11-year-old Arkansas boy finds forever home after years in foster care

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Out of the 4000 children in foster care in Arkansas, Luke Kissinger is now not one of them.

“Just to have a forever family is just unbelievable,” Luke Kissinger said.

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Luke entered foster care at the age of six. During this time, he was in and out of 24 homes before entering number 25, which became his forever home.

“We opened in 2022, and we spent about a year just waiting to be matched without truly looking into trying to find a kid, and then when we saw his video in March 2023, we just kind of instantly fell in love,” Cassie Kissinger said.

Luke spent four years on a journey to find a family who truly would take him in and love him.

“He’s been passed on so many times, and if you meet him, you would never think anything like that ever happened to him; I mean, he doesn’t have an angry bone in his body,” Bradley Kissinger said.

Despite the heartbreak of not finding a permanent home with each foster family, Luke’s spirit remained unbroken, radiating joy wherever he went.

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Then May 14th, 2024, came—Luke’s adoption day.

“I think the best part of the whole thing was the judge said, do you have anything else you want to say? and he was just, ‘I love you, Mom and Dad’,” Bradley Kissinger said.

However, that same day, Luke decided it was time to give back.

Luke helps give back and helps his mom find homes for kids like him.

“My mom is working at The Call and when she doesn’t work there anymore, I’m going to take her spot,” Luke Kissinger said.

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Until that day, Luke is excited about starting school and finally staying there long enough to play sports.

“It will have to be his jersey number from now on, a lucky number 25,” Cassie Kissinger said.

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