Agency hosts adoption festival
For children who are unable to live with their birth parents, Family Pathways helps them to find their “forever family.”
In observance of National Adoption Month, Family Pathways hosted an adoption festival Saturday at its office on Brugh Avenue.
The nonprofit agency has coordinated about 40 adoptions in the past year. It also provides other services to families and children such as foster care, transition services and counseling.
Family Pathways worker Nic Landon said events like the festival bring families together who share similar experiences, and they also help people learn about the work done by the agency.
“We're celebrating with some of these families who have been through the process with us,” Landon said.
The agency works with the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network, which sets the rules and processes for adoption.
Two misconceptions about the process are that it takes a long time and that it is costly, Landon said.
“We want to make it as easy and painless as we possibly can,” he said.
The certification process for families usually takes 60 days.
Many families that want to adopt or become foster parents have had their lives touched by adoption in some way or feel inspired to help, Landon said.
Mary Detrick and her husband, Chris, of West Sunbury raised six of their own children.
After her children all moved out, Mary Detrick said, she disliked having such an empty house so they started taking in foster children.
In 2008, they adopted three brothers who they had as foster children. The boys were about to be separated and put into different foster homes, so the Detricks stepped in.
“We've had a lot of ups and downs, and I'm sure there is more to come; they're teenagers now,” she said.Detrick said the staff at Family Pathways does great work and she would encourage others to consider foster care or adoption.“There's a lot of kids out there that don't have good homes,” she said.Another adoption scenario that often happens are people adopting and raising their grandchildren.Bob and Debbie Undercuffler, formerly of Butler but now of Clarion, adopted their two granddaughters after their son abused the younger child as an infant.“We were like their last hope. They were going to go into the system,” Debbie Undercuffler said. “It's important to step forward if you can.”The father of Butler was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. The girls' mother is able to visit the girls on a limited basis, though the father can't have any contact with them until they turn 18.Grandparents raising their grandchildren has become increasingly common in recent years, Undercuffler said.“I think it costs more to raise kids today. It really takes two parents and it puts a lot of stress on the parents,” she said.Cindy Wyant and her husband, Butch, of Butler adopted their grandson Lennox when he was 2 years old. He is now 8.He was born to parents who were too young to take care of him. So, he went into a type of foster care called kinship care with his grandparents.He sometimes gets questioned by other children about why he doesn't live with his parents. He is prepared with an answer.“He tells them 'my granny and grandpa chose me' and he smiles and goes on his way. We taught him to hold his head high,” she said.Events like Saturday's allow people in similar situations to support each other and give advice.Cindy Wyant said, “It's good to know that there are other people out there in my situation. At first I thought, 'What would people think when they see a grandma raising kids?' It's very nice to hear that there are people out there like you.”
