Adoptions in RI a Happy Moment for Everyone

Rhode Island Adoptions

Family Court judges are regularly used to having to deal with painful and sorrowful events in their courtrooms when families are dissolved through the process of divorce, separation and child custody disputes. It's no wonder that the one day of the month set aside for adoptions is the favorite day for most at the family court. As Chief Justice Suttell said below, "Today we are building families, not dissolving them."

The full article follows below.

Judges finalize adoption papers for 18 children

November 21, 2010

By Paul Davis

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Nine years ago, Linda Harrod suffered a miscarriage. It’s okay, her husband, Norman, told her. We can adopt.

Linda thought about it. She wasn’t sure she could love another person’s child as much as her own.

“At first, we said we would adopt two children,” she remembers.

In 2006, the Cranston couple adopted four –– three girls and a boy. Three years later, they adopted another boy.

And on Saturday morning, they adopted two more children –– Emma, 3, and Isaiah, 5 –– in Rhode Island Family Court, as part of National Adoption Day.

Before entering courtroom 5E, Linda hoisted Emma into the air and asked, “What are we doing today?”

Emma, wearing silver ribbons in her hair, replied, “I’m getting adopted!”

In less than two hours, judges in several courts finalized adoption papers for 18 children at the Garrahy Judicial Complex. The children, some holding balloons, some in new shoes, went home with 16 families.

“This is my favorite day on the court calendar,” said Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell. On most days, family court is a place of grief –– divorces, children facing criminal charges.

“Today, we are building families, not dissolving them,” Suttell said.

About 4,500 children around the country were adopted this week in conjunction with the day, created to raise awareness of the 114,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent homes, said the National Adoption Day Coalition.

Since 2000, more than 25,000 children have found new homes on National Adoption Day.

Many have been abused, neglected or raised by parents with drug or alcohol addictions.

In Rhode Island, 150 children are still looking for permanent homes, about the same number as last year, said Patricia Martinez, director of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Both nationally and locally, the numbers of children in state care are shrinking, Martinez said. Locally, DCYF works aggressively with 11 agencies to find permanent homes for children in state care, she said.

A bad economy may also be a factor, experts say.

More parents are seeking children under state care because of the high costs of adopting infants overseas or through private agencies, said Darlene Allen, executive director of Adoption Rhode Island.

Parents can pay as much as $40,000 to adopt a child through a private agency. But parents pay no fees to adopt a child through DCYF.

In many cases, parents may qualify for medical and financial aid, day care — even federal refunds.

“Our information meetings are packed,” Allen said. The agency’s website generates up to 12,000 hits a month, she said.

On Saturday, parents, children, lawyers and social workers jammed the fifth floor of the court building, decorated with balloons and pictures of children looking for homes.

Court clerks handed out Tootsie Pops while judges studied papers. Adopted children opened bags filled with donated DVDs, toys and stuffed animals.

Jeff St. Germain-Donnelly and his spouse, Matthew, adopted a 9-month-old African American boy. Owners of the Little Falls Bakery & Café, in Cranston, they brought cinnamon twists for the other parents and children.

“The whole experience of adoption is special, but to be included on National Adoption Day –– we’re really excited,” Jeff said.

Many of those in court were foster parents first.

Linda and Norman Harrod became foster parents eight years ago. In all, they have housed 19 children and adopted seven of them.

The three boys sleep in one bedroom in the Harrod’s two-story bungalow on a dead-end street near Route 10. The three youngest girls share a separate room with pictures of Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White on the walls. The oldest girl, 15, has her own bedroom.

“They all know they’re adopted,” said Linda, 47.

Several of the children see their biological mothers as part of an open adoption policy, she said.

“I think it’s important for these kids to know where they came from … and who they look like.”

Linda, who works at a day care and pre-school academy and takes classes at Rhode Island College, relies on an old-fashioned organizer to stay focused.

On school nights, she sorts the children’s next-day clothes in seven piles –– shirts, dresses, socks, underwear.

The kids are in bed by 7:30 p.m., up by 6:15. Linda drives them to their bus stops or schools before heading to work or class. Her husband is a housing supervisor at RIC.

It isn’t easy, she said.

Some of the children suffer from anger, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other issues.

But the Harrods get financial support from the state. Social workers are in the home at least three times a week. And their oldest daughter helps, too.

“When they’re home, it gets noisy,” said Linda. “And we don’t get invited to too many places.”

By cutting back on some expenses, the family is still able to visit Walt Disney World in Florida every other year. “We rent a 15-passenger van and drive.”

On National Adoption Day, Linda talked about her new family to the crowd gathered in the courthouse.

“We are blessed to have seven children who have found their way into our hearts forever,” she said, adding that she also has a 24-year-old son from a previous marriage.

“We are not a traditional family –– but we are a real family,” she said.

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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Criminal Defense, Divorce, or Immigration Law in RI contact Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer John E. MacDonald at 401-421-1440.

To learn more about The Law Office of John MacDonald, please visit his website at AggressiveLegalServices.com.