Submitted by admin on Sun, 2005-11-27 09:00. ::
The Division of Youth and Family Services, the state's child welfare agency that works to protect children exposed to abuse and neglect, notes a large number of children are available; about 80 percent begin with a foster placement and almost all have some special needs, said Joe Delmar, agency spokesman.
Meredith Rose, director of adoptions, said it costs between $13,000 and $19,000 to adopt a healthy newborn child through the Adoption Options program, open to expectant parents of all ages, incomes, races and religions. No fees for adoptive parents of older children, other than the estimated $1,200 home evaluation, she said.
Catholic Charities, under the direction of the Diocese of Camden, places children born to birth mothers in Southern New Jersey; last year, it placed six newborns.
Nancy Hickman, adoption services coordinator for Catholic Charities, said the fee for adoptive parents is 12 percent of the adoptive parents' income but never more than $14,000. It charges $1,000 for a home evaluation.
Golden Cradle, which has had an office in New Jersey since 1986, arranges about 40 adoptions each year, placing children born in the United States and in other countries, said Jared Rolsky, executive director of the agency.
Adoption Options, a program of Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey: www.lsmnj.org or (609) 386-7171, ext. 111. There will be an information session for prospective parents on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at the agency's corporate office, 6 Terri Lane, Suite 300, Burlington.
Camden County recently showed off for National Adoption Day, a 5-year-old program set up to raise awareness about hundreds of thousands of children in foster care who are hoping to become permanent members of families.
Although the finalization of adoptions is done in a closed courtroom, participants are easy to spot. They often arrive at the courthouse with grandparents and siblings. Balloons and teddy bears are common. The children are wearing dress-up clothes, and the parents always wear broad smiles.
Nationally, more than 3,300 adoptions were finalized in connection with National Adoption Day this year, across 45 states and the District of Columbia, according to Julie Moriarty, a spokeswoman for the project.
On Nov. 18, the adoptions in Camden County were preceded by a lunch buffet in the Camden County Surrogate's office, where a tray of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sat next to roast beef and tuna salad hoagies. A dessert spread in the courthouse generated a sugar high.
Smiles were as broad as ever and the event showed that adoption opens the hearts of traditional families, single parents and those involved in domestic partnerships.
According to data provided on the National Adoption Day Web site, of the 523,000 children in foster care across the country, 119,000 are available for adoption. Since 1987, the organization reports, the number of children in foster care has nearly doubled and the average time a child is in foster care is now three years. Each year, about 20,000 children nationally outgrow the system without being placed permanently.
While the event in Camden County had two elements -- those finalizing adoptions from private agencies and those who worked with the state's Division of Youth and Family Services -- there was no way to tell the two groups apart.
Unlike a generation ago, when adoptions were spoken of in hushed tones, most proceedings now are so-called open adoptions, which allow birth parents to track their children through exchanges of photographs and updates on their lives.
Others, like the final bonding of Christine Johnston of Westmont with her daughter, Quinn Fionna, were the result of international organizations that place unwanted children with eager parents. "I love you, Mommy," said Quinn, who already is a U.S. citizen. She was abandoned in China, Johnston told Superior Court Presiding Family Court Judge Charles M. Rand. The child has been living with Johnston, an elementary school teacher, since Nov. 26, 2004.
The Nov. 18 adoption of 8-month-old Jarred Henry Janora-Koch marked a repeat court appearance for his parents, Joyce Koch and Deanna Janora of Mount Laurel, life partners for 20 years who adopted another son, now 2 1/2, in January 2004.
Moments later, everyone in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Octavia Melendez teared up when she told Milegros and Frank Allen of Williamstown that Frank Javier was "now yours as if he were born to you, to love, to nourish, and to guide."
The boy, going on 3, known as Javier, spent a part of the afternoon reciting the alphabet and charming everyone he met. He was entertained at the lunch buffet by his cousin and godmother, Maggie Porras, while his paternal grandparents, Cynthia and Frank Allen, talked of the joy he brought to them.
"We've had him nine months," said Cynthia Allen, "just like Millie was pregnant with him." Edgar Porras, who like the rest of the family lives in Williamstown, said it was his dream that his daughter have a child "and I'm alive to see it."
It was nine years ago that Jonathan and Maggie Corchnoy of Gloucester Township adopted Jessie, then 20 months old. The placement, arranged through Adoptions From the Heart, had developed from a tragedy, when their biological son, Rob, died in a skiing accident at 15.
The couple began bereavement counseling with Jewish Family and Children's Service and moved to the adjacent office, where adoptions were handled.
"There are times I forget I didn't give birth to Jessie. He's so much like my husband," said Maggie Corchnoy. The best feature of using Adoptions From the Heart, she said, was the ability to have contact with the biological family of Jessie, now 11. "We know three generations of his family. It's harder now to keep in touch because Jessie's getting older, but e-mails are a wonderful thing," she said.
So far this year, family court in Camden County has completed 299 adoptions, the second highest in the state. Burlington County has 153; Gloucester County, 63.
In New Jersey, it is illegal to pay anyone other than an approved agency for facilitating an adoption, said Sacharow. In private adoptions, without agency involvement, birth parents do not terminate their rights to the child until an adoption is finalized, usually in about nine or 10 months.
Although fewer than half of the women who initiate contact with agencies follow through by relinquishing their children for adoption, Cofsky said, "once they sign the relinquishment, their rights are terminated. It's automatic. It's done and can only be set aside if they can prove in court that the agency coerced them or misrepresented" how they would be proceeding.
A birth father has the right to block an adoption if he can show he had sex with the pregnant woman within 300 days of the birth of a child. "If you don't come forward within four months of the birth of the baby, it's presumed you've abandoned the child," said Cofsky. A father's claim must be filed before an adoption is finalized.
Sacharow and several adoption agencies stressed the importance of attending information sessions at an agency and consulting an attorney, either one privately retained or one working with an agency like the state's Division of Youth and Family Services.
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