Adoption by the numbers
Butler County Probate Court has finalized 160 adoptions in 2009 and has adopted 121 through Nov. 16 in 2010. Of those adoptions, 53 were children with Butler County Children Services in 2009 and 46 were children with Children Services this year.
Butler County Children Services has 40 children waiting for an adoptive home.
According to the National Adoption Day Coalition, 30,000 children have been adopted from foster care since National Adoption Day started in November 2000.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3,382 children in Ohio were waiting to be adopted in 2009, which has progressively decreased since 2002 when 5,616 children in Ohio were awaiting adoption.
WEST CHESTER TWP. — Jonathan and Kim Ruffin say they are blessed to have Kaleah and Kalani be their “forever children” on Saturday.
Saturday is National Adoption Day, and the Ruffins will celebrate by adopting the young siblings with developmental disabilities who entered into the Butler County Children Services system after being abused.
The adoption will be finalized by Butler County Probate Court Judge Randy Rogers.
“I just wanted a big family,” said Kim Ruffin, whose 41st birthday also is Saturday.
Kaleah, 3, who uses a wheelchair to get around, has severe medical problems. She has cerebral palsy, suffers from seizures and has a tracheotomy and feeding tubes. Kim quit her nursing job to take care of Kaleah, who has been with the Ruffins since she was 8 months old.
“She became my baby; she’s been a part of our family,” said Kim. “In a lot of ways, she’s given us purpose. Here’s a baby who needed us, but we needed her, too.”
The Ruffins were told Kaleah wouldn’t communicate or respond, but she does, just not verbally.
Kalani, a 2-year-old who gets into many things, is affectionately called “Monkey” by his soon-to-be sister, Alexis, 14, the younger of the Ruffins’ two biological daughters. Kalani came to the Ruffins when he was a few months old. He is visually impaired — he is only able to see light — and undergoes therapy for developmental challenges due to shaken-baby syndrome, the Ruffins said.
When he’s happy, “he’s full of kisses,” Kim said.
The Ruffins — who also have a 20-year-old daughter, Corrine, at Ohio State University — say the addition of Kalani and Kaleah make their family complete.
And it’s taught their biological children a special lesson, Kim said. “It teaches you, it changes you and it makes your children a little more compassionate. It makes them more well-rounded people.”
'Good things happen every day,’ Probate judge says when kids go to new homes
It’s not unusual for tears to flow when Butler County Probate Judge Randy Rogers holds court on a Saturday in November.
That’s when he celebrates National Adoption Day. This Saturday, he’ll help seven families adopt 11 children, all who were removed from homes by Butler County Children Services.
“Good things happen every day,” said Rogers, who’s had this special court session for the past several years. “National Adoption Day is a chance for our probate court to join with similar courts throughout all 50 states in focusing and celebrating on some of the good things that happen in our courts all during the year.”
In the past 15 years, Rogers has presided over about 2,400 adoptions; and between 40 and 50 a year are children in county custody, he said.
On Saturday, court hearings will be from 9 a.m. to noon. Families not in court can partake in a reception outside.
Jeff Centers, Children Services executive director, said the kids being adopted were unable to be reunited with their families, including relatives.
A great need for any child that comes through his agency is permanency, he said.
“What Judge Rogers has done, he takes this day and likes to celebrate the adoption process,” he said. “It’s really neat to be in his courtroom. He goes out of his way to make the families feel special.”
Rogers said it is the right thing to do to celebrate National Adoption Day, which started in 2000.
“The courtroom is always filled with smiling faces,” he said. “And you just never know what the kids might say,” the judge said, recalling once when he asked a 4-year-old girl how she got such pretty curls.
“She said, 'They came with my head.’ ”
Centers said with the 11 children to be adopted Saturday, 46 children will have been adopted this year. Another adoption is set for December. However, he said there are still 40 children in the county waiting for adoptive parents.
“They get a second chance at life, a home and family who’ll be able to care for them and provide for them, and not be in foster care until the age of 18,” he said.
“This is a good day for kids, and a happy day for kids and families.”
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