Families across the U.S. will finalize their adoption of a child, teenager or sibling group from foster care either on or near National Adoption Day, November 19. Following tradition, many judges open their courthouse on that Saturday before Thanksgiving to complete adoptions and bring smiles to the faces of children and adults alike. In total this November, subsidiaries of nonprofit leader KVC Health Systems are helping to facilitate the adoptions of 93 children in Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia.

More than 100,000 U.S. children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. Children’s profiles can viewed at www.adoptuskids.org, or for those children served by KVC, at http://adoption.kvc.org. The profiles include photos, bios and, in some cases, videos.

One happy story is that of Bob, a 17-year old who was in foster care and wondered if he was “too old to be adopted.” Thanks to a video shared on social media that showed his easygoing personality and his desire for a family, his story reached the perfect couple. Jerry Gross and Keira Jones responded immediately and Bob became a permanent part of their family this fall. Click here to read more and watch the heart-touching story of how the family surprised Bob with their desire to adopt him.

KVC Health Systems is a private, nonprofit organization that provides in-home family support, foster care, adoption and psychiatric hospitals through direct care subsidiaries in multiple states. In Kansas, KVC serves more than half of all children and families involved in the child welfare system. Since 2005, KVC has matched more than 3,385 children nationwide with adoptive families. The agency has also completed construction of the new KVC Institute for Health Systems Innovation in Olathe, Kan. which includes a high-tech Interactive Family and Adoption Center. To KVC’s knowledge, this is the first and only center of its kind devoted to matching thousands more children in foster care with adoptive families using video recording equipment, teleconferencing and social media. Learn more at www.kvc.org/institute.

Media representatives in Kansas are invited to observe adoption finalizations and interview adoptive families at the times and locations below. Media in other states can contact KVC.

KANSAS CITY – 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18
Wyandotte County Courthouse (710 N. 7^th St. Trfy) – across the street at Division 11
Approximately 8 children’s adoptions will be finalized.

TOPEKA – 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19
Shawnee County Courthouse (200 SE 7^th St.)
This event will include a press conference for media and balloon release for families.
Approximately 22 children’s adoptions will be finalized.

OLATHE – 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19
Johnson County Courthouse (100 N. Kansas Ave.)
Approximately 11 children’s adoptions will be finalized.

According to AdoptUSKids, “Adopting a child from foster care is a great way to help a child while growing your family. Children enter foster care through no fault of their own, because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned. These children are in the temporary custody of the state while their birth parents are given the opportunity to complete services that will allow the children to be returned to them if it is in the children’s best interest.”

“Just more than half of children who go into foster care return to their birth families. For children who become available for adoption, many are adopted by a relative or their foster parents.

Visit www.kvc.org/NAM to learn more about National Adoption Month and visit our adoption website to meet the children in need of an adoptive family.

Media coverage:

• Children in Kansas, Missouri walk out of courts with families of their own (Kansas City Star)
• National Adoption Day sees dozens of kids adopted in Kansas (KSNT Topeka)
• Mass adoption event celebrates Topeka families (Topeka Capital Journal)