Morris/Sussex Vicinage to Celebrate National Adoption Day

The Morris/Sussex Vicinage will celebrate National Adoption Day on Friday, Nov. 6 by finalizing adoptions and holding a joint ceremony honoring families who have adopted children or achieved kinship legal guardianship during the past year.

The celebration begins at 10 a.m. at the Morris County Courthouse. Attendees will be treated to light refreshments sponsored by the vicinage's family division and local Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) offices.

Presiding Family Court Judge Marcy McMann will oversee the event. Superior Court Judge Michael Paul Wright will join Kevin Belli, area director of the Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties DCPP offices; Lisa Barsky Firkser, director of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Morris and Sussex counties; and adoptive parents and children in giving remarks. Following the ceremony, Judge Wright will preside over adoption proceedings.

National Adoption Day is dedicated to celebrating adoptive families and children across the country. The celebration is part of a national effort to raise awareness of the children in foster care who are waiting to find permanent, loving families and to encourage others to consider adoption.

Although the adoptions are closed proceedings, the morning celebration is open to the public. Reporters seeking to interview willing families after the adoption proceedings have concluded should contact Family Division Manager Christopher Mueller at 862-397-5700, ext. 75180.

The celebration will be held in the Historic Courtroom of the Morris County Courthouse, Washington and Court streets, Morristown.