Formal adoption celebrations set for 80 kids in Indio, Riverside

More than six dozen children in foster care will be formally adopted during a series of hearings Saturday in Riverside and Indio in recognition of National Adoption Awareness Month.

Ceremonies will take place at the Larson Justice Center in Indio and at the downtown Riverside Historic Courthouse, during which the adoption process will be finalized for the kids and their families, who reside throughout the county, according to the Department of Public Social Services.

The DPSS is coordinating with the juvenile courts in both cities to conduct the hearings, with multiple judges and commissioners presiding, according to the agency.

Almost 80 children, from toddlers to teenagers, will be permanently placed with families. Gift baskets and teddy bears will be presented to the youths after the adoption processes are finalized.

Several county supervisors, representatives from the respective cities, judges and others are scheduled to speak.

Until 2015, the county scheduled mass adoption events to coincide with National Adoption Day, which is traditionally the Saturday before Thanksgiving. But DPSS officials said there was a switch to holding the events earlier in the month because too many families complained of scheduling conflicts going into the holiday week.

Since National Adoption Day began in 2000, more than 75,000 children nationwide have been adopted from foster care on that day, according to the National Adoption Day Coalition.

National Adoption Awareness Month is intended to focus attention on the estimated 115,000 children throughout the United States who are in foster care and eligible for adoption.

More information is available at www.nationaladoptionday.org.

More from Riverside County