CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, 515-271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu
National Adoption Month will culminate by uniting dozens of children with new families at the sixth annual Adoption Saturday, to be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Polk County Courthouse, 500 Mulberry St.
Drake University Law School’s Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights is teaming up with the Polk County Model Court and KidSake Foster/Adopt Iowa to present the event, which is free and open to the public. Adoption Saturday is part of a nationwide effort to finalize adoptions of children from foster care during National Adoption Month. To date, more than 12,000 children have found permanent families through National Adoption Day.
Organizers expect some 40 children will be adopted at this year’s event in Des Moines. Last year, 41 children were successfully adopted and almost 1,000 people attended.
An informational fair will take place on the first floor of the courthouse, featuring professionals providing information about local and international adoption agencies and highlighting the need for foster parents. The second floor of the courthouse will host private adoption proceedings.
A half-hour public program will start at 10:30 a.m. Speakers will include Associate Juvenile Judge Constance Cohen, a Drake Law School alumna who started Adoption Saturday in Des Moines; Chief Judge Arthur E. Gamble, former foster children Rusty Johnson, SaBreena Boyd and Terri Bailey as well as Department of Human Services Commissioner Kevin Concannon.
Local businesses have donated refreshments and University Photo will be on hand to take photographs of the new families. Other donations include gifts for participants: teddy bears for the adopted children, beanie babies for the siblings and roses for the mothers.
The Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights was established at the Drake Legal Clinic in 2001 with a $1 million gift from Drake alumni Joan and Lyle Middleton. The Middleton Center advances children’s rights through the legal process, training programs, public information and public policy formulation. Drake law students actively participate in the interdisciplinary programs.
For more information about Adoption Saturday, contact Erin Miller at the Middleton Center for Children’s Rights at 515-271-3857.