Formal adoption celebrations set for 100 kids in Indio, Riverside
About 100 children in foster care will be formally adopted during a series of hearings next week in Riverside and Indio in recognition of National Adoption Awareness Month.
Ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Larson Justice Center in Indio and the downtown Riverside Historic Courthouse, during which the adoption process will be finalized for the kids and their families, who reside throughout the county, according to the Department of Public Social Services.
DPSS is coordinating with the juvenile courts in both cities to conduct the hearings, with multiple judges and commissioners presiding, according to the agency.
Children ranging from a few years old to teenagers will be permanently placed with families. Gift baskets and Teddy bears will be presented to the youths after the adoption processes are finalized.
Elected officials from several cities, judges and others are scheduled to speak.
Until 2015, the county scheduled mass adoption events to coincide with National Adoption Day, which is traditionally the Saturday before Thanksgiving. But DPSS officials said that there was a switch to setting the events earlier in the month because too many families complained of scheduling conflicts going into the holiday week.
Since National Adoption Day began in 2000, over 75,000 children nationwide have been adopted from foster care on that day, according to the National Adoption Day Coalition.
National Adoption Awareness Month is intended to focus attention on the estimated 115,000 children throughout the United States who are in foster care and eligible for adoption.
More information is available at www.nationaladoptionday.org.
