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Perspectives on the legacy of National Foster Care Month

As part of CCAI’s effort to highlight National Foster Care Month, we asked several individuals to share their opinions on NFCM.  All of these people share a common interest in the child welfare system, but each brings a different perspective to the discussion.  Please read below to see how a U.S. Senator, a former foster youth, a social services program director, and a journalist all respond to the question:

5 years from now, what do you want the legacy of National Foster Care Month to be?

“Come 2015, we would have many more persons all over this country willing to help us reunify kids with their own families safely and, if not possible, to simply be the kid’s family forever through adoption or guardianship.”  –Elizabeth Black, Executive Director of Child Permanency for Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services

“As Co-Chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I am encouraged by the dedication of the 220 members who continue to advocate and work to provide children in foster care with a loving home and family each and every day. I am hopeful that when National Foster Care Month is celebrated, five years from now, we will see the impact that legislation like the Chaffee Foster Care Independence Act and the Fostering Connections Act has had on improving the outcomes for youth in foster care. I am confident that the awareness raised by the events being held across the country during the month of May, will encourage willing and able adults to take the opportunity to change the life of a youth in foster care, whether it is through adoption, being a foster parent, mentoring or advocating on behalf of orphans.”  –Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

“In five years, I would like to see National Foster Care Month be remembered as the catalyst for a nationwide movement which ultimately provided one person committed to unconditional love and compassion for every orphaned child.”  -Mikelle Wortman, foster care alum and 2008 Foster Youth Intern

“In the next five years I hope to see—and be a part of—a complete shift in the way the news media covers foster care.  I hope that National Foster Care Month will result in an overall increase in rigorous and holistic coverage of the system and will be the precursor to a movement in the general public to take up our collective duty for our collective children.  National Foster Care Month gives the news media and the general public this window into the realities of the system which is invaluable.  Knowing that the solutions are out there will empower the people to rise and fight to assure that children are cared for.”  -Daniel Heimpel, Project Director of Fostering Media Connections

What would you like the legacy of National Foster Care Month to be? Comment and share your thoughts with fellow foster care advocates!

Are you my mother?

We all remember reading the children’s book Are You My Mother? and laughing at the comedy in the confused baby bird trying to find his mother.  Unfortunately, searching for a mother is the reality for kids in foster care, and this Sunday is another painful reminder of this. They have been removed from their home in an effort to protect their safety, but the cost of a safer life is sometimes a lonely life.  Read below to hear from Betty, a young adult who spent years in foster care searching for a mother before finally being adopted.

Sunday is Mother’s Day! Children and parents will be heading off to church, having Sunday brunch, planting in the garden and just spoiling mother by bringing breakfast in bed. What about the 26,000 of the 463,000 children in foster care nationwide who age out of foster care to live on their own? How do they celebrate Mother’s Day?  For those fortunate enough, the day is spent with the “family” they have built for themselves.  However, many are not fortunate and this May 9th will be a day of longing for that essential connection.

Sunday marks my 8th anniversary spending Mother’s Day with my adoptive mom; and the 8th year since the death of my biological mother. Because of this, Mother’s Day is a very special day to me. I take the time to thank my biological mother for bringing me into this world and spoil the mother I now have. Mom and I love to go shopping, go out to eat, spend a day here and there in New York, and listen to Christmas music in the car together when we’re feeling down.  We volunteer together or just hang out and chat about life when we miss each other. I never look at my adoptive mom as my “adoptive” mom, but rather as my mother I always had. It’s funny how fast my mom and I bonded when I first moved in. I never had anyone to read books to me, take care of me when sick, or just spend time with. So at the age of 14, I was reading Dr. Seuss books, learning how to cook, and learning how to be a regular kid.

This Mother’s Day I’m going to go visit my biological mother’s grave and plant sweet pea flowers in honor of her for bringing me into life. My mom would always call me her little sweet pea and I would hate it. Now that I’m older, I love sweet peas flowers and buy the scent at Bath & Body Works; and it always gives me sweet memories of her. The second portion of the day will be spent with the best mother in the world in my eyes. I won’t spoil the surprise I have in store for her, but I can tell you no matter how we spend the day, it will be like any other mother and daughter; and I’m grateful to have her in my life.

