On Friday, a group of families visited a courthouse in Palm Beach County, Florida, to celebrate multiple adoptions and welcome nine foster children into their families.
As reported by NBC 5, local families have stepped up to adopt children who have been placed in foster care for various reasons. November is National Adoption and Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, and the Brouillette family is one of the many who celebrated adoptions on Friday.
“While it is a beautiful day it comes from a place of so much brokenness,” said Melissa Brouillette, who has eight children. She and her husband decided to add another child — one-year-old Amelia. “I wish that wasn’t the story for her biological mom. Addiction is a very hard thing. I want to acknowledge that her mom chose life and I will forever be grateful for that.”
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She added, “Nothing in this world you can take with you when you die. This is not for me or my legacy. This child gets the opportunity to live a full life surrounded by people who love her. You’ll never regret having another child. She brings so much joy to all of our lives.”
According to the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, children who age out of the foster care system without being adopted are at an increased risk of being in prison (one in four) within two years. One in five will become homeless in less than two years and only one in six will graduate from high school. The non-profit Vita Nova helps youth who have aged out of the system.
“The statistic usually goes: every youth that reaches between the age of 13 to 18, 1 in 10 get adopted. Those numbers are so low,” said Jeff DeMario, chief financial officer for Vita Nova. “What happens to the others that don’t end up adopted?”
Adolfo Recinos was one of those children who aged out of the system after his brother who was caring for him was put in jail. The two had never been legally adopted.
“I never expected to be adopted,” said Adolfo. “I wish I could have stayed with my foster family longer.”
Vita Nova has given him a place to live and is working to teach him skills to help him have a successful life.
In addition to Brouillette and Amelia, other families celebrated adoptions on Friday, including Jennifer Hutson and her daughter Mariah and Xavier Raton and Wiline Profil and their daughter Atchelie.
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