More than 4,000 teens age out of California's foster system annually. Over 50% of those youth leave the state's care without high school diplomas, jobs or - most importantly - families of their own. Since 1992 Sierra Adoption Services has uniquely showcased a small fraction of the state's foster youth to alleviate those figures. The Sacramento-area nonprofit's "Capitol Kids Are Waiting" program features selected children's' photos and biographies for display in the rotunda of the state Capitol. The inaugural year of "Capitol Kids" saw each of the 16 highlighted children adopted within two months, The Davis Enterprise reports. (link to: http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2007/06/17/news/199new1.txt)

"It's phenomenally effective to be able to make the individual children real, rather than making them just a statistic," according to Gail Johnson, Sierra's executive director. Now SAS is doing even more to tell the stories of these often-marginalized young people. The nonprofit has recently recruited local media help to spread the word about some of the wonderful foster children in need or permanent adoption. The "Waiting Child" series features consenting children age 11 or older that are empowered to craft their own stories.

While SAS is not the first outfit to tap the power of pictures and print, it remains to be seen whether the California group can successfully scale its programs. The nonprofit's media arrangement is certainly a step in the right direction, and CA360 will monitor response.