Tiffany Wright laced up and circled the Arkansas State Capitol 160 times on Monday, one lap for every child in the state's foster care system still waiting to be adopted. By the time she finished, she had covered just over 50 miles in a single day, turning a personal endurance feat into a public plea on behalf of kids she says are too often overlooked.
Wright, who directs the Division of Children and Family Services, ran the laps as part of a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Human Services and Project Zero to mark the start of National Adoption Month at the Capitol in Little Rock, according to KARK. The 160 laps corresponded to the number of children in Arkansas foster care currently waiting to be adopted, according to the state's Department of Human Services. As she ran, Wright said the effort was meant to put faces, not just numbers, to the cause, explaining that the run recognizes each child and the need for a family.
Along the Capitol grounds, posters displayed some of the children with the longest waits for a permanent home, Wright said, a visual reminder of just how long some kids have been stuck in the system. KATV reported that the event grew out of a collaboration between DCFS and Project Zero, the nonprofit that has made finding permanent families for Arkansas foster youth its core mission.
A Number That Keeps Shifting
The count of children waiting to be adopted in Arkansas foster care has moved over the past year, and each figure comes from a different moment in time. Back in October 2025, Wright said she would run a mile for each of the 179 children then waiting to be adopted, per the same account from El Dorado News. By New Year's Eve 2025, state officials put the number at 146, which KATV described as a substantial improvement. That same week, officials announced that 32 children in foster care had been adopted since November 1, 2025, according to El Dorado News.
By October 2026, the tally had climbed back up. Project Zero's executive director said 160 children and teens in Arkansas foster care were waiting for permanent families with the goal of adoption, the station reported ahead of Monday's run. Project Zero's own race page puts the broader picture in context, noting that more than 3,200 children are currently in Arkansas foster care, and that nearly 160 of them have had their parental rights terminated and are waiting to be adopted, according to the RunSignup race page for the organization's upcoming event.
Chasing Zero 5K Follows This Weekend
Wright's Capitol run was previewed days in advance, with KATV reporting on October 15 that she planned to complete 160 laps around the building on November 2 to raise awareness for children waiting to be adopted. The run now leads into Project Zero's third annual Chasing Zero one-mile walk and 5K, scheduled for this coming Saturday. Organizers say the race raises money for Project Zero and supports efforts to find permanent families for children in foster care, with the nonprofit's stated mission centered on raising adoption awareness and helping kids and teens find what it calls forever families in Arkansas.
For Wright, the miles around the Capitol were less about the run itself than about who it represented. Each lap stood for a child still waiting, a message she hopes carries into Saturday's event and beyond as National Adoption Month continues across the state.
