KILLEEN, Texas — Walking through the doors of the Killeen Police Department you're greeted by the smiling faces of children within the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services foster system looking for a family of their own.
"People don't know that these kids exist," Sarah Murry, program manager for Partnerships for Children said.
From babies to 18-years-old Murry said these displays give the children "autonomy" and said that statistically adoptions increase in areas and DFPS regions where there is a robust Heart Gallery presence.
"In the foster system, people tend to focus on the negative parts and not the child themselves and their strengths," Murry said.
Partnerships for Children works with families to identify any potential roadblocks within the adoption process and provide the resources they can to ease the process for both the child and the adoptive family.
“Having a stable home environment is so key to so many future outcomes and future endeavors for children and adults," Murry said. "So if that can be provided, even if it’s through a very stable foster family, even if it’s not through adoption, we want that stability and care for every child.”
The Heart Gallery works with child and protective services case workers and children within the foster care system to introduce potential adoptive families throughout central Texas to children Murry said may otherwise "fall through the cracks" in the adoption process.
Such as children over five, sibling groups and those with primary medical needs.
"The simple face of being five years old or older makes it statistically unlikely for a child to be adopted without additional recruitment efforts," Murry said.
The photos on display, Murry said, are not the typical adoption photos posted on a website for reporting and updating records for the child. Partnerships for Children only displays "beautiful and dignified photos" to help in those efforts, Murry said.
Partnerships for Children hosts pop-up events throughout the central Texas area as well as hosting events with community partners.
"We can see statistically that adoptions go up in DFPS regions where they have a very robust heart gallery," Murry said. "Whether someone wants to have three photos or 100, we can do it."
Partnerships for Children does not license people to become adoption eligible at these Heart Gallery events but anyone interested in beginning that process can reach out to the organization and be connected with sources withing the DFPS system.