Governor Matt Bevin and his wife, Glenna, adopted four children internationally after their application to adopt a child in Kentucky’s foster care system was denied. The Bevins, parents of nine children, have made it their personal mission to try to streamline Kentucky’s adoption system, in order to help provide homes to the nearly 8,000 children currently in the state’s foster care system.

Governor Bevin and First Lady Bevin share their personal experience of adoption as well as their vision for improving Kentucky’s adoption and foster care system with KET’s Renee Shaw in Children in Wait: Foster Care & Adoption in Kentucky, airing Monday, May 15 at 8/7 pm on KET.

During the program, the Bevins discuss their plan for reducing adoption roadblocks in the state, while issuing a call to action for families who may be considering becoming an adoptive parent. Governor Bevin also discusses, in broad terms, the role he envisions for the newly created Kentucky adoption and foster care “czar.”

“This is not a political issue. If this becomes a political issue, shame on us in Kentucky. This is a human issue,” Bevin said during the program. “This is something we have a responsibility to get right.”

In addition, the program profiles Robin Leigh, a retired family resource center director with the Bourbon County Public Schools, who details her personal journey as a foster care provider and eventual adoptive parent.

Viewers will also hear from Adria Johnson, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, who addresses some of the factors that complicate the adoption process, as well as from legislative leaders, who discuss their plans to address adoption and foster care reform in the coming months.

Children in Wait: Foster Care & Adoption in Kentucky is a KET production, produced by Renee Shaw.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org