LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Just in time for the holidays, more than 200 children and their new families took part in the Los Angeles County court system's 25th annual Adoption Day ceremony.
It's a tradition that started in Los Angeles and now has become a nationwide happening, traditionally held the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
On Saturday, Mayor Karen Bass joined other city leaders to mark the occasion.
"When we are worried about the unhoused population in the city of Los Angeles a sector of that population are young people who might've been in the foster care system and do not have a forever family, and when they turn 18 or 21, they face the perils of going out in the world alone," Bass said. "Today over 200 children will not have to face that peril in the future because they will leave the courthouse today with a forever family."
One of those leaving with a forever family is teen Adam Munoz.
"Bouncing from house to house to house I felt like I wouldn't find someone who would want to take care of me like a father and mother would," Munoz recalled. "But then when I stumbled upon these two, that entire thing changed. I saw that they actually love and care for me so it made me feel like I was actually part of their family."