Many Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) foster care offices and adoptive families participated in National Adoption Day ceremonies on Nov. 22 in four courtrooms across Illinois, where the adoption process was finalized for 62 children.
LSSI’s Marion office represented 22 finalized adoptions of the total that day, bringing their 2025 count to 120 children. “Reunification is always the goal in foster care,” said Rebecca Bourland, Adoption Clerk. “The best part of my job is seeing children find a forever home, whether it be with a family member or someone with a big heart willing to step up.”
While the actual moment the judge shares that the child is legally theirs is memorable to the families, many adoptive parents have had custody of their child for months and sometimes years and are excited to begin a new chapter in their family history.
All adoptive families in Illinois can receive free services through the state’s Adoption Support and Preservation Program (ASAP). LSSI administers the program for 18 counties in central Illinois. The ASAP Program offers in-home individual and family therapy, advocacy, skill-building, parent support groups, child therapy groups, and a crisis line for any adoptive families.
National Adoption Day is a collective, grassroots effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in foster care awaiting adoption across the United States, according to the National Council for Adoption.
“Every adoption is exciting, but National Adoption Day is special,” said Bourland. “These kids get their forever home just in time for the holidays—the best gift of all!”
Caption: Permanency Achievement Specialists, from left, Preston Koontz, Whitney Koontz, and Bridget Shackleton, and Rebecca Bourland, Adoption Clerk
