Nine children will join eight families in Palm Beach County and 20 more are expected to find permanent homes in Broward County this month, as courthouses in both counties host National Adoption Day ceremonies finalizing nearly 30 adoptions. Among the Broward cases, two siblings will be adopted together by a couple named Harvey and Marc, allowing the children to stay together rather than be separated.
The events, organized by ChildNet under the theme “You Belong Here,” mark one of the busiest adoption stretches of the year for the two South Florida counties. As reported by The Boca Raton Tribune, ChildNet serves as the community-based care lead agency for children and families in both Palm Beach and Broward counties. The nonprofit says more than 300 children across the two counties are still waiting to become part of a family, according to ChildNet.
Palm Beach County's Nine Children, Eight Families
In Palm Beach County, the adoptions include five children being adopted by relatives, three adopted by their foster parents, and one matched youth, per the Tribune's reporting. The group includes seven children under age four and two teenagers.
The Palm Beach County ceremony will be held November 20 at the Palm Beach County Courthouse at 205 North Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. Festivities begin at 11:30 a.m., the opening ceremony starts at 1 p.m., and finalizations begin at 1:45 p.m., according to the Tribune's account of the day's schedule.
ChildNet CEO Larry N. Rein said every child deserves a safe, loving family and the chance to grow up knowing they belong, according to the Tribune. Rein also said Adoption Day celebrates families and serves as a reminder that helping children find lasting homes is a shared responsibility, per the same report.
Broward County Expects 20 Adoptions
Broward County's ceremony is scheduled for November 21 at the Broward County Courthouse, third floor Jury Room, at 201 S.E. 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale. Coffee begins at 9 a.m., with the formal ceremony running from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Tribune reports, noting the Broward event falls on National Adoption Day itself.
Of the 20 children expected to be adopted in Broward County, one in four will be adopted by a relative, including a 15-year-old, the Tribune reports. The remaining children, all under age 12, will be adopted by their foster families.
Susan Eby said ensuring every child has a safe, loving home requires collective effort from professionals and community partners, according to the Tribune's reporting. Eby added that Youth and Family Advocates is proud to stand with ChildNet in celebrating families and recognizing the work of partners who help children find permanency and belonging, per the same account.
A Network of Partners Behind the Scenes
ChildNet works with Youth and Family Advocates and Children's Home Society of Florida to support families and help children reach safe, permanent homes, the Tribune reports. The agency serves children in the child welfare system across both counties and prioritizes identifying relatives and other permanent family connections whenever children cannot safely reunify with their parents.
That kinship-first approach lines up with ChildNet's broader strategic goals. The organization lists increasing and stabilizing kinship placements as one of its priorities, according to a GuideStar profile of the agency, which also notes ChildNet served a daily average of 2,631 children in in-home and out-of-home care during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and finalized 292 adoptions that same year.
ChildNet describes adoption as a legal action that transfers all parental rights to adoptive parents, making an adopted child a full legal member of the family with the same rights and privileges as a biological child, according to the agency's own adoption page. Families interested in learning more can find adoption information at childnet.us, which also lists a Palm Beach adoption hotline at 561-352-2501 and recurring virtual open houses held on the third Tuesday and third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Community Groups Pitching In
Separately, the Palm Beach County Bar Association is collecting new children's books and teddy bears for National Adoption Day at the Main Courthouse, according to the Palm Beach County Bar Association. Any gifts not distributed during the event will be shared with Family Court judges who oversee adoption and custody cases throughout the year, the association says. Those unable to drop off a donation in person can contribute online, and the bar association says it will handle the shopping.
This year's totals build on a pattern seen in recent ceremonies. At Palm Beach County's 2024 National Adoption Day event, judges oversaw the adoptions of 10 children at a time when 95 children were still awaiting adoption in the county, according to the Palm Beach Post, which also reported more than 100,000 children were awaiting adoption nationwide that year. ChildNet had hosted the Palm Beach County ceremony for 12 years as of that report.
A similar scene has played out in Broward County, where a National Adoption Day ceremony at the Broward County Courthouse once saw 17 children ranging from toddlers to teens formally adopted in a single day, according to the Florida Bar. That event began at 9 a.m. with a formal ceremony in the Jury Room followed by adoption hearings in individual courtrooms. Broward Judge John B. Bowman said the day a child joins a forever family is, for that child, probably the most important day of their life.
