From Houghton in the Upper Peninsula’s northwest to Adrian in the southeastern Lower Peninsula, many Michigan families today are celebrating the addition of new family members on Michigan’s eighth annual Adoption Day.
Macomb County is one of nearly 30 Michigan counties that are holding Adoption Day events.
Today — November 23 — was designated in a resolution approved by the Michigan Supreme Court as “Michigan Adoption Day.” The action is co-sponsored by the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Department of Human Services and the Child Welfare Services division of the State Court Administrative Office.
Macomb County Circuit Court plans to open adoption hearings to the public for two hours today.
The goal is to educate the community about the process, officials say, and to bring attention to the many children waiting to be adopted.
Typically, adoptions hearings are closed to the public, but adoptions in Judge Antonio P. Viviano’s courtroom will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to honor the day.
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway will be among the dignitaries on hand for the event in Mt. Clemens.
In other areas of the state, events include finalizing adoptions and parties for adoptive families. Some counties are holding informational open houses with speakers and information about the adoption process.
Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly said that Michigan Adoption Day provides a valuable window into the adoption process.
“Adoption finalization hearings are usually private,” she said. “But on Adoption Day, the participating families and courts open these hearings to the public, allowing others to witness the final stage of the adoption process.
“We hope the experience may inspire others to consider adoption and will call attention to the needs of the young people who remain in foster care.”
The Department of Human Services, the Michigan Federation for Children and Families, the courts and other public and private partners joined a national campaign,
“Answering the Call: You don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent,” to recruit foster and adoptive parents for children awaiting permanency.
The department’s efforts earned a federal award for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care in 2009 — the largest award of this kind in the department’s history, DHS
Director Ismael Ahmed said.
“All children deserve a safe, loving and stable home,” Ahmed said. “For the past year, our department has undertaken significant reforms to make sure we’re doing our part to make that happen. Because of our efforts and those of our partners, more children are leaving Michigan’s foster care system for permanent homes.”
Guest speakers at Michigan Adoption Day events include the chief justice, other justices of the Michigan Supreme Court, DHS Director Ismael Ahmed and Dr. John Seita.
Seita, the keynote speaker at Wayne County’s Adoption Day event, was removed from his mother’s home at age 8 and spent the remainder of his childhood and youth in multiple foster placements, children’s homes and on the streets. The author of Growing Up in the Care of Strangers, Seita is an associate professor of social work at Michigan State University. He established the Seita Scholarships for foster care youth at Western Michigan University.
There are about 3,500 children in the foster care system with the goal of adoption, officials said. In calendar year 2010, DHS and private agencies oversaw the adoptions of more than 2,500 children.
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