Lewis County Superior and Juvenile Court and the Division of Children and Family Services will celebrate National Adoption Day with an event at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17.
During the event, Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler will finalize the adoptions of four 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.
A reception will follow at 2:15 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Law and Justice Center.
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, according to a news release from event organizers.
Currently, there are 5,500 foster children in Washington state with 1,000 children legally free and waiting for adoption.
Here in Region 6, approximately 230 or more have permanently lost their parents and are waiting to be adopted, according to the news release.
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, according to the news release.
Each year, approximately 20,000 foster children will age out of the system without ever being with a permanent family, according to the news release.
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.
If anyone is interested in more information on becoming a foster parent, contact Elaine Peet at the Division of Licensing Resources at 360-807-7107.
Those who are interested in becoming a court-appointed special advocate for a child should contact Lewis County Juvenile Court-appointed guardian ad litem program coordinators at 360-740-2683 or 360-740-2688.
