Portrait gallery promotes adoption

A traveling portrait gallery of children hoping to trade state foster care for a permanent, adoptive home with a Utah family was unveiled Wednesday in the Capitol rotunda.

The fourth Utah Heart Gallery, which is coordinated by the Adoption Exchange, a family recruitment agency that contracts with the state Division of Child and Family Services, is a collection of 35 children in 24 portraits donated by local photographers to raise awareness of the continuing need statewide for adoptive parents.

The portraits are a unique way to connect potential families and children in state foster care, said Kathy Searle, director of programs for the exchange.

"The recruitment photos we used to use just didn't get inquiries," she said. "This gives the children more attention and makes them look like everyday kids, not just foster kids."

Capturing the personalities for the photos is a requirement for photographers, Searle said. The quality of the portraits have been unbelievable, museum-worthy efforts that are doubly appreciated because a lot of the children in the adoption exchange often don't have a picture of themselves, she added.

More than 200 of the children in foster care are waiting for a permanent home, said state Department of Human Services spokeswoman Elizabeth Sollis, noting that of the the 117 children featured in previous galleries, 62 have been adopted.

After the official public unveiling Wednesday night, the gallery will begin a statewide tour that includes stops in Murray, Tooele, Logan and St. George. Other sites could be added along the way, Sollis said.

On a given day, about 2,200 Utah children are in state custody, and most will eventually be returned to their homes. Searle said that nationally, 115,000 children are in state-sponsored abuse protection programs, and that one in five will likely not be adopted.

For more information, including art galleries that would like to show the portraits, call 801-265-0444 or visit utdsfsadopt.org.

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com