HHS Awards Almost $15 Million in Adoption Bonuses
Last week HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced almost $15 million in adoption bonuses paid to 25 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from state-supervised foster care in fiscal year 2002. In states that qualified for bonuses, 3,703 more children were adopted in fiscal year 2002 than in the previous year.
The highest award was Florida with an eye popping $3.5 million in bonuses. New Jersey got almost $2 million. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin each got around $1.1 million. HHS reports that around 51,000 foster children are ...
Hague Intercountry Adoption Regulations Released Today
The U.S. Department of State today issued long-awaited proposed regulations to implement legislation which was signed into law nearly three years ago to implement a global treaty that streamlines the international adoption process affecting tens of thousands of children adopted by U.S. citizens each year.
The 2000 law, known as the Intercountry Adoption Act, put in place a structure that should provide greater safety, accountability and transparency for adoptive families who seek to adopt children from other nations.
The proposed regulations are designed to implement ...
Safe Haven Laws
The battle over safe haven laws is heating up! These laws are intended to allow parents to leave their newborns at designated safe places, including hospitals and police stations, while guaranteeing those parents anonymity and freedom from prosecution. Sounds good huh? Read on. There are some serious issues.
First there was the excellent report by The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute - Unintended Consequences:
Safe Haven Laws are Causing Problems, Not Solving Them - which was critical of safe haven laws. Then noted columnist (and adoptive parent) Al Hunt wrote a hard ...
The Boston Globe – TPR Series
I found this article moving and profound. The reporter clearly did an excellent job of presenting the nuances of terminating the parental rights of so-called chronically neglectful parents.
Barbara's story is, sadly, typical of the families who are all too frequently involved in the child welfare system: often impoverished, with mental disabilities, inadequate parenting skills (or is that inadequate middle class parenting skills?), unstable employment, no family support and poor decisionmaking skills. She was clearly not abusive; even the social workers acknowledged ...
Sperm Donor Introductions for Lesbian Couples and Single Women
Okay - close on the heels of Snowflake adoptions we have e-sperm "adoptions." This gives spam a whole new meaning. Be careful ladies when opening any unknown e-mails or you could get more than a virus or worm! Trojan horse comes to mind . . .
Seriously now I'm not sure how I feel about this new business model in assisted reproduction. If, as they say, every sperm is sacred - or at least half as sacred as a frozen embryo - then new legal models will have to develop to address e-sperm babies. Or will they? Given the radical nature of internet dating, file sharing and now ...
Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2002 Census Special Report
Check out this Census report on the number of adopted children and stepchildren. The numbers are surprising. Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2000 - Census 2000 Special Report