Adoption day in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Nineteen Rhode Island children are celebrating National Adoption Day by becoming members of 16 families.

The Rhode Island Family Court finalized the adoptions during a special ceremony held Saturday in Providence.

More than 250 people attended the event presided over by Chief Judge Haiganush Bedrosian. He noted that the adoptions occurred just before Thanksgiving and told adopting parents that is a perfect time to give thanks for their love for and commitment to the children they adopted.

Highlights from the ceremony include three siblings who were reunited as members of one family.

Rhode Island performs about 500 adoptions a year, but about 300 children are still waiting for permanent homes.

Teens, sibling groups and children with special needs are the hardest to place.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Suttell also participated in Saturday's celebration.