In commemoration of National Adoption Month 2004, the Syracuse University College of Law's Family Law Society and the Family Law and Social Policy Center will host a lecture by Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York. Pertman will speak at 11:45 a.m. Nov. 4 in Room 200 of E.I. White Hall. A book signing will follow the lecture. Both events are free and open to the public.
In 1990, National Adoption Week, a period designated by former President Gerald Ford, officially became National Adoption Month. The goal during this month is to make extra efforts to raise public awareness about children who are waiting for permanent homes. Today, more than 100,000 children are in foster care nationwide.
Pertman is the author of "Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming America." The award-winning book addresses contemporary adoption issues including confidentiality and the adoptees' need to know their identity. A former reporter, Pertman is a past Pulitzer Prize nominee for his stories about adoption in The Boston Globe. He has won an Angel of Adoption award from the U.S. Congress; a Friend of Children Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; the Year 2000 Journalism Award from Holt International Children's Services; and the American Adoption Congress' first award for the journalist who has most informed the nation about adoption issues. He is the father of two adopted children.
For more information, contact Cynthia Mabry, visiting professor in SU's College of Law, at (315) 443-6565.
