The Polk County Courthouse typically isn’t the cheeriest of places. The meting out of justice leaves little to smile about on most days – a prison sentence, a probation order, a monetary fine, a heartbreaking story of a juvenile heading down a dangerous road. Nov. 19, then, was the antithesis of a typical day. The tears flowed from joy, not sorrow, and the smiles were broad and sincere.

It was the Polk County Model Court’s fifth annual Adoption Saturday, held in conjunction with the 2005 National Adoption Month celebration, when courthouses across the country work to clear their dockets and finalize adoptions. It was a feel-good day, but more than that, too. Locating permanent, loving homes for the thousands of children languishing in foster care and awaiting adoption should be a priority not only for the social services workers who see the heartbreak of abuse, abandonment and neglect, but for business leaders as well.

Stable families stabilize communities, and stable communities stabilize the economy. This simple equation is reflected in everything from the Greater Des Moines Partnership business development group’s adoption of a social agenda in Project Destiny to a growing realization among state agencies that failure to reform the child welfare system will further victimize children and cost taxpayers more money.

Lamakers have made it easier for families to adopt foster children, especially those with special needs who are difficult to place, with tax credit of up to $10,390 for adoption expenses, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which financially rewards states that improve the rate of reunification of families and, when that isn’t a safe option, adoptions of foster children.

More reform is needed to make the adoption of foster children =more attractive to people wishing to expand their families. For example, Iowa lags far behind other states in tax credits for non-recurring adoption expenses with its $500 cap. Only California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Rhode Island and South Carolina offer less, and the majority of states offer between $1,000 and $2,000.

Adoption of these most vulnerable citizens is a risk for the parents – what decision to have a child isn’t? – but it’s an even greater risk for the children, who have been hurt by life and are being asked to trust and love again. They deserve loving families – “forever families,” as the organizers of Adoption Saturday like to say. As a society, we’ll all be better off when they find them.