Illinois celebrates adoptions during National Adoption Month      

Statewide child welfare agencies join national efforts to promote adoptions

[NOV. 21, 2005]  CHICAGO -- On Friday, the Illinois Celebrates Adoption Coalition, the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the Chicago Bar Association, and numerous child welfare agencies and adoption attorneys celebrated National Adoption Month. More than 25 families were created when adoptions were finalized in court -- something that is done in an unprecedented number of courts nationwide in recognition of National Adoption Day.

"I am proud to be a part of this collaborative celebration of families," said Bryan Samuels, director of the Department of Children and Family Services. "Many children in Illinois have been placed in safe, loving homes through the adoption process."

The event at the Richard J. Daley Center on Friday morning was just one example of what can be achieved through collaborative efforts. It is the work of the Department of Children and Family Services, private agencies, judges, parents and the foster child, child advocates, and other volunteers that results in successful adoptions.

National Adoption Day, first celebrated in November 2000, brings hundreds of volunteer lawyers, child advocates, local judges and others involved with the adoption process together on one special day to expedite the adoption process and give children in foster care the permanent, loving families they deserve.

There are approximately 532,000 foster children in the United States, and about 118,000, are available for adoption. In Illinois, nearly 18,000 children are waiting for permanent homes.

The goals for National Adoption Day are to:

• Finalize more than 1,000 adoptions from foster care nationwide.
• Celebrate and honor families that adopt.
• Raise awareness and encourage others to adopt.
• Build collaboration among local adoption agencies and organizations.
• Communicate availability and need for post-adoptive services.
• Emphasize the need for good homes for sibling groups and older children currently in the child welfare system.

"Today we are celebrating the making of families through adoption," said Dana Corman, J.D., L.C.S.W., co-chair of Illinois Celebrates Adoption. "We are honoring those families who have taken children into their homes and given them a family through adoption. I hope that someone who hears about our celebration today will be able to join in our celebration next year by adopting a waiting child."

The Illinois Supreme Court granted permission for the media to photograph the courtrooms and interview the families after the hearing procedures were complete. Festivities following the court session included youth performances, as well as refreshments, balloons and cake to celebrate the adoptions completed during National Adoption Month.

Officials in attendance were Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn; state Rep. Sarah Feigenholtz, D-12th District; Bryan Samuels, director, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; Timothy C. Evans, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County; Patrick E. McGann, presiding judge of the Cook County Division; Michael Hyman, president of the Chicago Bar Association; and Merri Dee, director of community relations for WGN-TV.

Also, the first-ever Heart Gallery of Illinois, a statewide traveling photo exhibit of children waiting to be adopted, was on display.

For more information on adoption, call 1 [phone].

[Illinois Department of Children and Family Services news release]