Bill Text: NJ AJR47 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as "National Adoption Day" and designates November as "National Adoption Month" in New Jersey.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee [AJR47 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AJR47-Introduced.html
No. 47
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Designates Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as "National Adoption Day" and designates November as "National Adoption Month" in New Jersey.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
A Joint Resolution designating the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day of each year as "National Adoption Day" and designating the month of November of each year as "National Adoption Month" in New Jersey.
Whereas, Around 115,000 children are adopted by American families each year, including private domestic adoptions, international adoptions, adoptions through the foster care system, and kinship legal guardianships, and approximately two million Americans have been adopted themselves; and
Whereas, In the United States, 400,000 children are in the foster care system daily with over 600,000 passing through the system annually, including 6,000 children in New Jersey alone; and
Whereas, Children in foster care may face physical, psychological, and emotional trauma throughout their lives, coupled with uncertainty and anxiety as they wait to return home, find a permanent home through adoption or kinship care, or to see what happens next; and
Whereas, The ongoing opioid crisis has increased the number of children entering foster care on a temporary basis, and has also limited the prospect of kinship guardianships as some otherwise suitable family members are disqualified for drug use; and
Whereas, Children whose biological parents' rights have been terminated and are waiting for adoption spend an average of two and a half years in foster care before being adopted; and
Whereas, Almost one half of teenagers waiting to be adopted live in congregate care rather than foster family homes, and over 20,000 young people annually age out of foster care without the emotional and financial support necessary to succeed in life that a family can provide; and
Whereas, Since the 1990s, former Presiding Judge of Los Angeles County Michael Nash opened the court doors on Saturdays to finalize adoptions that were backlogged by bureaucratic excess and raise awareness for the thousands of children wanting for a safe, nurturing home environment; and
Whereas, Inspired by the initiative Judge Nash showed, county vicinages across the State of New Jersey and the country annually finalize adoptions at celebratory events in November by welcoming caregivers and children in their communities to celebrate together; and
Whereas, Throughout November, over 4,000 adoptions are finalized on National Adoption Day and in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving; and
Whereas, Every adoption is unique, and every adoptive family has their own path and circumstances, but every adoption story begins with the compassion to love a child in need, to care for them unconditionally, and to watch them grow and prosper; and
Whereas, It is fitting and proper for the State of New Jersey to recognize the importance of adoption services and to celebrate the families and children that take part in this process; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Saturday before Thanksgiving Day of each year is designated as "National Adoption Day" and the month of November of each year is designated as "National Adoption Month" in the State of New Jersey to raise public awareness of adoption services and the options available for prospective adoptive parents, and to celebrate the children and families that take part in the process by finalizing adoptions with special festivities throughout the month.
2. The Governor is respectfully requested to annually issue a proclamation designating the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as "National Adoption Day" and designating the month of November as "National Adoption Month" and shall call upon the public officials and citizens of this State to observe the day with appropriate activities and programs.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution designates the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as "National Adoption Day" and designates the month of November as "National Adoption Month" in New Jersey to raise public awareness of adoption services and the foster care system, to educate prospective parents about the options available to them when considering adoption, and to celebrate finalized adoptions for families.
Many children in the foster care system do not receive the appropriate emotional and financial support necessary to succeed in life that other children receive from their families. Children in foster care may experience more physical, emotional, and psychological trauma in their lifetimes than their peers, adding to the difficulties endured while waiting for a permanent home. While adoption statistics are trending in the right direction, there is still a vast need to encourage more parents to consider adoption, and that begins with a willingness to expedite the adoption process and celebrate its success.
Starting with former Los Angeles Presiding Judge Michael Nash in the 1990s, celebrations have been held during the month of November aimed at finalizing adoptions and recognizing the newly united families. Many county vicinages in New Jersey host National Adoption Day services during the week prior to Thanksgiving Day, in part to unite families before the holiday season, but generally to bring awareness to the thousands of children that continue to wait for a resolution, especially for children who spend years in the system and teenagers who are close to aging out and becoming independent. Therefore, it is altogether fitting and proper to designate the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as "National Adoption Day" and designate the month of November as "National Adoption Month" in New Jersey.
