Community Corner
More Than 50 Kids To Be Adopted by Riverside County Families
More than 50 foster care children will be formally adopted during a series of hearings Saturday at the Riverside Historic Courthouse.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — More than 50 foster care children will be formally adopted during a series of hearings Saturday at the Riverside Historic Courthouse, in recognition of National Adoption Awareness Month.
The Riverside County Superior Court is hosting the ceremonies, during which the adoption process will be finalized for all 56 children, welcomed into homes by 40 families who reside throughout the county, according to the Department of Public Social Services.
DPSS is coordinating with the court to conduct the hearings, which will be presided over by several judges and commissioners over a roughly four- hour span.
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"There are many wonderful children in need of loving and supportive families," said DPSS Director Sarah Mack. "It's a community celebration that inspires families to consider adoption."
The children being adopted include toddlers and teenagers.
One of the adoptive parents, Dr. Sacha Lewis of Temecula, will be making an orphaned 2-year-old girl her daughter.
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"I'll officially be her mother," Lewis said. "We can move forward as a family. I can't imagine life without her."
According to DPSS, just over 100 foster children are currently awaiting permanent placement with adoptive parents countywide.
Until 2015, the county scheduled mass adoption events to coincide with National Adoption Day, which is traditionally the Saturday before Thanksgiving. According to DPSS spokeswoman Colette Crawford, officials decided to start holding the event earlier in the month because too many families complained of scheduling conflicts going into the holiday week.
Since National Adoption Day began in 2000, more than 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 125,000 children in foster care who are eligible for permanent placement.
More information is available at http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us/childrens-services-division/adoption- information/adoptions-legal-guardianship, or by calling 800-665-5437.
—By City News Service
