Our local foster families are heroes
In Kern County, November is an extraordinary month. Not only do we, as a nation, celebrate Thanksgiving, but for the last 17 years, the Kern County Department of Human Services, along with our valued partners — Superior Court Juvenile Justice Center & Family Law, the CARE Foundation, Foster Agencies: Koinonia, Aspiranet, Kern Bridges — work together to make National Adoption Day — from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 22 — possible.
Each year nearly 200 children are adopted out of foster care in Kern County. In November, the culmination of months of planning comes to fruition as National Adoption Day unfolds at the Juvenile Justice Center in Bakersfield. Each family who is adopting a child receives a special gift bag that includes a handmade blanket, a special Adoption Day Book, a memorial photo frame as well as information about post-adoption support in Kern County.
The families are greeted by staff donning Disney prince and princess costumes, who also pose for photos. Families can participate in games, face painting and an offering of delicious treats.
Many individuals who decide to become resource foster parents hope to adopt a child. However, our number one hope and goal is to see families be able to make changes and have their children returned to them. When this isn’t possible, adoption may become the plan for a child to have a permanent home.
Resource foster families are special people who are able to manage the many emotions they experience throughout the process of caring for children in foster care. The reward comes for these families when the child becomes theirs at the time of the finalization of adoption.
This is formalized, as the judge announces the child’s new name, and their new family becomes the child’s forever home. The adoptive parents are the heroes to these little ones.
They choose to bring foster children into their hearts and homes. The gift of new life and the promise of a bright, secure future is a blessing to these hopeful children as well as their mom and dad.
Dena Murphy is the director of the Department of Human Services.