e-Memo for April 2004

State Department reports 21,616 immigrant visas issued for foreign-born adopted children in 2003

The Department of State’s Office of Visa Processing has released its FY 2003 statistics on the number of immigrant visas issued to foreign-born adopted children. In FY 2003, 21,616 visas were issued for international adoptions. This represents an increase of 1,517 more adoptions than the 20,099 in FY 2002. China and Russia remained the top countries of origin with 6,859 and 5,209 respectively. Kazakhstan replaced Ukraine as the fifth largest country of origin, with 825 adoptions.
Click here to read the report’s details.

State Department projects 2006 for implementation of Hague Convention in the US

On April 12, the State Department posted on its website an informational flyer discussing particulars about the Hague Convention and the related regulation through accreditation. The State Department anticipates a date of 2006 before the Hague Convention will enter into force in the United States. Follow the link below to find the flyer that includes an explanation of the steps that must occur before the Convention can enter into force here.

Click here for flyer.

“Be My Baby… Deciding the Future of an Unborn Baby Boy” Controversial “20/20” show presents a revealing look inside open adoption

On Friday, April 24, 20/20’s co-host John Stossel touted “Be My Baby” as "the ultimate reality show." And before the program aired, ABC ran a promotion promising "a unique television event--five couples desperate to adopt, all competing for her baby."

In spite of an intense outpouring of opposition, negative publicity, and threats of viewer boycott, the ABC Television Network aired the program on Friday, April 30. ABC News, the network, and even the Federal Communications Commission received thousands of letters and emails expressing outrage over exploitation and degradation of adoption.

Criticism results primarily from ill-conceived marketing efforts that were fiercely rejected by individuals and organizations representing the adoption community. Promotional spots gave the impression that the open adoption process is much like “reality TV,” closely resembling “Survivor” or “The Bachelorette.”

Based on the early reaction to the promotional activities, 20/20 produced toned-down promotions and agreed to replace some of the particularly egregious adoption terminology throughout the program. The network pulled the promo promising a “competition” and replaced it with a less sensational spot that advertised “an adoption unlike any you have ever seen.” Additionally, Barbara Walters publicly apologized for the marketing “stunts.”

Stay tuned for NCFA’s more detailed comment on the show.

To read public comments, or to express your opinion, click here to visit ABC News’ 20/20 web site.

FindLaw “survey” reveals more about advocates’ bias than about public attitudes toward adoption openness

Advocates of mandatory openness in adoption are touting a superficial “survey” in making their case for their harmful and coercive policy. The November 2003 FindLaw poll question on open adoption records is yet another example of the common observation about polls: You can produce whatever answer you want if you ask the right question. This so-called “survey” was actually one question added to an omnibus poll with wide-ranging unrelated questions. Without being provided any context or details, uninformed subjects were asked one simplistic question about a complex issue: “Should adopted children be granted full access to their adoption records when they become adults?”

Read NCFA’s detailed analysis.

Children’s Bureau and AdoptUSKids to co-host summit on recruiting adoptive parents from communities of faith

The Children’s Bureau and AdoptUSKids are co-hosting the 2004 National Adoption and Foster Care Recruitment Summit in Washington, DC, on July 15-16. The conference will address ways to engage communities of faith to recruit adoptive and foster parents. There are three places of worship for each of the more than 126,000 children in foster care who are available for adoption, and all of the major faiths in America charge their adherents to take care of orphans.

Click here to register.

The Foster Care Straitjacket: Innovation, Federal Financing & Accountability in State Foster Care Reform: a report by Fostering Results

Fostering Results, a national, nonpartisan project whose purpose is to raise awareness of issues facing children in foster care, issued a report in March 2004. The report examines Title IV-E waiver demonstrations, through which states use normally earmarked federal funding in other ways to attempt to better meet the needs of their own foster care population. Several states examined the impact of subsidized guardianships on length of stay in state care. Illinois’ project resulted in a decrease of adoptions in the demonstration group. This finding raises the question of the appropriateness of a public policy that increases legal permanencies at the expense of fewer adoptions. In addition, from 1998-2001, the Illinois adoption subsidy was available only for children in the demonstration group who were age three and older, while the guardianship subsidy was available sooner – at two years of age. Beginning in July 2001, the eligibility date for both the adoption and kinship subsdies was changed to children one year of age and older.

Though not referenced in the Fostering Results’ report, Maine’s waiver demonstration assesses the role of adoption in reducing the length of stay in foster care. Maine’s project is the only adoption-targeted demonstration. There is the need for further analysis of ways that federal funding can be used by states to increase permanency through adoption, e.g., parent recruitment and training.

Read the report by clicking here.

Author of Somebody’s Someone: A Memoir, Regina Louise shares her experience in foster care and how adoption can make a difference

Regina Louise’s 2003 book Somebody’s Someone: A Memoir is a personal, moving account chronicling a childhood lived in more than three-dozen foster homes, group homes, and children's shelters. Without a family to care for her, Regina Louise grew up in the foster care system. The memoir reveals the dysfunction of the child welfare system in the 1970s, and the harm it inflicted on children in its care. Regina “aged out” of foster care, like so many children do today. In her case, this had been easily preventable. Jeanne Kerr, one of Regina’s social workers, befriended Regina in a group home and petitioned unsuccessfully to adopt her. The two lost touch, and spent years searching for each other. It was only after the release of this 2003 memoir that they found one another. Jeanne Kerr adopted Regina at 39 years of age, in November 2003. It is stories like these that illustrate the importance of a foster care system that promotes permanency through adoption. Regina Louise Kerr lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she owns her own hair salon. She has also founded a literacy foundation aimed at bringing poets and writers together with foster children and youth.

