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State's annual Adoption Day is Tuesday

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Mid Michigan (WJRT) -- (11/21/05)--Michigan's third annual Adoption Day will take place Tuesday.

But Monday, some leading state and national child welfare organizations got together in Midland to take a look at how to improve the adoption process and foster care system.

The forum focused on the recommendations of the national, non-partisan PEW Commission on Children in Foster Care.

This group has overseen the first-ever comprehensive assessment of two key aspects of foster care, which are federal funding and oversights in the courts.

The recommendations focus on what the state needs to help children have safe, permanent homes and provide an outline for reforming the foster care system.

The purpose of Monday's forum was to put real people who have experience in the foster care system in touch with decision makers when it comes to what Justice Maura Corrigan with the Michigan Supreme Court calls a dysfunctional system.

"That there are problems with the system," she said. "That's an understatement, and I think that the system that has really been pieced together in child welfare financing that doesn't really meet the needs."

Jessica Lindsey has experienced the flaws of the system first hand after being taken away from her mentally ill mother at age 15 and then moving from one home to another.

"It was a real traumatic experience for me, and so kind of my standpoint and forefront of speaking is how you need a family," she said.

"You know, somebody to walk you down the isle, someone to be a grandparent to you, and someone to come to your graduation."

Others like Mark and Judi Bash of Essexville want to help speed up the process. They tried for four years to get their adoption of Shelly to go through.

Earlier this year, Shelly died of a heart ailment before it could be finalized.

Corrigan notified the Bashes Monday that she will see to it that they will still be able to posthumously finalize their adoption of Shelly.

Tuesday, 274 kids will be adopted across the state. There are still nearly 4400 kids still looking for a permanent home.

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