adoption, how long the process takes, and how many adoptions disrupt or dissolve. But those numbers only tell part of the story.

Here’s what the state’s own 2024 Adoption Incentive Report shows:

• Children in Florida are not eligible for adoption until their biological parents’ rights are legally terminated, a process known as Termination of Parental Rights (TPR).

• Once TPR happens, the “countdown” to adoption begins. In theory, this should be a relatively quick step toward permanency.

• In reality, children waited an average of 13.5 months from TPR to finalized adoption in 2023–2024.

• Taken together with the time spent before TPR, the average total wait for adoption was 32 months statewide — nearly three years from removal to permanency.

• On July 1, 2023, more than 3,800 children were legally free for adoption, yet by June 30, just 52.7% had been adopted. That means nearly half of the children who could have gone home were still waiting at year’s end.

What the data doesn’t capture is the avoidable turbulence behind these numbers. Some delays stem from necessary due process, but many are the product of preventable factors that drag out the timeline and prolong uncertainty for children.

These can include:

• Last-minute filings by caregivers or relatives with little prior involvement.

• Delayed paperwork or missing documentation that stalls hearings.

• Staffing gaps when case managers go on medical leave or positions sit unfilled.

• Inter-agency disagreements over placement decisions.

Each of these delays can stretch months into years, even when a child is already free to be adopted.

And here’s the real truth: I don’t know how common these preventable delays are. The Adoption Incentive Report can tell us how long children waited, but it cannot tell us why.

I cannot find a measure, data point, or statewide system that tracks what factors contributed to the length of stay in foster care for adoptions that were ultimately successful.

Honestly, I hope I’m way off. I hope I’m wrong. I hope the data does exist somewhere, and that my claims about preventable delays are off base and only anecdotal to my own experience. I want that to be true—because if it is, it means the system already has the tools to see the turbulence and smooth it out for families.

But until that data is visible, families and thousands of children still waiting for permanency, are left to wonder if things could have been done differently.

My Story, and What I Learned

When my own family went through a contested adoption, I often wondered if our case was rare, just an unusual twist of fate.

To find out, I didn’t just rely on my own perspective. I spoke with dozens of professionals who work inside the child welfare system. I met with foster families who had walked the adoption road themselves. And I joined more Facebook adoption groups than I can even count, listening to story after story from parents across the country.

What I discovered was humbling.

Even though the specific factors that led to our family’s delay were unique, the experience of waiting and wondering was not. Families from Florida to California described the same turbulence: late-filed petitions, competing claims, endless hearings, and children stuck in uncertainty long after parental rights were terminated.

The details may differ, but the pattern is clear. The delays, the disputes, the limbo, that part is far too common.

Even though a child’s best interest must always come first, we can’t ignore the psychological and emotional toll delays place on caregivers — and how that strain shapes community perceptions of adoption and fostering.

Why It Matters

A colleague recently said to me:

“Curtis, you know how many horrible and high-risk situations occur on a daily basis in the foster care system. Why should we focus on fixing an issue that ultimately had a positive ending, when every day there are heartbreaking outcomes for children and families? Shouldn’t that be our focus?”

Here’s my answer:

We don’t get to choose between fixing urgent crises and fixing hidden cracks. Both matter.

Yes, foster care is filled with daily tragedies and risks, children sleeping in offices, siblings separated, and families overwhelmed. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the children who do reach permanency, yet endure unnecessary turbulence along the way.

If anything, the fact that foster care is so fragile makes it even more important that when we do have the chance to get it right, when a child is on the runway to permanency, we remove every preventable barrier. Because the story of foster care should not only be about survival, it should also be about healing, stability, and trust.

By shining a light on contested adoptions, we’re not minimizing other crises. We’re saying: permanency is too important to leave any part of the journey unmeasured or misunderstood.

And there’s another benefit. When caregivers, foster parents, and adoptive parents are able to tell a story that, even though stressful and heartbreaking at times, is also hopeful and inspiring, the narrative around the foster care system begins to shift.

That shift matters.

It means more people step forward to foster and adopt, less deterred by the stigma and fear that so often surround the system.

Recruitment improves, resources grow, and the very high-risk cases my colleague spoke of end up with more support and stronger communities rallying around them.

A Simple Roadmap Forward

Step 1: Get clarity. First, get a definitive answer: Is this already being tracked?  If yes, make the data public. If no, acknowledge the gap.

