Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

National Adoption Day Celebrations November 16-17

Journey is 16 years old, loves to garden, cook and draw, and plans to be a botanist or a military intelligence officer. Her favorite quote is, “We need hope but we trust fear.” And she wants a family. Alex is a transgender teenager who loves music, sports, writing and everything about family, though he doesn’t currently belong to one. “One thing that every kid deserves to have is feeling welcome in a family,” he said.

Both teens have made videos, posted online with Northwest Adoption Exchange at http://indepth.nwae.org/ along with those of other foster teens, working proactively to find themselves families.

Journey and Alex are two of more than 1,700 foster children in Washington state who are now legally free to be adopted into new families. More than 150 foster children will do just that next week when courts and communities celebrate Washington’s 13^th statewide National Adoption Day with adoptions and events open to the public.

Celebrations for 22 counties are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 16 or Friday, Nov. 17. To find an event near you, visit the Washington Courts National Adoption Day page at http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/adoptionDay/?fa=adoptionDay.home.

“We are thrilled to have new programs and tools working to help adoptive parents and children come together to form new families,” said King County Superior Court Judge Dean Lum, chair of the Washington State National Adoption Day Steering Committee. “Families form a bedrock of nurturing and support from which children thrive into adulthood. Families are critical to healthy futures and healthy communities.”

While adoptions usually happen in closed court, National Adoption Day celebrations allow willing families to share their stories and their special day with the hope that other parents will consider looking into foster adoption. The goal of National Adoption Day is to raise awareness of the many hundreds of foster children in Washington state who are waiting to be adopted into new families.

Celebrating counties this year include:

Benton/Franklin               Cowlitz                                 Kitsap                                 Snohomish

Chelan/Douglas                Grant                                 Lewis                                   Spokane

Grays Harbor                    Grays Harbor                     Okanogan                           Thurston

Clallam                             Island/San Juan                 Pierce                                  Whatcom

Clark                                 King                                Skagit                                    Yakima

 “It’s a joy to take part in these community events throughout our state, celebrating new families formed through adoption and raising awareness of the many children who still wait in foster care for permanency and stability,” said Connie Lambert-Eckel, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Children’s Administration. “We’re proud to have partnered with Washington courts for so many years, on National Adoption Day and every day.”

New efforts to help connect and match foster children with adoptive parents include Northwest Adoption Exchange’s videos like those made by Journey and Alex, which are part of the teens’ self-managed online profiles. The profiles include additional content like podcasts, writing and artwork that give prospective families a real sense of who the teens are. DSHS began reverse matching events—in which foster children view family profiles, select the families they think best fit and see whether there is a reciprocal match—as well as monthly video meetings where potential adoptive parents, Court-Appointed Special Advocates/Guardians ad Litem, private adoption agencies and adoption workers share information about waiting children and families.

National Adoption Day was founded in 2000 by a handful of courts, child welfare agencies and businesses to raise awareness of the thousands of foster children awaiting adoption. Washington’s statewide celebration was launched in 2005 by the state Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care and is co-sponsored by DSHS’ Children’s Administration, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Superior Court Judges’ Association, and by WARM 106.9’s Teddy Bear Patrol program.

The statewide National Adoption Day recognition has grown from an original six counties celebrating in 2005 to now 22 counties hosting or joining in events to honor adoption and the crucial difference it makes in the lives of children.

CONTACT:  King County Superior Court Judge Dean Lum, chair, Washington State National Adoption Day Steering Committee, (206) 296-9295, dean.lum@kingcounty.gov; 
Lorrie Thompson, Senior Communications Officer, Administrative Office of the Courts, (360) 705-5347, Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov; 
Norah West, Media Relations Manager, DSHS Children’s Administration, (360) 902-7833, Norah.West@dshs.wa.gov