Finally, the wait was over.
Lonnie Burroughs had been caring for his grandson, Landon, since the child was 3 months old. The Edinburgh resident was the only parent that Landon had known for the past four years.
So as the courts finalized Landon’s adoption on Monday, there was nothing but smiles.
"He loves me, and I love him. We’re just great together," Burroughs said. "It’s taken almost four years to complete, but it’s been really great."
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The Burroughs were one of many families gathered at the Johnson County Courthouse for National Adoption Day. While adoptions are finalized throughout this year, this single day held in November was designed as a party recognizing a new start for the children and their adopted parents.
At the same time, the festivities help raise awareness of the need for more adoptive parents and the kids still waiting for a safe home of their own, said Rebecca LaHue, an adoption champion with the Children’s Bureau Inc., who helped coordinate Johnson County’s Adoption Day event.
"When I see a foster child get their forever family, it makes my heart virtually explode with joy and happiness. I remember the day I was 19 years old and I had to leave foster care. I didn’t have that day," she said. "To know that after this child turns 18 or 19, they have that home to go home to on holidays and that parent to support them."
More than 60 people crammed into Johnson County Circuit Court to take part in Adoption Day. Adoptive parents, grandparents, siblings and friends all sat together, anxiously awaiting their chance to stand before the judge and finalize the decision.
Angela and Jared McKee had more than a dozen people with them as they stood before Judge Andy Roesener to adopt their son, Leif Benjamin David McKee.
When asked by the court why they wanted to adopt the toddler, who was described as very active, smart and curious, Angela McKee simply said, "Because he’s ours."
The McKees, of Hendricks County, had adopted Leif’s sister, Josephine, when she was 2 1/2. Two days after the adoption with Josephine was finalized, Leif was born.
"It’s been a long process," Jared McKee said. "This is just kind of completing the circle for us, and for him and his sister, so they can be together."
Adoption Day was created by national adoption advocates 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 2017, adoptions in the state increased to 1,812 from 1,038.
Adoption Day celebrations have been ongoing throughout November in courthouses across Indiana. Approximately 300 children joined their “forever families” during special ceremonies across the state. That includes six children officially adopted in Johnson County on Monday.
In Johnson County, the event was organized by the Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, program. Volunteers with the agency serve as protectors for children who have been abused and neglected and who are under the court’s protection.
All sides come together to put on a special event for the families taking part, LaHue said.
"I know what true families can do. I’ve seen children close off so badly, and then the love of that family changes their life," she said.
LaHue had special motivation for being a champion for the cause of adoption. She had been a foster child herself, but aged out of the foster system before finding her forever home.
She didn’t want the same thing to happen to other children. She became a foster parent, and adopted her daughter six years ago.
"I’m blessed to be her mother. I couldn’t ask for another daughter. That child was made for me. It doesn’t matter she’s not my blood. She was made for me," LaHue said. "I never want kids in my house to feel they’re anything less than wanted. I don’t care if they’re in my house for a day, a month, a year. They’re my kids."
After the adoption had been formalized by the judge, Burroughs and Landon spent some time in the courtroom’s jury room, which had been transformed into a place to celebrate. They used their thumbprints to make family tree crafts, enjoyed a cupcake and cookies, and Landon got his face painted like a tiger.
"He’s a great little kid," Burroughs said. "Anybody who meets him falls in love with him."
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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 does it take to become an adoptive parent?
To be considered a potential adoptive placement for a child from Indiana’s foster care system, you must:
1. Complete 16 hours of Resource/Adoptive Parent Training
2. Connect with a social worker at a licensed child placing agency, who will complete your family’s adoption preparation assessment or home study, which will include various background checks, financial and medical information, along with biographical information and preferences regarding types of children you may be interested in adopting.
3. Become Recommended to Adopt. To become Recommended, a family must have a completed home study and have completed 16 hours of training. Your preparation agency will need to present your home study at the Indiana Adoption Council to become Recommended to Adopt.
If your preparation agency has questions about the Recommendation process, please have them email [email protected].
How can I get the process started?
Interested adoptive parents can being by filling out a form at indianaadoptionprogram.org/form.
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