Click here to visit her website and find out more about this remarkable person.

May is National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to recognize the commitment of foster parents and the difference they are making in the lives of the more than 500,000 children who reside in foster care. NCFA is committed to helping to increase the number of children adopted out of foster care and decrease their length of stay in care, by advocating for performance-based measures and accountability for family courts, adoptive and foster parent recruitment through faith-based communities, and increased flexibility for states in spending their federal foster care dollars. Read NCFA’s Congressional testimony regarding needed federal and state oversight of child welfare programs that it provided at a January 28, 2004 hearing of the Committee on Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee.

Click here for more information.

Oklahoma Senate and House pass bill on adoption by same-sex couples

The Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives passed recently HB1821, a bill that would allow only one parent’s name to appear on the birth certificate for children adopted by same-sex couples outside of Oklahoma. The introduction of the measure followed an attorney general opinion finding that the state’s adoption code requires Oklahoma to recognize out-of-state adoption decrees involving same-sex couples. HB1821 awaits the governor’s signature.

Read the bill by clicking here and searching for HB1821 under enrolled House measures.

Louisiana considers confidential intermediary bill

The House Civil Law and Procedure Committee took up HB372 at an April 13 hearing. The bill would institutionalize a confidential intermediary system that promotes unnecessary intrusion into the lives of adult adopted persons, birthparents, and birth siblings. After recommendation by the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee for passage of HB372, the House of Representatives passed an amended version of the bill. HB372 was referred to the Senate Judiciary A Committee on April 20.

Click here to read the bill.

Update: Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program

By the end of April, the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program logged more than 1,000 days of training in the last 24 months. More than 8,000 individuals have “graduated” from this federally funded NCFA training effort. Evaluations from those attending the trainings indicate great success. The Program is currently working in all 50 states and is training some 1,000 individuals a month. Resource materials produced by the Program continue to be in demand. Brochures, videos, and other resources are being used by many clinics, health centers, pregnancy centers, and other entities.

On the heels of the award-winning first phase, the second phase of the “Thanks for Considering Adoption” public service advertising campaign is about to be launched. Watch for beautiful and inspiring new PSAs to appear soon.

Click here to visit the Program's website.

New Hampshire House passes mandatory open records bill

On April 29, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed SB335, a bill that would eliminate birthparent right to privacy retroactively and prospectively. The House Children and Family Law Committee subcommittee charged with the bill’s review had decided that SB335 was inexpedient to legislate, before the full Committee recommended its passage. SB335 already passed the Senate by a vote of 12-11. The bill will now go to the governor for review.

To ask Governor Craig Benson to veto the bill, please call him at (603) 271-2121, or click here to send him your comments. Click here to read NCFA testimony opposing the legislation.

Read NCFA’s op-ed opposing SB335 that appeared in the Union Leader.

Russian Federation Embassy hosts NCFA’s sparkling Adoption Hall of Fame 2004 Awards Banquet

NCFA held its Adoption Hall of Fame 2004 Awards Banquet at the Russian Federation Embassy on March 31. The annual celebration honors those who have proven their commitment to promoting sound and ethical adoption policies and practices. This year’s awardees were Dr. Gregory Foltz, adoption advocate and practitioner; US Representative Wally Herger; and the Honorable Wade F. Horn, PhD. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Representative James L. Oberstar, Representative Dave Camp, and Dr. Cassie Statuto Bevan paid tribute to NCFA’s founding president, the late William L. Pierce, who passed away on January 13, 2004.

NCFA’s National Adoption Conference 2004 assembles adoption professionals to learn from each other and set adoption agenda

Adoption professionals, child welfare advocates, and policy makers from across the country gathered in Washington, DC, for NCFA’s National Adoption Conference 2004, on April 1-2. The conference provided the opportunity for adoption agency staff and others committed to adoption to come together and learn from experts, and each other, about issues affecting the institution of adoption today. Sessions addressed topics including:

* Updates from the State Department Office of Children’s Issues and Citizenship and Immigration Services

* An accreditor’s view of Hague accreditation impact on adoption agency service delivery

* Update on national trends in infant adoptions

* How to deal justly and securely with the rights of putative fathers

* The need for post-adoption services and family court accountability to increase adoptions out of foster care

CDC recommends suspension of adoptions from one Chinese orphanage due to measles outbreak

On Friday, April 16, the Centers for Disease Control issued a press release recommending the temporary suspension of adoption processing for children from the Zhuzhou Child Welfare Institute, an orphanage in the Hunan Province of China, due to an outbreak of measles there. The suspension applies only to children from the named orphanage.

Read a copy of the CDC press release.

The State Department issued a notice on Monday, April 19, in response to the CDC action, explaining the impact on adoptions from China.

US Embassy in Kiev begins visa processing for Ukrainian adoptions

Effective April 19, the US Embassy in Kiev began processing immigrant visas for orphans adopted by US citizens in Ukraine (immediate relative visas – IR-3 and IR-4). Previously, upon completion of Ukrainian adoptions, American families had to travel to the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, for immigrant visas for their child.

Click here for the complete State Department notice.

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National Council For Adoption
225 N. Washington Street Alexandria, VA 22314
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ncfa@adoptioncouncil.org

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