Nearly 5,000 adoptions scheduled to be finalized

Saturday , November 17 is National Adoption Day and Yuma County was not absent in the celebration.

Since 2000, the day has been officially recognized the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

This one-day event celebrates families formed through adoption, finalizes adoptions and raises awareness for the 110,000 children in foster care waiting to be placed in a home.

This year, the Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center opened its courtrooms to families waiting to have their adoptions finalized.

Many of these children have waited years in the foster program to finally have a forever family.

The day has a goal of decreasing the number of children in foster care by connecting them with a loving family.

This day also helps the court system to alleviate the backlog of pending adoptions.

In the past, nearly 65,000 children have been adopted on National Adoption Day.

This year, more than 5,000 adoptions are scheduled to be finalized across the country.

Booths with resources and gifts for families were available to provide information and a reason to celebrate newly grown families.