SNOW HILL – County officials celebrated the individuals committed to helping children find stability and loving homes by recognizing November as National Adoption Month.
On Tuesday the Worcester County Commissioners issued a proclamation in honor of National Adoption Month and gave a special commendation to Lisa Jackson, the 2017 Worcester County Adoptive Parent of the Year.
“I don’t know how someone like yourself or anybody can open their heart the way you have,” Commissioner Chip Bertino said. “There’s nothing more wonderful than that.”
Jackson, who has two sons in college, adopted two sibling girls, ages 2 and 12, earlier this year after taking them on as foster children in 2016. The commissioners praised her efforts as well as the work done by the staff of the Worcester County Department of Social Services.
“The work that you do is probably if not the most important among the most important that’s done in our county,” Bertino said, adding that he’d met several of the county’s adoptive parents previously. “They are special people. They are genuine heroes who give a safe home to a child who is in need.”
Commissioners Jim Bunting and Diana Purnell echoed his praise. Purnell said those in the social service field had an important task working with local children.
“That is the most important thing that we have to work with,” she said.
Jamie Manning, assistant director of services at the Worcester County Department of Social Services, said that while employees in her department were like the “first responders” in situations involving children, there were countless people who played a role in addressing the needs of local kids.
“In Worcester County we are truly blessed we have so many good partnerships and relationships with all our stakeholders,” she said.
According to Manning, since 2010 there have been 39 adoptions in Worcester County. The 40th is expected to take place next month. Because the county’s program is a “foster to adopt” program, resource families are approved as foster/adoptive homes. Children that have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect are place in a foster/adoptive home while local department work toward reunifying the children and their biological families.
“Unfortunately sometimes children are unable to be reunified with their biological family due to the unsafe situation their family may still be in,” Manning said. “These children are victims of unfortunate circumstances and deserve permanency in their lives.”
To help them achieve that, the county’s social services team works to place them in situations with caring foster families. When they become legally available for adoption, Manning and her team help ensure they find a “forever family.”
“We need families that are committed to helping children grow, thrive, and heal from the trauma,” she said.
“Families that will accept the children for who they are and be nonjudgmental of their background because it is a part of their life story. We need families for all ages to foster, adopt, and provide respite services.”
