skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Colorado posts 2nd-highest loss of Medicaid coverage in the nation; Biden opens NATO summit by announcing new air defenses for Ukraine; New map reveals high wildfire risks for Florida amid heat wave; Advocacy groups want NM's Governor to halt the special legislative session.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Senate Democrats aim to hold Trump accountable for election subversion if the Supreme Court won't, a first progressive "squad" member sticks with Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley offers Trump her delegates.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A new wildfire map shows where folks are most at risk of losing a home nationwide, rural North Carolina groups promote supportive and affordable housing for those in substance-abuse recovery, and bookmobiles are rolling across rural California.

November spotlights successful adoptions, Indiana kids still waiting

play audio
Play

Thursday, November 2, 2023   

November is National Adoption Month, a time to boost awareness of the need for adoption and the number of children in foster care seeking permanent homes.

Throughout the month, Indiana courts will hold hearings on pre-scheduled days to legalize adoptions for families who have successfully completed the requirements.

Michelle Savieo, Indiana Adoption Program manager for the Department of Child Services, said the courts have celebrations, and bring in providers who can offer resources to these families.

"Our program offers gift bags for the courts to share with families, that include resources and fun items related to adoption," Savieo explained. "The purpose is to let them know that we celebrate their adoption, we celebrate their family, but also that they will have ongoing support, throughout their lives and throughout the adoption."

Savieo said 1,300 Indiana children have been placed in permanent homes so far this year. She pointed out families who want to adopt can begin the process on a state website to submit an inquiry. According to the state, the average number of days a child in Marion County is in foster care is 378.

The Indiana Department of Child Service's policy states for a child to be legally adopted, the biological parents' rights have to be terminated. But social media's broad reach has sidestepped the requirement and helped some birthparents find their children. Savieo noted research has shown the importance of keeping some contact with a child's biological family, but the adoptive parents can decide if they want to encourage contact.

"Sometimes it is in the child's best interest, if it can be done safely, so that they can really work to marry their past with their present," Savieo noted. "But the law does not require contact."

In 2016, then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill granting people born between 1941 and 1993 access to their adoption records and original birth certificates. It did not take effect until 2018, giving birthparents time to sign a form to prevent releasing their identifying information.

The state's website lists the most common reasons for an adoptee to seek out their biological family as curiosity, to gain medical or family information and to learn the reasons behind the adoption.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The federal "Be Heard in the Workplace Act," which targets workplace discrimination and harassment, is set to be reintroduced in Congress this month. (Prostock-studio/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Today is Black Women's Equal Pay Day and at 11 a.m. PT, advocates hope to get the topic trending with a "social media storm." The wage gap is stark…


Environment

play sound

A ruling from a federal judge will keep Washington state growers from depressing wages for farmworkers this harvest season. Judge John Chun has …

Social Issues

play sound

Twenty years after Massachusetts became the first state to permit marriage equality, a majority of same-sex married couples say it had a profound …


Before implementing a union contract, four of five year-round full-time City of Richmond workers did not earn enough money to support a family. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

More than a year after City of Richmond workers filed to vote on a union contract, they are celebrating its implementation. The contract provides …

Social Issues

play sound

AARP has selected four projects in Idaho to receive $49,000 in grants. The projects were chosen by the organization's annual Community Challenge …

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., has held his seat since 2007. (Courtesy of Bob Casey for Senate campaign)

Environment

play sound

Pennsylvania's landscape is being transformed through billions of dollars in federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastru…

Social Issues

play sound

By Nathan Treece for Little Rock Public Radio.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Little Rock Public Radio-Win…

Environment

play sound

By Lena Beck for Modern Farmer.Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for North Carolina News Service reporting for the Modern Farmer-Public News Servic…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021