To celebrate National Adoption Day 2017, thirty-two judicial officers allowed families and press the opportunity to photograph and videotape certain uncontested adoption proceedings. The Supreme Court first issued an order authorizing cameras in court in 2012 for National Adoption Day to increase public awareness of the value of adoption.
This year approximately 220 children joined their “forever families” in 24 counties across Indiana. The counties participating this year included Allen, Bartholomew, Clark, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Hamilton, Henry, Jennings, Johnson, LaGrange, Lake, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Noble, St. Joseph, Spencer, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Wayne, and Wells.
Allen County Magistrate Lori Morgan commented, “It really warms my heart to have the opportunity to help our children and adoptive parents achieve the ‘forever families’ that they have been longing for.”
Several counties coordinated party-planning aspects of the day through The Children’s Bureau, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), or the Department of Child Services (DCS). Thanks to these partnerships, many children left the courtroom not only with a family, but also with gifts such as homemade blankets, books, balloons, and flowers to take back to their new homes.
Indiana trial courts resolve disputes in over 1.3 million cases each year, and adoptions are just one case type. Each year there are about 3,600 adoptions in the state.
View Adoption Day photos on Flickr