With a toddler bounding through the house, it was hard to ignore the constant energy, laughing and occasional crying.
But Josh and Michelle Skaggs didn’t want to grow too accustomed to the activity. They had opened up their home to Jessie when he was only a year old and had been working since then to finalize custody and adopt him throughout this year.
They had gotten close, but each time they thought the process was finished, a new obstacle arose.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“We want to make this permanent. We want to be able to share him with other people, to spend Christmas with him and not have to worry about it,” Michelle Skaggs said. “We want to go to bed at night, knowing that tomorrow we wouldn’t get a phone call saying someone was coming to take him.”
The couple’s long, up-and-down journey came to an end Monday, when their adoption of Jessie was finalized. They celebrated their newly complete family during a special ceremony at the Johnson County Courthouse for Adoption Day.
Jessie was one of six children to be adopted Monday. The Adoption Day event was designed as a party recognizing a new start for the children involved, but it also helped raise awareness of the need for more adoptive parents and the kids still waiting for a safe home of their own.
“For us at Indiana Adoption Program, it’s a chance to celebrate our successes and families who have taken in children. But bigger picture, it’s a chance to make the community aware that there are still 150 children in Indiana who need homes,” said Anna Wolak, director of adoption recruitment for Children’s Bureau Inc., which works in partnership with the Indiana Department of Child Services to handle adoptions.
Adoption Day was created by national adoption advocates in order to bring attention to the need for more families to give a home to children in foster care. The campaign recognizes the importance of adoptive parents and the need to provide children with a permanent home.
Indiana’s Department of Child Services has made a concerted effort to increase adoptions over the past three years, developing a special website and celebrating the families who go through the process.
From 2014 to 2016, adoptions in the state increased from 1,038 to 1,509.
In Johnson County, it’s organized by the Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, program, which serves as protectors for children who have been abused and neglected and who are under the protection of the court.
The organization’s volunteers meet regularly with the child, review records and talk to family members and professionals involved in the child’s case. They then serve as the intermediary between the judge and the child.
For those involved with the long process, Adoption Day is a powerful culmination of a long journey for their wards.
“It’s the best day of the year for us, and judges like it too. They see the hard side of the process, and when reunification isn’t the best option for the child, they need families to step up and help these kids,” Wolak said. “It’s a different feeling to come to court for a happy occasion. We get to see families made.”
Before Jessie came into their lives two years ago, Josh and Michelle Skaggs weren’t expecting to adopt a child.
The couple has three children already — 18-year-old Mikayla, 12-year-old Nolan and 10-year-old Haylin. They had just moved into a three-bedroom farmhouse in Trafalgar, where all of the kids would have their own rooms.
That changed when Jessie, and his older sister Julia, came to live with them.
The adoption process started with Julia. Mikayla Skaggs had approached her parents and told them that Julia, one of her friends, was having problems at home. She was living in a hotel after her mom was arrested, and she didn’t have a place to live.
The family agreed to let Julia stay with them for two weeks. That arrangement turned into a year, at which point they took Julia’s mother to court to get formal custody.
Around the same time, Jessie had just been born and was taken into custody by Julia and Jessie’s grandmother and aunt. That arrangement lasted until November 2015, when the grandmother called the Skaggs family, unable to care for Jessie any longer.
“We got the phone call and she was very upset. He was going to be adopted outside of the family,” Michelle Skaggs said. “Since we had his biological sister, we said we’d take him as well. The only reason we did this was to keep brother and sister together.”
Before adding two more people to the family, Josh and Michelle Skaggs sat down with their children to talk it over. Everyone was unanimous about taking Julia and Jessie in.
Jessie came to live with them on Feb. 5. The family went to work adapting their three bedroom home into a five bedroom house, so that each child could still have their own room.
They had been in the process of remodeling the house, so they had some money set aside for interior work. A new kitchen was put on hold so that they could buy all of the things needed to care for an infant — a bed, diapers, wipes, clothing, toys and other items.
“This was not expected at all,” Josh Skaggs said. “Our youngest child was 10, so we didn’t have any of that stuff anymore.”
Money had to go toward lawyers to help with the adoption process, as well. They had to work tirelessly to get Jessie’s mother’s custody rights terminated.
The tenuous status before gaining custody meant that the family couldn’t leave the area, post photos on social media or comfortably go out to do things in the community.
“It’s been a fight the past nine months,” Josh Skaggs said. “It’s tough for people who are going through the system.”
CASA director Tammi Hickman and other CASA officials have worked closely with each of the families, helping them through the adoption process at every step. Finally, the Skaggs family learned that they’d have their closure during Adoption Day.
Though Monday’s ceremony made it official, the real party will start Dec. 10. That’s when family and friends will come together at Fair Haven Christian Church for a dual adoption-birthday party, to fete Jessie as he turns 2.
“It’s freedom. We can call him ours,” Josh Skaggs said. “A lot of people don’t want to get really, really close to him, because he could get taken away.”
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How to get involved
What is adoption?
The voluntary acceptance of a child of other parents to be the same as one’s own child.
What are the requirements to become an adoptive parent?
Adoptive parents are asked to provide an adequate and loving home for an adopted child.
Can be single, married or divorced.
Are financially ready to add children to their family. There is no specific income requirement, and some children may be eligible for financial assistance and medical insurance.
Has enough room for an additional person in their home. A home visit will be required.
Must be able to pass an FBI fingerprint check and fulfill all training requirements.
How long does it take to adopt a child?
Most adoptive parents can meet all state requirements in three to six months, though the process can take longer. The final decision always rests with the court.
Information: 888-25-ADOPT (888-252-3678), adoptachild.in.gov
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