National Adoption Day 207 children find homes in Ma.

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Friday, November 17, 2006
On National Adoption Day, 207 children find homes in Massachusetts


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(Globe Photo Jonathan Wiggs)

Kelsey Connelly, 4, watches her sister Kassandra Connelly, 6, sign her adoption papers today in Brockton. Court clerk Margaret Delorey helped the girls, who took part in National Adoption Day.

By Globe Staff

In the United States, there are an estimated 114,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted -- a number larger than the population of the city of Lowell. Massachusetts alone has some 3,000 children looking for permanent homes.

However, that number of children hoping for parents dropped today in the Bay State by 207. Nationally, there are some 4,000 fewer in foster care than there were just the day before.

Courts across the country today recognized National Adoption Day and finalized some 4,000 adoptions. The event is meant to highlight a need that advocates say it often overlooked as more foster children turn 18 without ever finding a permanent home.

"It's an event where families can celebrate adoptions and see kids and families just like themselves," said Corina Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange.

Since 1987, the number of children in foster care has nearly doubled, according to advocates who organized adoption day. Each year, approximately 20,000 children in foster care will turn 18 and age out of the system.

In Massachusetts today, there were ceremonies in Boston, Cambridge, Brockton and five other courts where the 207 adoptions were finalized.
Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 05:27 PM