On Saturday, November 21, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse (832 East Fourth Street, Charlotte, NC 28202) children and their families are scheduled to be recognized for their adoption on Adoption Day. More than half of the children being recognized have been in Mecklenburg County foster care system.

The event portion of National Adoption Day, is free and open to the public. Mecklenburg County Juvenile Court, the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court's Office, Trial Court Administrator's Office, Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem Advocacy Foundation and the Mecklenburg County Guardian Ad Litem program are sponsoring this event. The court session will be presided over by District Court Judge Rickye McKoy-Mitchell, and is part of a larger event taking place at the courthouse that includes games and activities for children. Representatives from various adoption agencies will also be on hand to answer questions regarding adoption. Entertainment will feature The International Bouncing Bulldogs Jump Rope Demonstration Team as well as Monkey Business Entertainment and Events who will provide characters to interact with the children.

This year, the court will recognize a total of 130 youths who have received decrees between December, 2014 and November, 2015 to a total of 94 adoptive families. Sixty-four of these youths were adopted through Mecklenburg County DSS Youth and Family Service Regular Adoptions, 54 were adopted through Mecklenburg County DSS Interstate Compact for Placement of Children (ICPC) and 12 were adopted through Christian Adoption Services.

National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in U.S. foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. This annual, one-day event has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with policymakers, practitioners and advocates to finalize adoptions and create and celebrate adoptive families.

In total, National Adoption Day helped nearly 50,000 children move from foster care to a forever family. Communities across the country celebrate Adoption Day the Saturday before every Thanksgiving. In 2014, approximately 4,500 children were adopted by their forever families during the 15th annual National Adoption Day celebration in nearly 400 cities across the United States.

This year the National Adoption Day Coalition expects 4,500 children in foster care to be adopted on November 21, 2015, this year's National Adoption Day.

Sponsors of this year's Adoption Day in Mecklenburg County include the local non-profit Justice Initiatives Inc. (www.justiceinitiatives.org), Harris Teeter and Food Lion, Kappa Alpha Theta, and students from UNC Charlotte School of Social Work and CPCC Human Services Department.

For more information regarding this news release, please contact: Charles Keller, Community Access and Outreach Administrator, at 704-686-0269 or email [email protected].