Senator Jeanne Shaheen Honors James J. Bianco, Jr. as an Angel in Adoption™ at National Event in Washington, DC
Concord, NH – Senator Jeanne Shaheen selected James J. Bianco, Jr. as a 2013 Angels in Adoption™ awardee for his outstanding advocacy of adoption. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption™ program, honored Attorney Bianco at an awards ceremony on October 8 and gala on October 9 in Washington, DC.
Attorney Bianco has been working in the adoption arena for over 40 years. In 1973, he co-authored New Hampshire’s adoption law while serving as counsel to the Governor’s Commission on Laws Affecting Children. He founded Bianco Professional Association in 1981 and began the firm’s nationwide adoption practice. Over the past three decades, Attorney Bianco has been involved in hundreds of adoptions, representing both birth parents and adoptive parents.
In 2011, Attorney Bianco acquired Adoptive Families for Children, a licensed NH Child Placing Agency. Through the agency, Attorney Bianco and AFFC Board Members are establishing a foundation to help create more permanent homes for children and to increase awareness of adoption opportunities. The foundation will provide grants to support the financial needs of adoptive and foster children and will work to heighten recruitment efforts to expand the pool of adoptive parents in New Hampshire.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Bianco. “Working to match children with families is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. However, so much of my respect goes to the adoptive and foster parents who taken children into their care and provide them with permanent, loving homes. They are the true angels in adoption and foster care.”
The Angels in Adoption™ program is CCAI’s signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad. Each year, more than 140 Angels are honored through the Angels in Adoption™ program.
In addition to the more than 140 local angels from around the country, several “National Angels” were recognized at the ceremony and gala for their dedication and commitment nationally and internationally to child welfare on a grand scale. This year’s honorees were Korie and Willie Robertson of the popular A&E reality show Duck Dynasty and internationally acclaimed actress, director and producer Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman. Former National Angels include First Lady Laura Bush, Patti LaBelle, Jane Seymour, Muhammad Ali, the late Dave Thomas, Steven Curtis Chapman, Bruce Willis, Alonzo Mourning, Rhea Perlman and Kristin Chenoweth.
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe and loving homes through adoption. CCAI’s goal is the elimination of the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right of a family.
CCAI was created in 2001 by the active co-chairs of the bicameral, bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption to more effectively raise Congressional and public awareness about adoption.
The Angels in Adoption™ program was established in 1999 as a Congressional press conference to honor outstanding individuals. Since then, the program has developed into a yearlong public awareness campaign culminating in an extraordinary awards gala and celebration in Washington, DC.
CCAI does not receive any government funding and relies on the generous support of foundations, corporations, and individuals to accomplish their mission. For more information, visit www.ccainstitute.org or www.angelsinadoption.org.
To contact Attorney Bianco, please call Bianco Professional Association at 603-225-7170, toll-free at 800-262-8112, or send a message using our contact form.
