Gabe Fowler was all smiles Monday in the Marion County Chancery Courtroom.
After more than 1,200 days as a foster child, he finally has a permanent home with his dad, Daniel, mom, Katcha, and brother, Aaron, in Hattiesburg. Gabe was one of 19 adoptions of foster children that have taken place in Marion County during the past year.
Successes such as his were highlighted Monday in the 10th Chancery District’s Sebe Dale Courthouse during a Marion County Celebration of Families.
“He’s been with us since he was two years old. It’s important in his life to have permanency and to have a home where we love him, care for him and provide for him, and to know that God put him in our home for a reason … he’s ours,” Katcha Fowler said. “Today just made it official.”
The Fowlers have fostered 11 children over the years, and Daniel Fowler agreed with his wife and said the day was a huge one for their family. Their other son, Aaron, was also adopted from Marion County.
“My wife and I are foster parents because we feel like it’s where God led us,” he said. “This just stopped one chapter in our lives and started a new one. His chapter starts over today.”
Chancellor Rhea Sheldon spoke of the importance of the day as she opened the ceremony, which was held in front of a packed courtroom.
“Last year, we had almost 300 children in custody. At this time last year, we did not have a permanent regional director, we did not have permanent supervisors in the Marion County Child Protection Services Office and we did not have permanent social workers. Probably half of our social workers were on assignment from another county,” she said. “Today, we have a permanent regional director, we have five permanent supervisors and we only have social worker on loan from another county. We have made huge improvements in the stability of our department.”
And that stability has led to good results for the children in the county’s care. From June 1, 2017, until May 1 of this year, 188 children have reached permanency in Marion County. Of those, 119 have been reunited with parents or caretakers, 25 are living with relatives, 25 are under guardianship and 19 have been adopted.
Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jess Dickinson, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to oversee Child Protective Services in Mississippi in September 2017, said the progress in Marion County has been “phenomenal.”
“Of all of the gifts I believe that God gives us on this Earth, I believe our children are the most important to us,” he said. “They are our hope, our future – they are our future bricklayers and store clerks, our future teachers, voters and politicians – they are the ones who will shape this country and who we are. To take in a child and to have the responsibility for a child and their future and how they grow up and who they become is such an important responsibility for every person who is born unto this Earth.”
Pictured Above: Chancellor Rhea Sheldon gets a high-five from Gabe Fowler after Gabe’s adoption was completed Monday afternoon at the Marion County Chancery Courtroom. Pictured with Gabe are his brother, Aaron, and parents Katcha and Daniel Fowler of Hattiesburg. The Fowlers have adopted two children and fostered many others from Marion County. | Photo by Mark Rogers
