DES MOINES (KWWL)-- "We were his third foster family. He wouldn't look anybody in the eye, and he was just really withdrawn, and you could tell his spirit was just broken," says Adoptive Mother, Liz Cameron
Liz and her husband, Kenneth Cameron, decided to adopt Shaun, whom DHS sent to them as a foster child a year and a half ago. The Cameron's already had three biological children in two-year old daughter, Alea, four-year old daughter, Trinity and older son sixteen-year old Nathan. National Adoption day brought the Cameron's to court to make Shaun's adoption legal.
Attorney Mike Bandstra, one of Iowa's leading child advocates, is in court to represent the best interests of Shaun, one of some five-thousand children in the Iowa's Foster Care system. Most will go back to their biological families, but when that's not possible, as with Shaun, legal adoption becomes a priority. All the paperwork work is complete, so this is a short and fairly routine adoption finalization in the courtroom of Judge Don Nickerson.
Judge Nickerson says, "Children are a gift from God. And, when I say gift, they are to be treasured and taken care of. Discipline with love."
Kenneth says the family is happy and excited to have Shaun with them. He says, "We love him. He's a funny kid. And, we adopted him because we saw the need. He started slowly to open up. He's making friends, and he's really been restored, I think. It's going to make the holidays a lot more exciting. Like I said, he's been with us for a year and a half. So, things won' t change a whole lot. But, He's ours."
Liz points out, "Permanency is key to these kids who have gone through the foster care system. They're just looking for stability and just a little bit of love. And, if you can make a difference, I think that's for the best of everybody."
For more information about adoptions in Iowa, or becoming a foster parent, please contact IowaKidsNet http://www.iakids.org/ on its toll free number, 1-800-243-0756.
Another great advocate for Iowa foster children and foster families is the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association, http://www.ifapa.org/ which can be reached by telephone at 1-800-277-8145.
Online Reporter: Ron Steele
rsteele@kwwl.com
