Judge John Bowman has implemented positive reforms to adoption mandates and helped streamline the judicial process as a judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Outside of the courtroom, Judge John Bowman works to raise adoption awareness through public speaking engagements and his participation in National Adoption Day. 

Now in its 15th year, National Adoption Day is an annual event intended to raise the public’s awareness of the foster care system’s more than 100,000 children currently waiting to be placed with loving adoptive families. National Adoption Day is celebrated by policymakers, practitioners, adoption advocates, adoptive families, and the general public every Saturday before Thanksgiving at events in communities across the United States. 

On November 22, 2014, individuals in 400 U.S. cities participated in National Adoption Day events, and 4,500 children around the country were adopted by their forever families. Since it was first launched in 2000, National Adoption Day has helped over 54,000 children move out of foster care and into permanent homes. 

Judge John Bowman, of Florida, participates in the annual National Adoption Day, a time when parents, advocates, elected officials, and judges celebrate, facilitate, and promote adoptions. Judge John Bowman works hard to protect children’s and parents’ rights during the adoption process.

Held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving for 12 years, the day has marked the adoption of some 44,500 foster children into permanent families. This year on November 23, event planners anticipate finalizing some 4,500 adoptions, out of the approximately 100,000 children currently in foster care.

National Adoption Day coalition members also plan to increase public awareness of foster families and encourage cooperation among courts, advocates, and adoption agencies. They publicize not only the children needing homes but the 18-year-olds who leave foster care without their own family support.

Partnering with National Adoption Day organizers are, among others, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Freddie Mac Foundation, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights. The events are bipartisan, with the president, governors, and members of congress providing support for the cause.