Vermont
New DCF policy allows adoptees in Vt. access to birth records
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – People adopted in Vermont now have access to see their birth records, that’s thanks to legislation from the last legislative session. Previously, adoptees could only see a non-identifying summary of their adoption.
Since this law went into effect on July 1, the Department of Children and Families says just under 200 people have connected with the adoption registry to get their previously inaccessible records.
“It was like all of the questions were just answered. And it was really lovely.” Jess Proria grew up in the Northeast Kingdom after being adopted. He says he’s spent a lot of time wondering about his biological family, the reason for his adoption, and not knowing his ancestry.
He says his adoptive parents were always supportive in providing him with the information that was accessible, but he also was curious about medical, mental health, and other history that wasn’t available to him.
“With closed adoptions, I felt like we didn’t have the same rights as other people to know stories and to know information. And now it feels there’s just this sense of resolution or groundedness in the whole experience,” said Proria.
Proria says viewing his records was healing. He says he learned a lot about his story, and how challenging the process must have been for his biological mother noting how much care and intention was put into his adoption, something he hopes for other adopted people too.
“It’s really a lot better for adoptees birth parents and adoptive parents as well, just to not have this in the shadows and this is a wonderful thing to have it out in the open.” Arya Radke of the Department for Children and Families says the former laws of closed adoption came from an older way of thinking, noting how today’s best practice is to keep adoption records open. Vermont is now joining at least 14 states with open adoption record laws the last in New England.
“We have contacted about 140 adoptees, indicating to them that disclosure forms have been filed about their adoption, and then they have the option then to find out what’s been disclosed,” said Radke.
The state considers this legislation a win for adopted people in the Green Mountain State. And for folks like Proria, it is.
But Proria encourages adopted people in Vermont to be honest with themselves about what could change once they get to learn more about their story. “Once you open the file, you can’t close it, you know? You can’t unknow things. And as adopted kids, none of us are adopted from ideal situations. And you don’t know, no one will know what’s on the other side. And just to know that you’re in a good place to process that,” said Proria.
Adoptees born in Vermont can now get the original adoptive certificate and identifying information about their birth parents if they signed a nondisclosure form prior to the law.
Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.
An international ambassador for tennis from South Burlington and a three-sport captain at Burlington High School and the University of Vermont more than 100 years ago are the final members for the 2026 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame banquet, the organization announced in a news release on Thursday, March 26.
Jake Agna, the former legendary tennis coach at South Burlington High School, is the 2026 David Hakins inductee, which honors an individual or a group or organization for exceptional promotion of sports, athletics and recreation in the state. Fenwick Watkins, a pioneer and exceptional athlete and coach who helped break color barriers in sports in the early 1900s, has been named the hall’s historic inductee.
Agna and Watkins join 10 other members previously announced this year who will officially be enshrined during a celebration banquet at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on 1117 Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 25.
The dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony. To purchase tickets to the 2026 event, visit the VSHOF website at vermontsportshall.com. The cost is $95 per plate with part of the proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the longtime designated charity for VSHOF.
Over 38 years coaching girls tennis at South Burlington, Agana compiled a 489-95 record with eight perfect seasons, 16 Division I titles and 13 runner-up trophies before stepping down prior to the 2023 season.
Agna is also founded Kids on the Ball in 2000, which is designed to teach children life lessons such as relationships and respect by learning the game of tennis. He has led 31 trips to Cuba to help expand the sport. His tennis programs reach out to over 200 kids each day in school and after school programs.
Agna’s work to help resurface 10 courts and renovation of the National Tennis Center in Cuba in 2017 was recognized by the Tennis Channel.
Watkins was a three-sport star in football, basketball, baseball at Burlington before graduating in 1905. At UVM, he is believed to be the first Black captain of a non-historical Black college or university sport and was captain for all three sports at both BHS and UVM, according to VSHOF.
After UVM, Watkins went on to become a high school and college head coach in North Dakota at Concordia College (football) and what is now known as North Dakota State (baseball and football). He died in 1943.
The previous winners for the Hakins award are: Barry Stone (2024); Thomas Dunkley (2023); Ted Ryan (2022); Cochran’s Ski Area, Mickey & Ginny Cochran (2020); Mal Boright (2019); Helmut Lenes (2017); Ernie Farrar (2015); Tom Curley (2014) and Ray Pecor (2013).
The previous historic winners include: Leo Papineau, St. Michael’s College, athlete, coach and official (2025); Clarence Demar, South Hero, distance running, (2017); Fred Harris, Brattleboro, outdoors/ski jumping, (2015); James Taylor, Windsor, outdoors, (2014); and Charles Adams, Newport, National Hockey League, (2013).
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
Eason DeMarsico-Thorne, a student at Brattleboro Union High School, won the 2026 Poetry Out Loud State Finals, held the Flynn on March 5, according to a community announcement.
DeMarsico-Thorne will represent Vermont at the national competition at the end of April in the nation’s capital. Gretchen Wertlieb of South Burlington High School was the runner-up, and Aiva Reed of Windsor High School placed third.
The state finals featured 10 students who recited poems over three rounds. The top three, with the highest cumulative scores after the first two rounds, advanced to the final round.
DeMarsico-Thorne recited “Fruit of the Flower” by Countee Cullen, “I Shall Return” by Claude Mckay and “A Southern Road” by Helene Johnson.
Wertlieb recited “To a Young Dancing Girl” by Elsa Gidlow, “Thoughts in Jail” by Katharine Rolston Fisher and “I shall forget you presently, my dear” (Sonnet IV), by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Reed recited “Why We Oppose Women Travelling in Railway Trains” by Alice Duer Miller, “Militants to Certain Other Women” by Katharine Rolston Fisher and “If I Had Known” by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson.
The other finalists were Phoebe Gresham from Mount Mansfield Union High School, Ranee Hall from Thetford Academy, Marcus Burns from St. Johnsbury Academy, Taylor Daleb from Peoples Academy, Moya Thayer from Burlington High School, Theo Novak from Champlain Valley Union High School and Patrick Tester from Lyndon Institute.
Eighteen schools across Vermont registered to bring the national Poetry Out Loud program to their classrooms for the 2025-26 school year, reaching 2,000 students with about 60 teachers participating, according to the announcement. Fifteen students were selected by their teachers as school champions and participated in the statewide semifinals, held on Feb. 12 at the Barre Opera House.
DeMarsico-Thorne received $200 and advances to the national finals, where $50,000 in awards and school stipends are distributed. The state champion’s school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry materials. Wertlieb received $100, with $200 for her school.
Poetry Out Loud is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4 million students across the country have participated. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers the monetary prizes.
For more information about Vermont Poetry Out Loud, visit flynnvt.org/Education/poetry-out-loud.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
BARTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont police are asking the public for help identifying a man suspected in a road rage assault.
It happened on Main Street in Barton on Feb. 14, just before noon.
Troopers say a man got out of his green Subaru Forester and hit another driver in the face, then got back in his vehicle and left.
They released photos of the man on Wednesday.
If you know who he is, state police want to hear from you. Call the barracks in Derby at 802-334-8881 or leave an anonymous tip online.
Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.
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