Step 2: Start small. If no tracking exists, temporarily modify an existing platform (like FSFN or internal agency logs) to flag “contested adoptions.” Pilot this in just one region or two judicial circuits.

Step 3: Monitor for one fiscal year. Track cases for 12 months. Record the frequency of contested placements, the length of delays, and the final outcomes.

Step 4: Identify causes, not just counts. Once data exists, drill down. Which delays are tied to:

• Last-minute filings?

• Missing or delayed paperwork?

• Staff turnover or medical leave?

• Inter-agency disagreements?

• Litigation tactics or ulterior motives?

Step 5: Compare and adjust. If two regions know contested adoptions are being logged, they may begin eliminating the very bureaucratic steps they know are causing delays. That’s valuable too, it shows what happens when transparency itself sparks reform.

Step 6: Share and expand. Use the pilot data to present a clear picture to lawmakers, judges, and agencies: how often contests occur, why they happen, and how long they delay permanency. If successful, scale the approach statewide.

Step 7: Put it into law. Amend Florida Statute to add “contested placements” as a category under placement changes. Update Florida Administrative Code to require agencies to log contested placements, their causes, and their duration . Require annual public reporting through the Adoption Incentive Report so that patterns are visible, not hidden.

Step 8: Use the data to change practice. Once contested adoptions are tracked, the data can be used to:

• Spot the most common sources of delay,

• Compare regional practices,

• Strengthen accountability, and

• Test solutions that reduce waiting time.

Just as importantly, if agencies and courts know contested placements are being reported, they may start addressing bureaucracy in real time, cutting unnecessary continuances, resolving disputes faster, and moving children more quickly toward permanency.

The Bigger Picture

My theory is simple: if we follow these eight steps, two important things will happen.

1. We will identify preventable delays — and by doing so, reduce the overall length of stay in foster care for children who are already legally free for adoption.

   
   

2. We will encourage agencies to self-correct delays they already know exist. Once they understand these cases are being tracked and reported to the state, and may be considered when future funding opportunities arise, agencies will have an incentive to fix problems before they grow.

   
   

This isn’t about blame. It’s about visibility, accountability, and making sure that when a child is ready for permanency, nothing preventable stands in their way.

* Read the full document and join the conversation. 👇

Contested Adoptions Tracking (1).pdf

Download PDF • 186KB

Final Thought

Every child deserves more than just a safe landing, they deserve a steady, supported journey to get there.

Right now, Florida’s adoption data celebrates the destination but misses the turbulence along the way. But if we can’t see those delays, we can’t prevent them.

It’s time for Florida to take a simple but powerful step: track contested adoptions. Because when we start counting what matters, we can finally start changing what matters.

But let’s be real: none of this happens without people who believe in this direction and push for it. That’s why I need your voice.

👉 Take the poll.

👉 Watch my video explainer.

👉 Leave a comment.

👉 Share this article.

👉 Connect me with someone who could help move this project forward.

Let’s do this together. Let’s make sure every child’s journey to permanency is steady, supported, and free from preventable delays.

And ultimately, let’s help create more moments like the one I shared in my adoption video - moments of joy, family, and forever.

Disclaimer

If you are reading this, please know that the views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent any other individual, organization, or company. This content is intended for general knowledge and to highlight tools, techniques, and ideas that inspire positive change. Readers are encouraged to explore the topics further and form their own conclusions.

At the same time, my desire to help solve a problem should in no way discredit those who helped fight for our own “safe landing.” There are countless agency staff, adoption workers, Guardian ad Litem team members, and other professionals who dedicate themselves every day to ensuring children find the homes that are truly best for them. I cannot speak for everyone, but I can speak to the heroes in our journey. We deeply appreciate them, and I push this initiative forward for their sake as well, to make their hard work easier, their outcomes stronger, and their impact even greater.

About the Author

Curtis Campogni is the founder of Speak4MC, a trainer, author, and advocate focused on child welfare, workforce development, and juvenile justice. He is the author of C.A.P.E. Conversations: How Superheroes Communicate with the Child Welfare System and serves as Vice Chair of Florida’s Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Advisory Board and Florida State Representative for the Southeastern Employment and Training Association.

Curtis only raises problems he is willing to actively work toward solving. His professional career demonstrates a consistent willingness to collaborate, listen to multiple perspectives, and pursue common ground and common-sense solutions to help children and families thrive.