by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In the photos in the City Hall atrium many of the kids look happy and many may be. But, their smiles would be even wider if they had caring, permanent parents at home.
The Heart Gallery is making a one-week stop at City Hall, but the organization behind the exhibit is a year-round venture. City Council President Michael Corrigan, on behalf of Mayor John Peyton, declared this week National Heart Gallery Week and no group may be happier than Family Support Services.
Since taking over local adoptions from the Florida Department of Children and Families, FSS has taken the local adoption rate to unseen levels. Just as importantly, FSS has played an intricate role in seeing hundreds of area kids find suitable foster homes,
“The first year we placed 256 kids,” said FSS Executive Director Jim Davis. “Last year we placed 258 and this year (the fiscal year just ended June 30), we did 351.”
The Heart Gallery has a permanent home at the Landing but traveled all over the city the past year including stops in Independent Square, the Avenues Mall and Orange Park Mall. Davis said he got the idea for the Heart Gallery exhibit after seeing something similar in Tampa. The exhibit includes photos of kids seeking foster care or adoption and includes pamphlets on each child and some of their background.
“This week, thousands of visitors will come through the atrium of City Hall,” said Corrigan, explaining the exhibit goes hand-in-hand with one of his chief initiatives as Council president — mentoring. “Judge David Gooding has been a strong advocate of adoptions for years. I hope this raises awareness and makes a serious difference in the lives of these kids.”
Corrigan said he, Gooding and Builders Care are working together to renovate a house on Melrose Avenue in his district — a project similar in nature but smaller in scope to ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.”
Davis said in the past year 30-45 kids have been adopted as a direct result of the FSS foster program, but there are many more kids that need safe, loving homes and families.
“Out of 3,000 kids in the foster program, 382 have seen the parental rights terminated and they are eligible for adoption,” said Davis, of the process that takes about a year to complete. “The largest group is in the teenage range. There are also 1,700 kids in the infant to 6 year-old range.”
Davis admits there’s a certain connotation associated with the word foster, whether it’s from the kids’ or parents’ perspective. However, through a program designed to filter and train prospective parents — and a partnership with Florida Community College — kids are being placed in foster homes these days with families that have been interviewed, screened and trained much more extensively than two decades ago.
“We are seeing people like teachers and parents, empty nesters, adopting kids in an effort to give something back to the community,” said Davis. “I know of one executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield, his wife, who’s executive and their daughter who is a school teacher, all have their license and have kids in their homes today.
“A lot of people sign to be foster parents, fall in love with the kid and end up adopting them.”
Last year, Duval County ranked second only to Miami in the number of successful foster care placements.