SAN ANTONIO – Ten years after Nemoway’s Law was enacted, her great-aunt is still waiting for the day she can tell Nemoway that thousands of children have been adopted by grandparents, aunts, uncles and other extended family, because of her.
“Her law impacted many children, not just here in San Antonio and the state of Texas, but the nation,” said Mary Moreno, Nemoway’s great aunt.
Related: Web Extra: Impact of Nemoway's Law
To protect the identity of Nemoway, KSAT is not releasing the child's full name.
She said other states now have adopted similar legislation.
Nemoway’s Law gives relatives 90 days to file for custody after parental rights are terminated, giving them the needed legal standing to adopt those children.
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Moreno said Nemoway was only 5 years old when her father and mother, who is Moreno’s niece, lost custody.
Congressman Joaquin Castro, then a state representative, wrote in a letter to an official with Child Protective Services, that Nemoway was removed from her home in 2005 after caseworkers said they found evidence of neglect and substance abuse.
Moreno said four of her family members offered to take Nemoway, including her other niece, who had passed the required background check and was told she would be granted custody.
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However, Moreno said Nemoway’s foster family was allowed to adopt her.
Moreno said, as a result, she appealed to Castro, whose legislation was unanimously adopted in 2007.
She said not long after that, they learned of a baby boy who was available for adoption.
Related: Reporter Debrief: Nemoway's Law Anniversary
Moreno said they were surprised to learn it was Nemoway’s little brother, who is still in the family thanks to the same law.
But Moreno’s mission in life is far from over.
She organized Families Helping Families as a support system.
Moreno said Edgewood Independent School District is the first of other districts she still hopes to recruit in her efforts to provide family members with a central location where they can get additional food, school supplies, legal advice and more needed services.
CONT. COVERAGE: Family shares experience fostering, adopting children from Texas foster care system
She said her priority is the children who’ve been adopted.
“The way we support them is by supporting those who are helping them,” Moreno said.
Moreno said she hopes to answer for them the same question Nemoway asked before being taken away, believing she was being abandoned,
“Do you love me?” she said. “They all deserve a ‘Yes, we love you,’”
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