ADOPTED JUST IN TIME

For many kids turning18 and staying in the system means their chances at having a future are slim. 

For some children in foster care, turning 18 without being adopted is a worst case scenario.

Such was the case for Roman Balassaitis, who was one day shy of his 18th birthday when he was finally adopted by a family he’d met as a preteen.

The couple, Brad and Renee Balassaitis, officially made him a part of their family recently at the Clay County Historic Courthouse, about 40 miles southwest of the city of Jacksonville, Florida.

They first met Roman when he was 12 years old. He was living at a group home and would often visit the family’s home, having Nerf gun fights with the family’s children. 

There had been a lot of movement and “upheaval in his life,” Renee said, and when he needed to leave the group home, he stayed with the family for about nine months but wasn’t ready to be adopted...read more