florida_web_fc.jpgTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida has gotten more than $5.7 million in federal money for increasing adoptions of children in foster care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that Florida was one of 39 states rewarded for boosting numbers of adoptions since 2007.

The states use the incentive money to improve their child welfare programs.

The 12 months ending June 30 saw 3,368 foster children adopted in Florida.

That was fewer than the two record years before it, but still more than before the state started an aggressive public awareness campaign three years ago.

Reforms have resulted in the number of U.S. children in foster care dropping 8 percent in the past year, and more than 20 percent in the past decade.