WARREN — One aspect of Trumbull County Probate Judge James Fredericka’s job is to promote adoptions.

One of the most effective ways of doing this is through his Adoption Day event, held every November in his courtroom on the first floor of the historic Trumbull County courthouse.

“Just telling people about the benefits of adoption is not enough,” Fredericka said. “We have to show that adoptive bond between parent and child.”

Fredericka’s task of showing that adoptive bond has drawn national attention.

Early in May, the judge and his magistrate Emily Weston traveled to Tucson, Ariz., to speak to a gathering of the National College of Probate Judges about their successes in promoting adoption.

“To my surprise, not every probate court does it like we do. We got a lot of positive feedback from our presentation at that seminar and a lot of courts are wanting to copy what we do,” he said.

Fredericka, who said he has a personal connection because his grandfather was adopted, said the secret to his success of Adoption Day is using a tried-and-true technique litigants like to use.

“It’s called linkage. It’s where you put things together and let the people come to their own conclusions,” the judge said.

At Adoption Day in Trumbull County, Fredericka said he tries to draw in the media, public officials and community organizations to spread the word about the adoptive process. He also brings in youth — students — to contribute.

“Last November, we had Hubbard students do the artwork, Warren G. Harding students do face painting, and Niles McKinley students take on the characters centered around the Wizard of Oz’s ‘No Place Like Home’ theme,” Fredericka said.

Another favorite theme was “One in a Minion” of “Despicable Me” movie fame.

But the real stars of Adoption Day are the parents and the children.

“Everyone thinks the adoption helps the children the most, but as you can see from the pictures, the ones who really benefit are the parents,” the judge said. “It changes the parent for the better.”

Fredericka said his staff is instrumental in making Adoption Day a success, and the planning for the 2023 event in November is ongoing. The format changed in the post-COVID-19 days, he said, because many of the adoption hearings were held via Zoom or video.

“On Adoption Day before COVID, parents and children would come into the courtroom for an actual public hearing. The past year, the hearings were completed and the new families came into the courtroom for the first time (on Adoption Day) and got their pictures taken with the judge on the bench. It made it real for them,” Fredericka said

The event clearly shows the adoptive bond of love and joy — something the judge says cannot be expressed by words alone.

“You can hear it from me, but it doesn’t hit home with the public unless you show the joy and link it to the pictures of the adoptive family and the smiles on their faces,” Fredericka said in explaining the importance of his Adoption Day event.

In addition to showing the joy of the familial bond, the event also tries to erase some of the negative stigmas attached to adoptions.

The judge pointed to public surveys completed in 1953 and later in 2006 that essentially showed that adoption was portrayed “as a second choice” for parents who could not conceive naturally.

“I think that attitude is changing, that parents may not have quite the same feeling for an adopted child as they do for a biological child,” he said.

The story of the late Don Beauchene, a Warren firefighter, and his wife Michelle adopting four children was chronicled in 2019 in a 10-minute segment on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The couple was interviewed by Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts to tell the story about their new family bonds. In it, the tears of the father spoke louder than his words. The story, however, took a tragic turn a few months later when Don Beauchene died from COVID-19.

“Their adoptions were featured on back-to-back Adoption Days here,” Weston said.

Weston is vital, the judge said, in making sure all the legal formalities are taken care of in advance of Adoption Day.

“The process is closed and we have to make sure the parents who participate freely want to open their story to the public,” said Weston, who has been with the court since 2014.

Fredericka said Judge Thomas Swift started the Adoption Day events in Trumbull County shortly after the trend was started in 2000 by a coalition of national partners, including the Alliance for Children’s Rights, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Freddie Mac Foundation, the Children’s Action Network and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

This coalition has a goal that there is an adoptive family for every child.

“They are trying to erase the stigma that some kids are not adoptable because of health or behavioral issues,” the judge said.

Fredericka said age used to be a factor, with many believing that the younger the child, the more likely it is that child is adoptable.

“I believe that is changing,” he said.

One public official agrees that Fredericka’s positive message about adoption is succeeding.

“It changes the world, one child at a time. It provides a forever home for a child who otherwise couldn’t have one,” said Tim Schaffner of Trumbull County Children Services.