Foster children are individuals - not just a statistic

California Group Matches Faces with Families

More than 4,000 teens age out of California's foster system annually. More than 50 percent of these youths leave the state's care without high school diplomas, jobs or families of their own.

To curb those numbers, the Sacramento-based Sierra Adoption Services launched the "Capitol Kids Are Waiting" program, which displays selected children's photos and biographies in the rotunda of the state Capitol. In its first year, each of the 16 highlighted children were adopted within two months, as The Davis Enterprise reports.

"It's phenomenally effective to be able to make the individual children real, rather than making them just a statistic," states Gail Johnson, Sierra's executive director. While Sierra is not the first to tap the power of pictures and print, it remains to be seen whether the California group can successfully scale its programs. CFK and CA360 will monitor the response.