Thirteen foster children will become permanent members of families today as their adoptions are finalized during a rare public event.
National Adoption Day will be celebrated with a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Benton County Justice Center, 7122 W. Okanogan Place, Kennewick. The public is invited to attend, with the main event starting in Superior Court's courtroom B, followed by adoption proceedings in three separate courtrooms.
Adoption hearings generally are closed.
Nine families will welcome the children into their homes. Each child will get a teddy bear and a framed picture of their new family with the judge to mark the event.
National Adoption Day was founded in 2000 by a coalition of national child welfare organizations hoping to raise awareness of the thousands of foster children available for adoption.
Benton-Franklin Superior Court has been celebrating National Adoption Day
since 2006.
More than 175 children are expected to be adopted during special court events this month across the state.
Information about the adoption process and services will be available in the big hallway outside the courtrooms.
"It is a joy to have these children find the safety and warmth of loving, forever families," Denise Revels Robinson, assistant secretary of the state's Children's Administration, said in a news release. "For the children and their new families, this is a day they will never forget."
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National Adoption Day will be celebrated with a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Benton County Justice Center, 7122 W. Okanogan Place, Kennewick.
The public is invited to attend. The main event starts in Superior Court's court-room B, followed by adoption proceedings in other courtrooms.
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