Adoption Celebration Lunch

Today was our Adoption Celebration at work. My unit hosts an annual lunch for our Juvenile Court Judge, court staff, other case managers, contracting agencies, State Office Adoption Staff, etc. This is one of the events at work that really gets to the heart of the matter and helps us all remember why we do the work we do.

Here is what I said to our guests today:

We would like to thank you for joining us today. You were invited to this celebration because you make a huge difference in the lives of Floyd County foster children. We want to thank you for the impact you make on their lives and ask you to celebrate with us as we look back at 2008.

Over the past year and a half, DFCS has seen many changes. The most important of these changes is the charge we have been given:

"Children thriving in safe and stable, forever families, sooner."

The terms "Long term foster care" and "Emancipation" are quickly becoming extinct from our vocabulary and we are replacing these with the word "Permanency".

Permanency comes in many different forms: reunification with biological family, a permanent placement with a relative, kinship custody, or adoption.

As we focus on the permanency goal of adoption today, I would like to share some numbers with you.

2008
34 adoptions finalized in Floyd County
4 finalized within the Federal guideline of 24 months
8 teenagers placed with adoptive families
6 sibling groups of two or more children
11 adoptions finalized on children who had been in the foster care system for 5 years or longer

In 2009, the Floyd County adoption unit has been given the goal of finalizing 50 adoptions! With your help, we can continue place our children in "forever families" sooner and not allow them to linger in foster care.

After I finished speaking, each of my workers shared a personal story of one of the children on their caseload. Then we showed the following video. I hope as you watch this video, you can relate to why I am so passionate about the job that I do....even though it stresses me out most days! These kids are worth every stressful moment!