Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Update on Tax Reform and the Adoption Tax Credit from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute 

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee proposed tax reform legislation that would eliminate the federal adoption tax credit. While the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) does not lobby for or against or endorse individual bills, we are very committed to bringing objective, accurate information to Members of Congress and their constituents on all issues related to federal adoption and child welfare policy. We know that affordability of adoption is a key priority for many of the foster and adoptive parents we work with, and also that many adoptees and youth who experienced foster care or orphanages early in their lives share with us how access to financial resources are critical for the families that take them in.

The tax reform bill is currently being marked up in the Ways and Means Committee. CCAI’s strategic role as a bridge builder between the U.S. Congress, who have the power to influence policy, and foster and adoptive families and child welfare advocates who have personal experience on the realities of the barriers that they face in fostering and adopting children, has never been more critical than this moment. The voices of everyday citizens are very powerful, and we hope that a free flow of information moves back and forth between Members of Congress and their constituents throughout the days ahead as Congress actively considers tax reform and the future of the adoption tax credit. One such example is Anna Caudill, one of CCAI’s Angels in Adoption® from TN, who feels very strongly about the tax credit. In a tweet to U.S. Representative Mark Walker (R-NC) this weekend, Anna stated, “because of the #AdoptionTaxCredit, my boys are alive.”

We are not surprised, yet this is a CRITICAL moment. CCAI brought together the 150 member organizations of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group several years ago, as Congress began to signal they were moving toward comprehensive tax reform. We anticipated the Adoption Tax Credit could possibly be eliminated, and organized the adoption and child welfare community to coordinate on a response if that ever were to happen. We proudly serve as the secretariat for this group. Through regular meetings, conference calls and a collaborative, relationship-based approach with the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group Executive Committee and Members of Congress over the past several years, we were well prepared to respond to Thursday’s legislative package that would formally eliminate the credit. And since the legislative package dropped, our staff have been working tirelessly to provide information and consultations with advocates and congressional staff to ensure that the voices of adoptive families and adoptees are reaching Capitol Hill as the markup of the bill began yesterday and deliberations on the adoption tax credit and tax reform will continue in the hours and days ahead. To learn more about the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group and ways your voice can be heard on Capitol Hill in the tax debate, please visit adoptiontaxcredit.org.

To keep up to date on the future of the adoption tax credit, or to learn more about the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and our work with Congress and on behalf of children, youth and families, visit www.ccainstitute.org, sign up for our listserv, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

P.S. If you would like to support the work of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, please consider giving a gift toward our #AdoptionGives Campaign this month. Every gift, up to $25,000, will be matched to double your gift and help us reach our total goal of $50,000.

With gratitude to our colleagues in The Adoption Tax Credit Working Group Executive Committee: American Academy of Adoption Attorneys & Sims Strategies, Adopt America Network, the Christian Alliance for Orphans, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (Secretariat), Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Donaldson Adoption Institute, National Council for Adoption, North American Council on Adoptable Children, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, Show Hope, and Voice for Adoption.