Arkansas teen adopted by loving family after nearly 15 years in foster care

An Arkansas teenager has a permanent home after spending almost 15 years in foster care.

Cozy, 19, had been in the foster care system for 5,429 days – the longest-waiting person in the state’s foster care system before Tim and Anna Dietrich adopted him on Aug. 25, according to People Magazine.

Anna works for Project Zero, a nonprofit that helps connect foster children with permanent families and wants to reduce the number of waiting foster kids to “zero.” She said she knew adopting Cozy was the right decision.

“The Lord made it very clear that we were supposed to all-out adopt him,” she said at a press conference last week. “We’re supposed to give him our name, give him our family, give him our whole hearts.” 

“Cozy is getting a whole crew today, and we’re so excited, and that is what we want for every single one of our waiting kids,” she added. “So until there is zero, let’s start this up again tomorrow, because today we’re celebrating.” 

Tiffany Wright, director of the Division of Children and Family Services, said that while Cozy’s adoption was a milestone, the state has more work to do. 

“Even as we celebrate this beautiful day, we must stay focused on the goal of finding homes for other children who need them and the critical work of Project Zero,” she said. “This adoption gets us closer to our goal of zero.” 

Project Zero also praised the adoption.  

“We’re still celebrating Cozy’s adoption!” the group wrote in an Aug. 27 Instagram post. “There are still nearly 200 children & teens like Cozy who deserve our whole hearts, our community & to be a part of a family. If this stirs your heart towards adoption please visit the FAQ page of our website!” 

More on Project Zero can be found at its adoption FAQ page here.