EDWARDSVILLE - 30 children in foster care will join their forever families when their adoptions are finalized this morning at the Madison County Courthouse in Edwardsville. Similar events took place at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago and the Williamson County Courthouse last month and at hundreds of locations across the country in celebration of National Adoption Day.
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Madison County 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Amy Maher, Illinois DCFS and private agency staff will come together to make the day memorable for these new families. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and the finalizations will begin at 9 a.m. A celebration, including refreshments, will take place throughout the event.
“Adoption Day is a very special day in Madison County, and I look forward to it every year,” said Judge Maher. “It is immensely satisfying to see these children find their forever homes through adoption.”
“We have all heard the expression about giving our children ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ to grow into successful adults,” said Illinois DCFS Director Heidi E. Mueller. “I am excited to celebrate the families that are becoming complete today and to shine a light on the very special role adoptive parents play when they open their hearts and homes to our children. This Adoption Awareness Month, Illinois DCFS especially wants to honor and thank adoptive parents across Illinois who give children their roots by ensuring connections to community, including racial, ethnic and cultural identities; and their wings by reminding them that they will always have a safe, supportive and loving family to come home to, no matter what.”
Last fiscal year, 2,184 Illinois children were adopted into permanent, loving families. Today there are 2,841 youth in care with a permanency goal of adoption. To learn more about some of them, visit the Heart Gallery of Illinois at https://greenlightfamilyservices.org/heartgalleryofil/. For more information about becoming an adoptive parent, visit dcfs.illinois.gov and click on “Loving Homes” then on “Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent.”
Adoption is a permanent commitment to a child. DCFS offers a range of supports to adoptive families, including reimbursement for attorney fees and court costs, a monthly subsidy, a medical card and other benefits which assist in defraying expenses associated with raising a child. Many considering adoption become licensed foster families first, giving them a better understanding of the needs of children from disrupted families before making a life-changing decision.
National Adoption Day, held annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, is a collective, national effort to raise awareness of the more than 108,000 youth in foster care who are waiting for families to call their own. National Adoption Day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with courts, judges, attorneys, adoption professionals, child welfare agencies, advocates and policymakers to finalize adoptions and create and celebrate adoptive families. Since its inception in 2000, National Adoption Day has helped more than 85,000 children across the country move from foster care to forever families. To learn more about National Adoption Day, visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.
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