Lewis County Superior and Juvenile Court and the Division of Children and Family Services invite the public to help celebrate the joys of adoption — and encourage more people to give children permanent families through adoption — during a special event planned for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis.
A reception will follow at 2:15 p.m. on the first floor of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center.
As part of National Adoption Day, Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler will finalize the adoptions of five children from foster care.
Judge J. Andrew Toynbee, Judge Joely Yeager, Court Commissioner Paul Strophy, Superior Court Administrator Susie Palmateer, Assistant Superior Court Administrator Paula Willey, Juvenile Court Administrator Shad Hail, juvenile court dependency attorneys, child advocates and community stakeholders will all be invited to attend and celebrate the adoption process.
This celebration is part of a nationwide effort to call special attention to the more than 113,000 foster children waiting in the United States for adoption and to celebrate all loving families that adopt.
Currently, there are 5,500 foster children in Washington state with 1,000 children legally free and waiting for adoption. In the Lewis County and surrounding region, approximately 230 or more have permanently lost their parents and are waiting to be adopted.
Since 1987, the number of children in foster care nationally has doubled, and the average time a child remains in foster care has lengthened to nearly three years. Each year, approximately 20,000 foster children will age out of the system without ever being with a permanent family.
National Adoption Day is sponsored nationally by the Alliance for Children’s Rights, Casey Family Services, Children Action Network, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Freddie Mac Foundation.
For more information, visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.
Those interested in information on becoming a foster parent can contact Elaine Peet at 360-807-7107. Those interested in becoming a court-appointed special advocate for a child can contact Lewis County Juvenile Court’s court-appointed guardian ad litem program coordinators at 360-740-2683 or 360-740-2688.
