The children lined up against the wall, munching popcorn and goofing around with tiny plastic toys, waiting to get their pictures taken.
The sign above read, “Adoption Information Center of Illinois,” but most of them were too young to understand what it meant, so like dozens of times before, they smiled big smiles when the cameraman said to.
But Terence, 9, and his sister Monique, 11, knew what was happening. Their pictures would be put in a book where a new mom and dad might see them and want to take them home.
Terence straightened his shirt and smiled so hard his face hurt.
“Are we going to live in the same place?” Terence asked, squeezing his sister’s waist. “I’m going to tell them I want to live with my sister.”
For the children, many of them abused and neglected and whose parents custody rights were terminated, finding an adoptive home can be a long and sad journey. On the other end are prospective adoptive parents who often endure the same emotional roller coaster trying to cut through bureaucratic red tape.
In a new move to bring potential adoptive parents and children together, several state agencies teamed up on Saturday in Chicago to have an adoption festival called Chances for Children. Having their pictures taken and getting registered with the Adoption Information Center of Illinois were two tasks that afternoon.
The festival comes on the heels of a bill Gov. Jim Edgar signed into law in January that was designed to free severely abused children for adoption more quickly and give new power to the juvenile court system to eliminate a staggering backlog of cases.
The law is expected to shave months and even years off the waiting time, which can last more than five years as the state works to sever the children’s ties with their biological parents.
Yet with more children being freed for adoption, the demand for adoptive parents, which is already high, will rise. Realizing that, the festival served as a way to attract adoptive parents, said Denise Kane, inspector general of the state Department of Children and Family Services. Kane spearheaded the festival with Judge Nancy Sidote Salyers, presiding judge of the Juvenile Court’s child protection division.
“People said, `Isn’t this a meat market?’ and I said no, this is a street fair, a family event,” said Kane. “Before, we made too many boundaries and obstacles instead of building bridges.”
Throughout the day, foster children and potential adoptive parents mingled about Cook County Juvenile Court in a carnival-type atmosphere with games, singers and art projects. It was a chance for prospective parents to see children in a comfortable setting instead of forcing interaction in a stuffy room.
Those hoping to adopt attended meetings designed to answer their questions, get fingerprinted for state-mandated background checks, or stop by the booths of private agencies that handle adoptions through DCFS.
“I’ve always wanted to adopt a child,” said a Lake Zurich woman who did not want her name used. “Now that I see the system is freeing up more children, it piqued my interest.”
Raul and Patsy Nadal of Bartlett perused a book of photographs of adoptive children at a booth until the page stopped on a smiling little girl in pigtails.
“There you go, right up your alley,” Raul Nadal told his wife.
Despite recent progress, the journey toward adoption is fraught with inefficiencies. On the average, a DCFS child in Illinois is in foster care for two years, Kane said. Those cases need to be resolved quicker toward adoption or returning children to their parents.
More than 400 children are available for adoption in Illinois, ranging from younger than 1 to adolescents, Kane said. About 60 percent of them have siblings and many have special needs.
Indeed, the workshops on Saturday included topics on parenting the sexually abused child, the medically complex child, substance abuse and transracial adoptions.
There are legitimate fears about adopting a DCFS child but many of them are exaggerated, said Salyers. Children, no matter how abused or neglected by their parents, are resilient enough to overcome these obstacles, she said.
“People think all wards of the court are so damaged they will be impossible to work with, which isn’t true,” Salyers said.
Brothers Antoine, 10 and Eric, 9, were on their best behavior at the festival, playfully kicking a ball and politely taking turns. Their foster mother watched and rolled her eyes: “They weren’t like this when I first got them.”
The boys, two of 14 children their mother bore, were taken away from her a few years ago and have stayed in several foster homes. Their mother stopped visiting about two years ago. DCFS has begun action to have her custody rights terminated.
“She did drugs and she got drunk a lot so I had to leave. The police came and got me,” said Antoine. “I hope somebody will adopt me–a mom that likes to watch movies.”
But Eric likes his foster mom.
“I guess if I’m going to a good home, it will be OK,” he said. “But if it’s a bad one, I won’t feel so comfortable.”
At another game booth, Shontae, 12, also taken from a mother who was addicted to drugs, said she had only one requirement for a new home: “A home that’s got no violence. And I think that’s just about it.”
