Adoptions Rise in Kansas After Push by Governor - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CD-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings

The Kansas Department of Children and Families is reporting 777 adoptions finalized in the 2012 fiscal year.

Gov. Sam Brownback, whose family includes an adopted boy and girl, has placed a special emphasis on public adoptions in the state.

The numbers appear to just keep rising after the state recorded 761 state adoptions in 2011. That is up from 721 in 2010, although not as high as the 816 in 2009.

Some of the benefits the governor touts for state adoptions is that they cost almost nothing, while private adoptions can cost up to $30,000.

In addition to the up front adoption costs, children adopted after age 16 from foster care can receive free tuition at any state university, community college or vocational school.

The state also does not prohibit adoptions by single adults or gay couples.