American Notes ADOPTION

For untold thousands of abandoned or orphaned children, salvation lies in adoption or foster care. Among those who try to find families for these children is a most unlikely outfit: a J.C. Penney store. Last March in New Orleans, for the sixth year, the store made available an unorthodox forum to bring kids and prospective parents together.

Joined this year by a second Penney's outlet, the store invited the state's department of social services to select children who were willing and able to take a gamble. They were brought to the stores, decked out in the latest spring fashions, given tips on modeling and sent onstage. The audience, including an invited group of prospective parents, got a chance to size up the kids and obtain information on the applications and processing.

Social worker Kerry Ermon contends that the fashion shows have been an extremely productive way to find new homes for youngsters who would otherwise be hard to place. Already, prospective parents have made serious inquiries about more than half the children who participated. But some critics say that Penney's method is offensively reminiscent of an auction. To which Ermon replies, "I would love it if we didn't need to recruit for foster and adoptive families. But the reality is we have more children than we have families."