Betty with her family

For children who are displaced from their biological family, Mother’s Day is about the big things and also about the little things in between it all. Thank you to all you moms out there. Happy Mother’s Day!!!!

President Obama proclaims National Foster Care Month

May is Foster Care Month!  And yesterday, President Obama issued a National Foster Care Month Proclamation.  This is the first time in almost two decades that the White House has issued a foster care month proclamation!

“President Obama thought it was important to celebrate the promise of the youth in foster care, and honor those who work to help them along the way. This Administration believes every child deserves a safe, loving and permanent family, and we are committed to working towards that goal.”  –Mr. Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

In his proclamation, the President highlights that there are nearly a half-million children and youth in foster care who enter the system through no fault of their own.  He also celebrates the professionals and foster parents who demonstrate their dedication to children and the depth and kindness of the human heart.

Obama has shown his commitment to foster care issues by providing over $35 million last year to support foster care adoptions through the Adoption Incentives program.  In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a significant increase in funding for Title IV-E adoption and foster care assistance program.

For more information on National Foster Care Month, be sure to visit: http://www.fostercaremonth.org.

How can the adoption tax credit help me?

Just recently CCAI released our inaugural ‘CCAI In Focus’ report on the Adoption Tax Credit.  While everyone was hastily working to click “submit” on the IRS website before 11:59pm on April 15th, we thought it would be a great idea to share some positive tax news.  The federal adoption tax credit has been around for some time, but considering there have been some changes, most recently by President Obama’s health care legislation, we wanted to clarify a misconceptions and raise considerations that still remain.

This report was written primarily to serve federal policymakers, but has also proven useful to the adoption community in informing adoptive parents and advocates about this adoption incentive.  The report includes the following information:

  1. a brief overview of the adoption tax credit
  2. a detailed legislative history
  3. policy considerations
  4. a list of adoption tax credit legislation that is currently pending on Congress

Despite that this credit has been around for 14 years, affordability of adoption continues to be an issue for some families.  Adoption Fees can range from $0-$2,500 for foster care adoptions, up to $25,000 for private domestic adoptions, and upwards of $40,000 for intercountry adoptions.  The below chart details data from a small sample of adoptive parents CCAI surveyed:

Responses from parents who attempted and/or completed an adoption
Responses from parents who attempted and/or completed an adoption

What is most shocking is that while the Adoption Tax Credit was initially created to encourage foster care adoptions, only 25% of all public adoptions took advantage of this incentive, whereas nearly all foreign adoptions were support by this credit.  Another interesting point is that families whose intercountry adoptions fail are not able to receive this tax credit, whereas all domestic adoptions–even if the adoption never finalizes–are able to receive this credit.

There are two main policy considerations that are a result of the new provisions in President Obama’s health care legislation that was signed into law last month.  This law 1) extends the Adoption Tax Credit through December 31, 2011, 2) increases the credit by $1,000 to $13,170, and 3) for the first time makes the tax credit refundable so that families who do not have tax liabilities will be able to take advantage of this incentive.  Please refer to the report for more detailed information, and stay tuned for additional CCAI In Focus reports on hot topics related to adoption and foster care.

Returnable child?

13,231.  That is the number of Russian children who have found permanent, loving homes in America over the last five years.  One.  That is the number of adoptive parents who made the irresponsible, dare I say reprehensible, decision to return her adopted child to Russia.  800,000.  That is the estimated number of Russian children who currently call an orphanage their home.  As we talk about the circumstances leading up to the possible suspension of Russian-American adoptions, it is important to keep these numbers in their proper perspective.  No one can condone the actions taken by Torry Hansen.  Even if her allegations about her son’s mental condition are true, they do not justify her decision to forgo the plethora of options of assistance available for she and her son in the United States.  She could have reached out to her adoption agency, who could have directly provided her and her son the necessary support.  She could have reached out to the State of Tennessee Departments of Social Services or Mental Health.  And in a State that is well known for extensive faith based and community based networks there were undoubtedly people who if asked, would have stepped forward to help this family in need.  Sadly, she chose to take a different route and it is now in the hands of the Tennessee legal authorities to determine if her actions constitute a crime.

