Adoption Day 27Newly adopted children and their families celebrated at the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center on November 3 as a part of Austin’s 15th Adoption Day.

Austin Adoption Day is a partnership between the Austin Bar Association, Austin Bar Foundation, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and Court Appointed Special Advocates with help from Travis County Juvenile Probation, Partnerships for Children, the Travis County Office of Child Representation, and the Travis County Children’s Protective Services Board.

Travis County judges finalized the adoptions of 53 children to 31 families at this year’s event, and the kids received hundreds of donations—from teddy bears to new books.

“The real stars of Adoption Day are the families,” attorney Denise Hyde, chair of the Austin Bar’s Adoption Day Committee, said in a news release. “They have opened their hearts and their homes to create new families.”

Each family was also given access to a complimentary wills package, consisting of family wills, durable powers of attorney, medical power of attorney, and directives to physicians, provided by Austin attorney Fred Helms.

November is National Adoption Month and Austin Adoption Day is part of the nationwide effort to celebrate adoptive families and draw attention to the continuing need for foster and adoptive homes. To learn more about the more than 6,000 Texas children awaiting adoption and how foster care and adoption works, go to adoptchildren.org or call the Texas Adoption Information Line at (800) 233-3405.

Photograph courtesy of the Austin Bar Association.