By KARA BROOKS

Governor Mike Pence has issued a proclamation declaring the month of November as Adoption Awareness Month in the State of Indiana.

“We take this opportunity to celebrate the tens of thousands of adoptive families and adopted children here in Indiana, and I want to recognize and reaffirm the important work of adoption agencies and adoption attorneys from around the state who help connect Hoosier families with some of our most vulnerable children,” said Governor Pence. “While our administration has made improvements to the adoption process in Indiana, including a $1,000 tax credit per adopted child beginning in 2015, we must continue to work to see that every child in Indiana finds a loving home.”

On March 25, Governor Pence signed into law House Enrolled Act 1222, which creates a nonrefundable $1,000 tax credit per adopted child beginning taxable year 2015.

It also created an Adoption Study Committee, which is currently studying adoption programs and regulations, and will make recommendations at the end of Fiscal Year 2015 concerning improving adoption programs in Indiana.

Currently, the Indiana Department of Child Services is actively recruiting adoptive families for between 75 and 100 children, and more than 100,000 children in the United States foster care system are waiting to be adopted. In 2013, DCS completed more than 1,000 adoptions.

The proclamation, which can be found attached, coincides with an Information & Awareness Adoption Fair that Governor Pence and First Lady Karen Pence are hosting and will help to kick off at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10 in the North Atrium of the Indiana Statehouse.

Representatives from the Indiana Department of Child Services and more than a dozen adoption agencies and associations will be in attendance to provide information on both public and private adoptions, post-adoption services, how to afford adoption, as well as additional available resources.

Information regarding adoption in Indiana can also be found here: http://www.in.gov/dcs/2730.htm.

Last year, more than 100 people attended Governor Pence’s first annual Information & Awareness Adoption Fair.