FINDING FAMILIES

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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After becoming certified adoptive parents, Sonja and Keith Patton, of Baker, waited almost a year to receive their first child.care, a temporary home, until the state can decide whether the child can be returned to their home.

Living in Hawaii at the time, the couple said the state adoption agency there was not sure if the couple — both being of mixed race — would want a child that did not look like them.

"I told them I didn’t care if the child was blue, green, yellow, red or from Mars," Sonja said.

A few weeks later, a "very Asian-looking" Zoë came into their lives. The Pattons adopted her and moved to Baton Rouge.

They later adopted her sister, Angelina, and recently finalized the adoption of a 10-month-old boy, who is black.

State and nonprofit agencies are encouraging minority families to consider adoption, as more black and mixed race children are in need of homes.

November is National Adoption Month, designed as a way to draw attention to children who are awaiting adoption after their parents either surrendered parental rights or had their rights terminated.

In fiscal year 2008, 582 Louisiana children were adopted from foster care — 63 percent of those adopted were white and 37 percent were black.

As of June, about 300 children in state custody are available for adoption — 40 percent are white and 60 percent are black.

The state Department of Social Services takes children into custody because of abuse or neglect. They are kept in foster

If the child cannot return home, the state seeks the termination of parental rights and the child is available for adoption.

Federal law now allows the state to place children with relatives without terminating rights, said Kaaren Hebert, DSS’s assistant secretary of the Office of Community Services.