Wilson County’s Department of Social Services will hold its ninth annual Adoption Awareness Celebration Saturday as
part of National Adoption Month to educate people on the adoption process and to maybe find permanent homes for children in foster care.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. DSS personnel will be at Toisnot Middle School holding educational sessions for interested families. Topics covered will include maximizing the use of adoption assistance funds, managing difficult behaviors and mental health resources. Family fun activities will include a moon bouncer, train rides, games, balloons and face painting with a clown. There will also be hot dogs, chips, drinks, candy apples and cotton candy.
North Carolina has thousands of children waiting for adoption from foster care, and according to DSS children who are not placed in permanent homes are less likely to graduate from high school and are at greater risk for homelessness, incarceration, and reliance on welfare than those with permanent families.
Approximately 300,000 children in the United States enter the foster care system each year. While 51 percent of these children will be returned to their parents, other children will remain in foster care. This year’s theme is “You don’t have to be perfect, to be a perfect parent.”
The goal of DSS is to spread awareness on the issue of adoption from foster care and to increase the number of foster and adoptive parents in the community and nation.
“We have an urgent need for safe and permanent homes for children in Wilson County, said Jennifer Walston, Foster Care and Adoptions social worker. “We want to encourage people to give us a call. We know there are many loving caring homes that could be the perfect place for many of these children.”
Eddie Fitzgerald
