WHAT:
Over 100 children who have been in state foster care will be formally adopted in five courthouses across the Commonwealth in celebration of the 12th annual National Adoption Day -- an event that aims to draw attention to the thousands of children currently in state care who are in need of adoptive families.
Members of the National Adoption Day Planning Committee and Trial Court leaders will be speaking at each of the events. Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey, Trial Court Administrator Harry Spence, and Juvenile Court Chief Justice Amy L. Nechtem will each make brief remarks at the Brooke Courthouse in Boston. Department of Children and Families staff members, Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) staff members, Children's Friends of Worcester, and community volunteers will attend events across the state.
Media should be advised that every site will have families who are willing to have their photos taken during the adoption ceremony, but permission from the individual families should still be sought. Children and their adoptive families will be participating in activities at each of the courthouses throughout the day.
National Adoption Day is one of several projects supported by the Massachusetts Court Improvement Program, which receives federal funds and is administered by the Supreme Judicial Court.
WHEN:
Friday, November 21, 2014
Opening ceremonies at all five courthouses will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by formal adoptions in Juvenile or Probate & Family Court courtrooms.
WHERE:
Boston - Edward W. Brooke Courthouse
Brockton - George N. Covett Courthouse
Hadley - Franklin/Hampshire Juvenile Court
Springfield - Hampden County Juvenile Court
Worcester - Worcester Trial Court
CONTACT: Jennifer Donahue/Erika Gully-Santiago
617/557-1114
Jennifer.Donahue@sjc.state.ma.us