Two-year-old Anna was placed in foster care as a baby. Reunification with her birth family was attempted.
“It was not the best place for her,” Patty Richardson, Anna’s new mom, said.
On Nov. 16, Patty and her husband Curtis adopted little Anna into their family. “It has been a long haul,” Patty said. “But it is such a blessing in the end. We are now her forever family.”
The Richardsons had 14 foster children and adopted three.
“We have been foster parenting since 2002,” Patty said. “As far as we are concerned, we never think of them as adopted children. They are a part of us, a part of our family. Our family has just graciously opened up our home and welcomed them all. We never think about them as any different as any other child, grandchild or cousin. They are just a part of us.”
This was a glorious day for dad.
“This is all about reaching out,” Curtis stated. “You could say this is a ministry, but it is reaching out to people in need, helping them, trying to connect with people.”
After Anna’s adoption ceremony took place at the courthouse, the family left to pick up a newborn who needed a home.
“The goal is always to reunify, but when that is not possible we are willing to open up our home to these kids and love them as our own,” said Patty.
“Patty has a real heart for kids and tries to help bring them back to their mothers, but if that’s not possible, we take them and keep them,” Grandma Stephanie Richardson, said as she embraced Dustin, 7. “We love them all.”
Anna Keeney, of Springfield, is Patty’s mother.
“They are wonderful blessings and I am just thrilled,” said Keeny. “They are wonderful parents to let us be grandparents to the children. They are not adopted children to us, they are my natural born grandchildren and I love them dearly.”
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2005 data, approximately 899,000 children were victims of maltreatment. Not all of them go into foster care or are available for permanent placement. Adopt Us Kids, an organization which works with the Department of Health and Human Services, reports less than one percent of the population would have to commit to adopting in order for every child in foster care to have a forever family.
There are 129,000 kids available for adoption in the country. The Department of Children’s Services, in Summit County, reports 200 children are up for adoption.
“About 100 of them, we already have families for,” Executive Director John Saros reported. “We need families for the other 100.”
The laws have changed during the last 10 years, allowing the adoption process to go faster and smoother. Children are not in limbo as long.
“Because the process has speeded up,” Saros said, “we have more kids available for adoption. The whole point is to try to reduce the amount of time children are at a temporary status. We are looking for permanency for every child, either with their birth family or with an adoptive family. It is a real challenge to find families. We are constantly looking.”
The criteria for adoptive families is love.
“They’ve got to have a big heart and a lot of love in their home,” said Saros. “They have to have a willingness to pay it forward and care about kids, help them, and make a better future for that child, their family, and the community as a whole.”
Many people are afraid to bring a child into their home because of their past.
“Many people are scared off,” Mike Potisuk, a social worker, said. “They are afraid what kind of problems they may get into, but in reality, adoption has a lot of great kids.”
Saros said, “The kids we put up for adoption had troubled childhoods and often times they come with issues, but we help in a number of ways.”
The agency offers foster and adoptive parenting classes.
“We also make sure we have provided post-adoptive special support services,” Saros said. “We continue to work with kids and their family.”
State funding is available to provide additional services and an adoption subsidy.
“We want our families to know we provide full disclosure,” said Saros. “Everything we know about a youngster, we are going to tell a family. The whole idea is to have a good match. We don’t want these children to be disrupted.”
Saros wants families to know they are not in this alone.
“We have a very professional and helping staff to assist in the process,” he said. “We want to partner with them to make this work.”
Many older children need adopted.
“We have a couple of teens being adopted today,” Potisuk stated. “If they would not be adopted today, they would be in the system until they are 18 year old.”
Kaylynn, 6, was adopted by the Richardsons. She was at the courthouse to welcome her sister into the family. She is sharing a room with Anna. Kaylynn is very happy to have found her forever family. Anna and her family were wearing a shirt with the message for the day.
“Adoption is love,” said Patty. “Love is family. Family is forever.”
Kaylynn told her story. “When I was a baby, my mom adopted me so I am here to stay with her.”
About her family?
“I love them,” she said, beaming from ear to ear.
November is National Adoption Month. If you are interested in giving a child a forever family, contact the Department of Children’s Services. Summit County is 330-379-9094. Stark County Children’s Services is 330-455-5437.
