SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR CITIZENS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION No. 13

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 8, 2025

      The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Joint Resolution No. 13.

      This amended joint resolution designates the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as “National Adoption Day” and designates the month of November as “National Adoption Month” in New Jersey to raise public awareness of adoption services and the foster care system, to educate prospective parents about the options available to them when considering adoption, and to celebrate finalized adoptions for families.

      Many children in the foster care system do not receive the appropriate emotional and financial support necessary to succeed in life that other children receive from their families.  Children in foster care may experience more physical, emotional, and psychological trauma in their lifetimes than their peers, adding to the difficulties endured while waiting for a permanent home.  While adoption statistics are trending in the right direction, there is still a vast need to encourage more parents to consider adoption, and that begins with a willingness to expedite the adoption process and celebrate its success.

      As of December of 2024, the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (division) in the Department of Children and Families had 1,382 children in resource family and kinship care and 1,157 children in resource family and non-kinship care, totaling 2,539 children under the division’s care and supervision.  Throughout 2024, the division had 388 children exit out of home placement into adoption, part of a total of 1,586 children being discharged and exiting from the State’s foster care system.

      Starting with former Los Angeles Presiding Judge Michael Nash in the 1990s, celebrations have been held during the month of November aimed at finalizing adoptions and recognizing the newly united families.  Many county vicinages in New Jersey host National Adoption Day services during the week prior to Thanksgiving Day, in part to unite families before the holiday season, but generally to bring awareness to the thousands of children that continue to wait for a resolution, especially for children who spend years in the system and teenagers who are close to aging out and becoming independent.  Therefore, it is altogether fitting and proper to designate the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day as “National Adoption Day” and designate the month of November as “National Adoption Month” in New Jersey.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments revise the resolution’s preamble to describe the care and supervision of children under the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families.