Thurston County Family and Juvenile Court will join the nationwide celebration at 4 p.m. Thursday by finalizing adoption orders.
Families will join in activities including reading, arts and crafts and the taking of family photographs.
The court is at 2801 32nd Ave. S.W., Tumwater and the public is invited.
Thursday is a very special day in the courtroom of Judge Anne Hirsch. At 4 p.m. Judge Hirsch will preside over formal adoption hearings in which children will be welcomed into seven families.
While most of the formal ceremony for the adoptions will be done in private before the public celebration, Judge Hirsch will sign the adoption decrees in open court during the National Adoption Day ceremony and each new family will be introduced and acknowledged.
The kids will get stuffed teddy bears, and flowers will be presented to the adoptive parents. Family photos will be taken while the children and the families participate in fun activities. The services and supplies have been donated by the community.
The National Adoption Day ceremony serves as a great reminder that there is a critical need in the South Sound community for people to step forward to legally welcome a child into their families.
Adoption, in many instances, is a second birth – an opportunity for a child from an abusive or neglectful family to find acceptance and the warm embrace of unconditional love.
Hirsch provides the following statistics collected from state resources:
• Last year in this state, 1,676 children were adopted.
• In August, there were 1,574 Washington children in out-of-home care who had legally lost their parents and were waiting to be adopted. More than 400 of those children reside in the service region that includes our community.
• While many foster children do have identified families wishing to adopt them, hundreds of others do not. Nationally, more than 28,000 children annually “age out” of the foster care system, meaning they reach the age of 18 without ever having found a permanent family.
National Adoption Day serves as a reminder that state officials are constantly on the lookout for families willing to take a risk and adopt a child.
“Many potential adoptive parents are unaware that foster children in their own community are waiting to be adopted,” Hirsch said. “Many also do not realize that adoptive parents can be single, or older or come from many different backgrounds and walks of life. There is no single right or cookie cutter recipe for an adoptive parent who can come into a child’s life and change that child, for the good, forever.”
Judge Hirsch said national statistics show that while more than 60 percent of adoptive parents are married couples, 31 percent of foster child adoptions are accomplished by single parents.
Today there are more than 9,800 children in our state who live in foster care. The average foster child waits more than two years to be adopted. Nearly 20 percent of children wait five years for adoption.
“It is a joy to have these children find the safety and warmth of loving, forever families,” said Denise Revels Robinson, assistant secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services Children’s Administration. Speaking on Adoption Day last year, Revels Robinson said, “For the children and their new families, this is a day they will never forget. The many social workers and child advocates across the state cherish this special day along with the families, and hope it will inspire others to consider opening their hearts and homes to children.”
Judge Hirsch said, “We want to raise awareness in our community and among potential parents that these children are available, and waiting to find families.”
Families or single adults who feel a tug in their heart to care for some of the most fragile children living in Washington state should take a step today and dial the statewide toll free number for potential foster or adoptive parents at 888-543-7414. Successful applicants could be part of next year’s National Adoption Day ceremony.
