State Agencies Recognize National Adoption Month
Department of Children and Families (DCF) and New Jersey Courts to Finalize Over 130 Adoptions at Events Taking Place Across the State

TRENTON - The New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) and New Jersey Courts will celebrate National Adoption Month this November by co-hosting numerous events across the state to honor adoptive families and to finalize the adoptions of approximately 135 children in foster care.

While adoptions occur all year, many of this month’s events, stretching from Cape May to Sussex County, were held on  Friday, November 20, with 15 counties finalizing about 120 adoptions. 

“It’s always deeply moving to witness children in long-term foster care become officially joined with their forever family”, said DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer, who sent a special video message to be shared at the adoption day finalizations and celebrations happening across the state.  “Whether they initially came together through a kinship or resource home placement, this year more than any other has highlighted the importance of family bonds and social connections in all of our lives,  and it’s truly a special moment that these families will cherish for a lifetime”, Beyer added.

As of August 2020, approximately 25,000 families were involved with DCF’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency. About 96% are served and supported in their own homes with their families intact and 4% of families experienced family separation or foster care. In the instances for which children must be removed from the home, over 36-percent are placed with relatives or family friends. This year, only about five-percent (1,207) of children in foster care were declared legally free for adoption by the courts.

Since potential foster and adoptive families go through the same resource family licensing protocols, the transition from fostering to adoption is typically a seamless process.

Each county/court vicinage develops its own programming to recognize and honor the unification and finalization of families.  Events this year will vary from drive by parades to zoom parties, photo shoots, and outdoor events.  This year’s celebrations include adoption finalizations for kinship families, adolescents and sibling groups.

Reporters and media outlets interested in sharing adoptive families’ stories or covering one of the many Adoption Month events taking place throughout the state should be aware of the following:

• Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, and in compliance with current health and safety protocols and regulations, the majority of court adoption finalizations were held on the Zoom virtual platform and the number of attendees were determined by the presiding judge.
• If the press is interested in covering a National Adoption Month event or families in their coverage area, please email the DCF Press Office at Communications@dcf.nj.gov, for further information.
• Some counties are also celebrating private adoptions that are not conducted through the state’s child welfare system.

For more information on adoption, call 1-800-NJ ADOPT (992-3678) or visit the DCF adoption Web site at www.njadopt.org.