JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Family support services of North Florida tells us more than one thousand children are in foster care locally and in need of adoption. It’s part of a larger national need with 100-thousand young children and teens looking to get adopted.
On Wednesday, a special ceremony at the Duval County Courthouse, where nearly 20 children, infants, and teens were adopted by loving families.
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November is National Adoption Month, and 19 kids in Duval County got a forever home.
Cheers, tears, and plenty of hugs were seen on Wednesday inside one Duval County courtroom during a special ceremony held to commemorate National Adoption Month
14 families, one by one, going in front of the judges to let them know that a child once in foster care would now be in a forever loving home.
Amanda and Shanique Nowlin, both former child welfare workers, adopted their 6-year-old son earlier this year, and today they adopted his 2-year-old biological sister
“We finally get to keep them together, they finally get to have the same last name, and they are guaranteed to grow up together in the same home,” said mother Amanda Nowlin.
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“There are children that can say and express the feeling of I love you, that means a heck of a lot,” said Judge Michael Kalil.
City council member Chris Miller presented a resolution on behalf of the city in Jacksonville. He said this meant a lot for him, as growing up he knew kids in the foster care system looking for a home.
“Every child deserves to be loved,” said Miller.
With the banging of the gavel, that love for the newest addition to the family was felt.
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