Glenda Lewis said Nov. 8 was the best day of her life.

It was the day the state of Texas recognized her four great-granddaughters as her girls.

Lyriq, 7, Jalen, 11, Kendra, 10, and Raven Samson, 14, were adopted into the Lewis family last week at a public ceremony at the Bastrop County Courthouse.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services hosted the event in Bastrop County, along with 10 others in 10 Central Texas counties this month, for National Adoption Awareness Month to shed light on the plight of children lacking permanent families.

Six other children joined two other families at the Bastrop County celebration.

"I’m so relieved now I can say they’re mine," Lewis, 70, said over lunch.

Lewis had fostered the four girls for the past two years as their mother struggled with drugs. The children entered Child Protective Services before coming to live with their great-grandmother full time in Smithville.

"I feel good it’s finally over," said Raven, a high school student who takes AP classes and plays flute in the band.

Her mother has since gotten better, Lewis said, and comes to visit regularly.

While the department admits the adoption process can be long and grueling – involving fingerprints, references, health exams, home visits and paperwork – David Calvo, an adoption supervisor, said it’s worth it.

"At the end of the day, it’s adding onto your family," Calvo said. "Every kid deserves a family, and every person needs a forever home."

More than 6,000 Texas children and teens are awaiting adoption, according to DFPS statistics. Sixty-five of those are in Bastrop County.

"We have a lot of kids and a shortage of homes," Calvo said.

Older kids typically have a harder time getting adopted into permanent families and spend more time in the foster system, the state agency said.

While the number of Texas children in foster care has declined in the past year by about 2 percent, in the past decade it has increased by 31 percent.

Calvo said it’s not uncommon to have kids sleeping in the state office.

"Some of these children have special medical, physical or emotional needs," the state agency said in a statement. "The one thing they all have in common is the need for a forever family."

Any adults 21 and older interested in fostering or adopting children are encouraged to visit adoptchildren.org.