Dear friends, 

November is one of my favorite months of the year. This is National Adoption Month and a time to celebrate and recognize our adoptive parents, the families we unite and the children who still need homes.

I am looking forward to what I now consider one of the most special days of our year at Job and Family Services – the day we hold our mass adoption ceremony to highlight adoption month. Our first was last year and it was a tremendously emotional and uplifting event. This year’s is scheduled for Nov. 14.

The adoption ceremony is among the happiest days of the year for our staff. Nothing brings a quicker smile than finding a permanent, loving home for our children. The event stands as a symbol for all of the adoptions we will do this year. We are on pace for about 130, which is only slightly short of the county record we set last year, 135.  

This year, seven children will join five loving families. Among them: 

• Two young brothers, ages 4 and 1, who will be adopted by the foster family that has cared for them since they were infants.
• A 2-year-old boy who will be adopted by his foster mother, a registered nurse who became a foster mother after seeing children abandoned at the hospital.
• A young boy and a young girl, ages 2 and 1, who will be adopted by their foster parents, who already have four other adopted children.
• An 11-year-old boy who has excelled at school and sports since moving in with his foster – now adoptive – parents three years ago.
• A 17-year-old boy who is being adopted by the foster mother who has cared for him for the past six years. She is a native of Jamaica and he is eager to travel to her native homeland and learn about his new family’s roots. 

We also have an adoption appreciation event planned this year to say thanks to our adoptive parents, several appearances on local media outlets and you will see us out and about beating the drum on adoption because we still have more than 200 children who need adoptive homes.  

And, sadly, that number will likely remain constant. Hamilton County investigates more than 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect a year. When intensive services fail and a child can no longer remain safe in a parent’s care, the county will seek custody of the child and attempt to find a safe and loving adoptive home. That sometimes takes months or years.  

It is sad to visit our web site, www.hcadopt.org, and see all the cute, smiling children who are still waiting for homes. Especially as they grow older in our system. Yes, many of them have issues because of things that have happened in their lives, but many of them are just children who need someone loving to help and guide them. Even those with issues could overcome and thrive with the right kind of love and support.  

If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting, please visit www.hcadopt.org or contact us by phone, (513) 632-6366, or e-mail, adoption@jfs.hamilton-co.org. 

Thanks,

Moira