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Issue Brief

Adoption Discrimination - Overview

Goal Statement   one sentence that further defines the topic 

• To improve the amount of children, waiting for adoption, who achieve permanency by requiring non-discrimination policies nationally in all agencies that provide adoptions. 

Local/State/National Information    additional information on this topic at the local, state, national, global level

• Adoption Discrimination - USA

• Adoption Discrimination - Kansas

Policy Options / Model Programs   specific policies or program models, grouped by type, that are profiled 

• Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 4806):  This legislation would open more homes to foster children by working with states to end discrimination against adoptive and foster parents based on sexual orientation and marital status. The passage of the Act would increase the access of foster children to permanent homes by working with states and eliminating laws, policies, practices, and procedures that categorically exclude potential adoptive and foster parents because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. States that continue discrimination on a categorical basis would receive reduced federal funding if the bill is passed. Full-text of H.R. 4806: here

Glossary of Terms   key words or phrases that the layperson needs to know to understand this issue 

• Adoption Exchange: An organization which recruits adoptive families for children with special needs using print, radio, television and internet recruitment, as well as matching services. Adopt Kansas Kids is the Adoption Exchange for the State of Kansas and administered by the Kansas Children’s Service League.
• Adoption Placement Agreement (APA): A written agreement signed by the family, case manager, and SRS to place a child in an adoptive home. This is the step prior to finalization. The child remains in the State’s legal custody until finalization. 
• Adoption Subsidies: Adoption benefits (also known as adoption assistance) designed to offset the short and long-term costs associated with adopting children who need special services. In Kansas, subsidy is agreed to prior to APA signing and may include a monthly stipend, continued medical coverage for the child through Medicaid, and/or one time reimbursement for expenses related to the adoption. Subsidy is based on the special needs of the child.
• Aftercare: Services provided following an adoption finalization. An aftercare plan is developed with the family to identify services necessary to support the new family unit.
• Best Interest Staffing (BIS): A meeting of the professionals involved with a child to officially select an adoptive family that best meet’s that child’s needs.
• Case Management Provider (aka Contractor): In Kansas, the private agencies the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) contracts with to provide case management services to children and families. 
• CINC (Child in Need of Care): A person less than 18 years of age who meets standards as outlined in Kansas law number 38-2202. Children in foster care are designated as CINC. 
• Concurrent Case Planning: A process used in foster care case management by which child welfare staff work toward biological family reunification and, at the same time, develop an alternative permanency plan for the child (such as permanent placement with a relative or adoption) should family reunification effort fail. Concurrent planning is intended to reduce the time a child spends in foster care before a child is placed with a permanent family. 
• Disruption: An adoption process that ends after the child is placed in an adoptive home and before the adoption is legally finalized, resulting in the child's return to (or entry into) foster care or placement with new adoptive parents. 
• Dissolution: An adoption that ends after it is legally finalized, resulting in the child's return to (or entry into) foster care or placement with new adoptive parents.
• Guardian ad Litem (GAL): A person, often an attorney, appointed by the court to represent the interests of a child, a ward, or an unborn infant in a particular court case.
• Home Study: An in-depth review prospective adoptive parents must go through to be able to legally adopt. A home study typically includes evaluations of the adoptive parents’ relationship, inspections of their residence, parenting ideals, medical history, employment verification, financial status, and criminal background checks.
• ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children): An agreement between states detailing specific requirements for children to be placed in foster care or adoption in a state other than their own.
• Kinship Care: The full-time nurturing of a child by someone related to the child by family ties or prior relationship connection. 
• Legal Risk Adoption: Placement of a child in a prospective adoptive family when the child is not yet legally free for adoption. Before a child can be legally adopted by another family parental rights of his or her birth parents must be terminated. In a legal risk adoption placement, either this termination of parental rights has not yet occurred or it is being contested. In some cases termination of parental rights is delayed until a specific adoptive family has been identified. 
• Mandated Reporter: Persons required to report if they have reason to suspect that a child has been harmed as a result of physical, mental or emotional abuse or neglect or sexual abuse. Examples of mandated reporters include medical professionals, law enforcement officials, teachers, and social workers
• Matching: The process of finding prospective families specifically suited to meet the needs of a waiting child. 
• Permanency Planning: The systematic process of carrying out (within a brief, time-limited period) a set of goal-directed activities designed to help children live in permanent families. This process has the goal of providing the child continuity of relationships with nurturing parents or caretakers and the opportunity to establish lifetime family relationships. 
• Post-Placement Supervision: Upon placement, a caseworker will be assigned to complete post-placement supervision of the adoptive family. The caseworker will visit the home several times during a set period of time (according to state requirements) to determine if adoption of the child was in the “best interests of the child.” 
• Pre-placement Period: Activities between BIS and APA that are designed to help the child and family prepare for living together. May include visits, meeting with school personnel, and therapy. 
• Relinquishment: when a birthparent voluntarily forfeits his or her parental rights to a child. Sometimes referred to as a surrender, PRT (Parental Rights Terminated) or TPR (Terminated Parental Rights). The parental rights are typically transferred to an agency, rather than directly to the new adoptive parents.
• Reunification: The returning of foster children to the custody of their parents(s) after placement outside the home. 
• Special Needs Children: Children who have factors that contribute to a lengthy stay in foster care and difficulty in permanent placement. Guidelines for classifying a child as special needs vary by State. Common special needs conditions include: serious medical risks; emotional and behavioral disorders; history of abuse or neglect; older age; minority race; and being a sibling group. 

Bibliography    

• https://www.adoptkskids.org/Glossary.aspx

• http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/child-welfare/legislative-updates/