All that being said, two things we know for sure.  First, suspensions of adoption are not in the overall best interests of children.  Experience has shown that suspending adoptions do not lead to the legal and programmatic reforms which are used to justify them.  What they do result in is children spending additional, and unnecessary years, in institutional care.  Take Romania and Cambodia for examples.  It has been almost ten years since both countries suspended international adoption.  No significant legal reforms have been made and few, if any, efforts have been made to provide children living there with alternatives to institutionalization.  The legal and social status of children in both countries remain the same.  Both countries still experience high rates of child abandonment, child slavery and sexual exploitation.

The other thing we know for sure is that despite the appropriate use of best practices and protections, there will be cases such as these.  Not even the perfect system can protect against all wrongdoing.  What needs to exist is an international adoption system which provides for a high level of protection against corruption and abuse, and a federal and state statutes that allow for the prosecution of individuals who, despite these protections, abuse the adoption process or worse, an adopted child.  In ratifying the Hague Treaty on Intercountry Adoption, the US took an important first step in providing the U.S framework for such a system.  CCAI, along with Members of Congress, continue to push for improvements to the intercountry adoption system and for stronger and more explicit laws against corruption in international adoption.  We have and will continue to fully support the Russian Government in their efforts to continually protect the best interests of their children.  And finally, we remain committed to work with the U.S. State Department toward developing ways to quickly implement necessary protections.

In the meanwhile, as those who have experienced the many joys adoption brings, we have an obligation to speak out against the myths these types of cases can perpetuate.  Older children, even those who have spent years in foster care or institutions, are not by definition, damaged goods.  The bond between an adoptive parent and child is, in most every case, indistinguishable from the bond between a parent and their biological child.  And regardless of how the relationship between parent and child is formed, being a parent is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, experiences a human being can have.

Be sure to check our website for resources as new information becomes available.

Celebrities Adopting

Yesterday, Jessica Alba appeared on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  The family featured, the Beach family, had adopted 8 children in addition to 4 biological children!  Father Larry Beach said, “No matter if you’re in a travel trailer or a big house like this, we all have one calling; we’re all special to God.  That’s why we search out children who otherwise wouldn’t have a home. That’s what we hope comes out of all this.  There are a lot of children out there. Maybe they’re not perfect in the world’s eyes, but they deserve a home as much as any child.”  So inspired by the Beaches, Alba went on to say that she plans to adopt herself.  Alba is currently a mom to her 2-yr-old daughter Honor Marie with husband Cash Warren.

Alba on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

I wanted to highlight a couple other celebrities who have chosen adoption.  When these individuals speak out and share their adoption experience, families and individuals across the country are made aware the need for adoption and are shown that all it takes is for someone to step forward and want to make a difference in the life of a child.

Recently, Katherine Heigl and husband singer Josh Kelley adopted a daughter with special needs, Naleigh, from Korea.  Heigl has always known she wanted to adopt, and even approached the subject with her husband before they were engaged.  Heigl’s sister, Meg, is Korean, so the choice of where to adopt from seemed obvious.

Heigl with her husband and daughter

Just over a month ago, actor Willie Garson’s adoption of a 8-yr-old boy from foster care was finalized.  “From the first time I met him, I said, ‘That’s my kid.”  Garson met his son, Nathen, at an adoption fair in Los Angeles.

Garson with son, Nathen

While Nathen’s story has a happy ending, Garson commented on the older teens in foster care who were at that same adoption fair.  Their stories more often have a sad ending of aging out of foster care without ever being adopted.  Across the country, this is true for almost 30,000 youth each year.  Together, we can raise awareness about these youth, and dispel the negative myths about youth in foster care.  These celebrities are helping to show Americans that we can step up and make a difference.