Family Services turns matchmaker for families and adoptable children

They are in need of a loving, caring family.

And they might just find the right home this weekend.

The Clark County Department of Family Services has 100 children in need of permanent homes. On Saturday, about 50 of them will participate in a bowling party, where they will get to interact with licensed foster parents who are looking to adopt, said Vickie Wilson, senior Family Services specialist.

About 100 individuals and families are expected to attend in the hopes of finding a match. The families will get to interact with the children in a natural setting during the event, Wilson said.

“Every child that attends realizes that there are people out there who adopt,” she said.

The youngest child is 3, and the oldest is 16. The last time the agency did a similar event, 100 percent of the children had at least one person express interest in them, Wilson said.

But that is only the first step, she said.

“We need to make sure that the match is good, that they are able to meet the needs of the child.”

Between 2009 and 2012, Family Services had an average of 548 adoptions each year, said Samantha Charles, public information administrator with Family Services, which helps about 3,300 children annually.

The goal of Family Services is to reunite children with their biological parents. It’s only when those efforts fail that parental rights are terminated. Typically, about 80 percent of children are adopted by their foster parents, Wilson said.

Many of the children who will take part in Saturday’s event are living with foster parents who, for various reasons, can’t make a long-term commitment, Wilson said.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.