November 21, 2020
Many Ways to Build a Family
The Beginning
The first adoption day was inspired by Michael Nash, a former presiding judge of Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Court. His personal mission reduced the backlog of adoption cases through opening his court on Sunday and coordinating the volunteer efforts of court employees to finalize adoptions in one of the busiest courts in the nation.
For the past twenty years, National Adoption Day has given a voice to the more than 120,000 children in the United States waiting to be adopted from foster care. A coalition of founding national partners — the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Alliance for Children’s Rights and Children’s Action Network – partnered with the Freddie Mac Foundation to encourage nine cities to open their courts on or around the Saturday before Thanksgiving to finalize and celebrate adoptions from foster care.
National Adoption Day 2020
Today, annual events happen in 400 cities across the United States and have led to the adoption of more than 75,000 children in foster care. Unfortunately, these events cannot take place in person in light of the Covid-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world for the past year. We are still observing National Adoption day and encourage you to follow state and local guidelines and consider scheduling virtual adoption hearings if it is allowed in your jurisdiction.
In celebration of National Adoption Day, please share in the celebration by tagging @DTFA (Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption) and using the hashtag #nationaladoptionday to help raise awareness and show your support. Visit the National Adoption Day website for more information.