Adoptive parents rescue troubled children

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

‘We never outgrow the need for family” was the theme of the National Adoption Month observance in the Mahoning County Courthouse rotunda.

“You gave life to kids that you did not give birth to,” Randall Muth, executive director of the Mahoning County Children Services Board, told adoptive parents in the audience Friday.

“No matter how great my staff is, we would be paralyzed, we would be incapable of effectuating change and making lives better for kids without you,” he told them.

The event featured the finalization of the adoptions of two toddlers by Judge Robert Rusu of Mahoning County Probate Court.

To signal the event, the toddlers, held in their adoptive parents arms, banged the gavel Judge Rusu lent them.

The adoptees are Samuel Pearce Mager, who will turn 2 on Tuesday and was adopted by Matthew and Bernadine Mager of Youngstown; and Sarah Renee Delatore, 19 months, who was adopted by Drs. Jason and Rebekah Delatore of Poland.

Both couples had been foster parents of the children they adopted Friday.

Both couples were represented by Atty. Robert Christian, who has finalized more than 500 adoptions during his 39-year legal career.

Christian said it is rewarding for him to see “the joy of the families and the children.”

“It’s such a good thing to give these children a home,” he added.

Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court recounted the experience she and her husband, Tom Yanko, had when they adopted their daughter, Lillie Yanko, in China in 2008.

“She was living in an orphanage, sharing a crib with another baby. She weighed 17 pounds at 11 months when I brought her home,” Judge Sweeney recalled.

“Her progress today is phenomenal. She’s the smartest little thing in the world,” Judge Sweeney said of Lillie, who is now 8 and in third grade.

Theresa Pancoe, adoption unit supervisor at the Mahoning County Children Services Board, presented the distinguished service award to Beth Kollar and Karen Tesyk, CSB adoption caseworkers, who finalized a combined total of 32 adoptions in 2014 and 2015.

Of 40 children now available for adoption through CSB, 20 have been matched with potential permanent homes. The remaining 20 live in foster homes as they await adoption.

The celebration ended with a balloon launch outside the courthouse.