A record number of children from Alabama’s foster care system found permanent homes during the 2018 fiscal year, Gov. Kay Ivey announced today.

There were 710 foster children adopted during the year that ended Sept. 30, up from 509 in fiscal year 2017 and 502 in 2016. The previous record was 676 foster children adopted in fiscal year 2009, according to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which oversees the foster care system.

“It sends a strong, wonderful message to all the foster care children in our state,” Ivey said at a news conference at the Capitol, where she posed for photos with children and their families.

There are about 6,375 children in foster care in Alabama. DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner said about 70 percent of foster children return to their biological families.

“But those that don’t, they need their own loving caring, permanent family and that’s what it’s all about,” Buckner said.

Buckner said there were probably about 250 children in the system in need of adoption for whom DHR has not found an adoptive resource. Those are children whose parents have lost their parental rights. The number of children in that situation has been fairly stable -- 234 at the end of fiscal 2016 and 236 at the end of 2015.

Buckner said the increase in adoptions in 2018 is the result of a joint effort that involves juvenile courts, probate judges, DHR and other partners.

“We recognize that children need permanency,” Buckner said. “We all need family. We need family connection. And we’ve all gotten together. We’re doing some partnership things together. So, we’re all on the same page and we’re trying to push permanency through.”

There were 6,279 children in foster care in Alabama at the end of the 2017 fiscal year and 5,575 in the system at the end of 2015.