Judge’s Adopted Preschool Daughter Left Alone

I don't believe in sparing any sacred cows (or mad cows for that matter) and now it's time for the legal system - a judge no less - to take some hits. Apparently in late November a Fulton County, Georgia juvenile court judge left her 4-year-old adopted daughter home alone at 11 PM to retrieve a piece of luggage from the airport. The girl was found alone on the street late at night after she fled the house. The judge has agreed that she will not sit in judgment of other parents until authorities have completed their investigation into her conduct. Read all about it at Law.com More on this story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution Reform advocate ...

New York State Citizens’ Coalition for Children

This website never ceases to amaze me. For a great example of an exceptional foster parent / child advocacy / adoption / permanency / sibling rights / children's rights organization website visit the New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children. Not only does Executive Director Judith Ashton put out some great information (she's been doing this since 1975!), she also advocates, lobbies and puts on a fantastic annual conference. Whether you are in New York or New Delhi, a visit to NYSCCC's site will enrich your mind and provide a great model of grassroots advocacy. Way to go Judith and the New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children! Keep up ...

Snowflake Adoptions

Last year Nightlight Christian Adoptions received a federal grant to promote so called Snowflake (a/k/a embryo) adoptions. The pro-life community views this largely as a means to protect the "life" inherent in every embryo which are commonly used and discarded in assisted reproduction procedures. Nightlight is forging new ground in this area which is largely unregulated and in a legal gray area. Are snowflake "adoptions" really adoptions? Are embryos "property"? Does contract, adoption or estate law govern alone or in combination? Nightlight attempts to answer some of these questions in this FAQ, but raises more questions than answers. What do you ...

Great Lakes Reality Check

What's going on in Michigan? I completely agree with this editorial - it's a no brainer - convicted sex offenders should not be allowed to adopt. My question is why was a sex offender allowed to adopt in the first place? What happened to the criminal background check? The homestudy? Judicial review? That's the more important story here. Why were Michigan adoption professionals duped? Even worse, did they know and do nothing? Anyone with some insight drop me a line. UPDATE: On November 12, 2003 the Michigan legislature passed a law which states that a "child shall not be placed with a prospective adoptive parent and an adoption order shall not be ...

Congress Passes Adoption Promotion Act of 2003

On Friday, November 14th, the Senate passed the House version of The Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. The legislation extends the ASFA-created Adoption Incentive Program for another five years and focus greater attention on finding adoptive families for older children in foster care. The bill authorizes $43 million per year in performance-based incentives to states that are successful in increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. The bonus program, first created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, has contributed to the substantial increase in adoptions in recent years--from 31,000 in fiscal year 1997 to approxim...

HHS Awards $100 Million in Bonuses to States for Reductions in Out-Of-Wedlock Births

Coming just weeks after HHS announced its ASFA adoption bonuses, the $100 million bonus for reducing out-of-wedlock births is an interesting contrast. I must admit that I do not know much about the federal bastard reduction program, but it's probably a good idea. As far as the adoption incentive program goes, the feds spent about $15 million to encourage 3700 adoptions in 2002 or about $4000 per child. This got me wondering, how much are we spending per child to reduce out-of-wedlock births? This seemingly simple task was actually quite difficult because states receive the bastard bonuses based on the rate of reduction, not on raw numbers. After a ...

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 adopted each year. President Bush wants to extend the adoption bonus program in ...

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