LOS ANGELES (KABC)– Just in time for the holidays, more than 200 children and their new families took part in the 25th annual Adoption Day ceremony hosted by the Los Angeles County Court System.

It’s a tradition which started in Los Angeles and has now become a national event, traditionally held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

On Saturday, Mayor Karen Bass joined other city leaders to mark the occasion.

“When we worry about the unhoused population in the city of Los Angeles, part of that population is young people who may have been in the foster care system and don’t have forever families, and when they reach 18 or 21, they face the perils of going out into the world alone,” Bass said. “Today, more than 200 children will no longer have to face this peril in the future because they will leave the courthouse today with forever families.”

Teenager Adam Munoz is one of those leaving with a forever family.

“As I went from house to house, I felt like I wouldn’t find anyone who would want to take care of me like a mother and father would,” Munoz recalls. “But then when I met these two, everything changed. I saw that they loved me and cared for me, so I felt like I was actually part of their family.”