Event Two

              For my second event I was lucky enough to attend adoption day. This event was done through my internship at DCYF. On this day the court makes a big event for the families participating in adoption day. Walking into the court house had a different feeling one would experience any other day. Getting off the elevator you could see balloons, and pictures of the children being adopted hung up on the walls. There were so many activities for the children to participate in while waiting for their adoption time and once the adoption was finalized.  There were people dressed up as characters from movies like Elsa from frozen and the bear from the Pawsoxs. There were tables of food and frozen yogurt set up for people to enjoy. A couple of children had made free bracelets and were handing those out. Children were getting their faces pained and animal shaped balloons. The families were also offered a free family portrait; I thought this was a great idea for the new families. I was allowed to sit in the court room when the adoptions were taking place and it was a wonderful experience. Everyone in the court room was smiling and so happy. Once the adoptions were finalized, you could see how much joy it brought the families. The children that were adopted received a bag, I’m not sure what was in the bags but I could see a big teddy bear sticking out from it. I really enjoyed going to this event. It was nice to see good happening in the courthouse instead of bad. I think the children there also enjoyed it a lot it made the day special for them with all the activities happening and the news being there as well.

               I believe adoption day corresponds with many themes we see as youth workers and youth development majors. As youth workers we want to see the youth and families we are working with do the best they can. We want to see all their hard work pay off. Some of the families at adoption day have been trying for years to be able to have their adoptions finalized. That day, all the hard work they did and everything they went through finally paid off. That is what this career path is all about.

               Here are some links with more information about adoption day along with a video.

1.      National Adoption Day Page

2.      A video of an Adoption Day

3.      National Adoption Day Facebook page