Florida Senate - 2021                            (NP)    SR 1572
       
       
        
       By Senator Baxley
       
       
       
       
       
       12-01201A-21                                          20211572__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution encouraging Floridians to consider
    3         opening their hearts and homes to children in this
    4         state who are in need of a loving family, and
    5         recognizing November 2021 as “Florida Adoption Month.”
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, it is paramount that Florida’s children and
    8  families have the opportunities necessary to reach their full
    9  potential and lead healthy lives, and
   10         WHEREAS, all children deserve a loving, supportive,
   11  nurturing, and permanent family of their own, and
   12         WHEREAS, adoption is an opportunity to change the life of a
   13  child and the families that might adopt them while making an
   14  impact on local communities, and
   15         WHEREAS, anyone with the ability to love and provide for a
   16  child and to make a lifelong commitment can be an adoptive
   17  parent, and
   18         WHEREAS, 4,548 Florida children found permanent homes
   19  through adoption during the 2019-2020 state fiscal year, and
   20         WHEREAS, approximately 800 Florida children, including
   21  teenagers, sibling groups, and children with special medical
   22  needs, are available for adoption and have no identified
   23  adoptive family, and
   24         WHEREAS, First Lady Casey DeSantis, as chair of the Florida
   25  Children and Youth Cabinet and through her “Hope for Healing
   26  Florida” program, is working alongside state agencies to improve
   27  the health, safety, economic stability, and quality of life of
   28  Florida’s children, and
   29         WHEREAS, the Governor’s Office of Adoption and Child
   30  Protection, the Florida Department of Children and Families,
   31  community-based care lead agencies, the Florida Association of
   32  Heart Galleries, state and local agencies, and child advocacy
   33  organizations join together each November to raise awareness of
   34  foster care adoptions in Florida, and
   35         WHEREAS, this year, Florida will celebrate National
   36  Adoption Month and Florida Adoption Month with its 30 Days of
   37  Amazing Children campaign on the Explore Adoption website,
   38  www.adoptflorida.org, and
   39         WHEREAS, families and children across this state and nation
   40  will celebrate adoption on November 20, 2021, National Adoption
   41  Day, while also remembering the children who are still in need
   42  of a loving, permanent family of their own, NOW, THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That Floridians are encouraged to consider opening their
   47  hearts and homes to children in this state who are in need of a
   48  loving family, and that November 2021 is recognized as “Florida
   49  Adoption Month.”