On National Adoption Day, 6 children came to St. Starting life with new families in Johns County

St. Johns County Circuit Court Clerk and County Auditor The office is celebrating National Adoption Day at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, at the Richard O. Watson Forensic Center.

The celebration will mark the end of a long adoption process for six local children starting lives with new families.

John Rundgren, the assigned clerk, described the day as an enjoyable event.

“We are honored to play a role in the adoption process and look forward to celebrating this milestone with our local families,” he said in a news release.

According to the statement, St. Johns County family law clerks supported 76 new families during court proceedings in 2023. When adoptive parents seek permanency with a child, clerks process the adoption petition, administer vows, and provide certified copies of the final document. trial. Since January, petitioners have been in St. He filed 65 adoption cases in St. Johns County.

“A lot of times I see families in crisis,” said Circuit Court Judge Christopher Ferebee, who will preside over the final hearings. “This is the exact opposite of that. “I can finally experience happiness and joy in the courtroom.”

Judge Howard O. McGillin called adoption day the happiest day for a judge.

“When you put a child with his forever family and put him in the position that the child should have, which is parents having brothers and sisters, it’s a remarkable thing,” he said.

Shauna Novak, CEO of the St. John’s County Family Integrity program, said National Adoption Day is a chance to raise awareness about the importance of children in need of loving homes.

“This is a situation where children who are in crisis are no longer in crisis because they were adopted by a family,” he said.

In a courtroom filled with happiness, Novak invites everyone to enjoy the trial.

“There is nothing better than seeing a family come together to prepare for the holidays,” he said.

St. Johns County handles all family-related cases, including adoptions, under the Unified Family Court model. Defined as a comprehensive approach, a single judge oversees all processes of a family and ensures the continuity of children adopted from foster care and their new families.

Hosted in partnership with the St. Johns County Family Integrity Program, the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Guardian Ad Litem, and the Florida Department of Children and Families, National Adoption Day is open to all community members to celebrate the final adoption hearing.

This article was originally published in St. Published in the Augustine Record: 6 families St. will unite at National Adoption Day in St. Augustine