{"id":291593,"date":"2023-05-27T18:30:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T23:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=291593"},"modified":"2023-05-26T18:18:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T23:18:51","slug":"foster-father-adopts-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/foster-father-adopts-teens\/","title":{"rendered":"Former foster child adopts teens before they age out of the system"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Joe Toles is not just a father; he’s a former foster youth who aged out of the system and has made it his mission to help other kids like him to find forever families.<\/p>\n

Toles grew up in New York City but now lives in Alabama. Though he didn’t have a permanent family, his high school track coach became a father figure for him. “He saw something in me that nobody else did, and he made me believe it,” Toles told CBS News<\/a>. “I am of the mindset that everything that happened to me in life was in preparation for me to be the best who I could be.”<\/p>\n

The best person he could be is a father to eight boys, all adopted through the Dave Thomas Foundation, and all at risk of aging out of the foster care system. His first son, Xavier, was adopted at age 18. “It was kind of like, I didn’t need a parent for all these years,” Xavier said. “Why do I need one now?”<\/p>\n