Adoption, Guardianship, and Emancipation

1. Adoption, Guardianship, and Emancipation

2. ADOPTION DEFINITIONS…... • Establishment of a parent/child relationship through a legal process. • Permanent (“forever family”) • Transfer of al rights and responsibilities from the biological parents • Adoption creates a legal family for children when the biological parent is unwilling or unable to parent • Pathway for many adults to expand their family

3. Introduction • According to Pecora et al. we adopt more children than the rest of the world combined • 2.8% of US households have an adopted child (U.S. Census Data, 2011) • 2,072,312 children are adoptive (US Census, 2010) • About 50K foster children a year are adopted. The numbers have been stable since 2004 (AFCARS,2014). • 5,322 CA foster children were adopted in 2013). The number have been declining (high of 7,308 in 2004). • Clear policy preference for adoption expressed in law and tax code • Seen as public good supported by tax credits (maximum of $13,390 per child in 2014) • Foster adopt supported by subsidies particularly for health care

4. Number of Adoptions in the US Over Time (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

5. Trends in Adoption • Adoption trends and policy driven by social values, demographics, and reproductive trends • After a 50 year period of increasing adoptions (mid-1930’s to mid-1980’s), adoptions have been declining • The exception to the decline was a an uptick in adoptions from 1999-2005, then the decline resumed

6. Reasons for the Fluctuation in Numbers • In the first part of the 20th Century adoption rare and viewed as “unnatural” ….stigma • Post-WWII Era • Diminished stigma…and increase in the sentimentalizing of adoption • Family Zeitgeist of the post-war era • Availability of children internationally (Globalization) • Displaced European orphans & later Korean children • Availability depends on the economic and political situations in source countries • Rise of white middle class out-of-wedlock childbearing… surrender of children for adoption

7. Reasons for the Fluctuation in Numbers • 1970-1990’s • Availability of means to control reproduction and fertility… including abortion • Disappearance of available white infants • 19% of White females who had a child out- of-wedlock relinquished their child in 1973. • In 1993 that figure was 2% • Law of supply & demand. Interest in non-white & special needs infants

8. Reasons for the recent decline in adoptions • See family trends discussed earlier in the course • The economy • Decline in inter-country adoptions (ICA) • Fewer children in foster care… but still a whole lot of children are waiting • Fertility treatments … rates of infertility and impaired fecundity have declined (CDC, 2012)

9. Types of Adoption Providers • Public Agency…increasing as a proportion of all adoptions • Private Agency (not-for-profits) • Fees • Accreditation • Largely social work administered • Independents • Placement with families without agency intervention • Intermediaries… usually lawyers but other helping professionals involved • Specialty… infant adoption • Least amount of supervision and regulation • Controversial…4 states have banned them (CO, CT, DE, MA) • Active role for the birth and adoptive mother/parents which is one of the attractions of this type of provider • Have been in decline since the 20’s, but revived somewhat since the 1970’s. In 1950 they were about ½ of adoptions and today they are about 1/3

10. Types of Adoption • Stepparent • Administered separately from other adoptions… overseen in the Superior or probate court… may involve the distribution of property • Not seen as carrying the same set of issues as other adoption • A substantial portion of adoptions

11. Independents • Arguments for use of independents: • time…a way to speed up process • avoid selection process… though a good lawyer will make sure the prospective parent meets all requirements (home study) • Involvement of birth & adoptive parent • Arguments against the use of independents: • “baby selling” • Parent centered (who is the client)

12. Types of Adoptions • Agency or Relinquishment Adoptions • Voluntary or non-voluntary legal severance of parental rights by the courts under the supervision of public child welfare agency • Inter-Country • Adoption of foreign-born children… small but significant number • In decline • Controversy…trafficking, protecting bio parent’s right, protecting culture, & are they orphans? • Often done w/ deep resentments from many w/in the country from which the children are drawn • Special Needs • About 37% of adoptions involve former foster children

13. Differences Between Adoptive Children and All Children (Child Trends, 2013) • Are somewhat older than their peers • Just 6% under 3 vs. 16% in the general population • Are less likely to be White than their proportion in the general population (37% vs. 56%) or Hispanic (15% vs. 20%) • More likely to be Black than their proportion of the general population(23% vs. 14%) • Less likely to be poor (12% vs. 18%), and more likely to be middle class after adoption • Better developmental outcomes, particularly when compared with youth in foster care or reunified children • More likely to have health problems. However, more likely to have health insurance than children in the general population

14. Differences Between Adoptive Children and All Children (Child Trends, 2013) • No differences noted on family structure • Slightly more likely to have a behavioral or mental health problem (p<.10) • Are 2x as likely to be special needs children

15. Foster Youth Compared (National Survey of Child Health & National Survey of Adoptive Parents, DHHS, 2009)

16. Reasons for Choosing to Adopt (National Survey of Adoptive Parents, 2009, DHHS)

17. Cost to the Parent of Adoption (Child Information Gateway (USDHHS, 2014) • Public Agency Adoption… 0-$2500 • Average subsidy is $792 per month • 56% were cost free (NSA, 2009) • Non-profit agency… $10,000 -- $25,000 • 22 % were no cost • Independents … $20,000-$40,0000+ • International adoption… $20,000-- $40,000

18. CLASS & ADOPTION • In most cases adoptions are completed by people who can afford to spend the large amount of money that it takes to complete the process • Generally the process involves transferring a child to an economic status that represents a vast improvement over their biological parent’s • Social advantage perspective • Class and power dynamics involved • Competing perspectives: Permanency vs. cultural continuity & family preservation

19. HISTORIC PURPOSES of ADOPTION • Heirs • Political and economic interests of the adopters • Labor • Infertile couples • Finding homes for children born out-of-wedlock • Finding Homes for Unlucky children

20. POLICY MILEPOSTS • Texas (1850) • adoption by deed • Massachusetts Adoption Act (1851 • First modern adoption law. Stated that adoption had to be in the best interest of the child - Judicial approval…determines fitness & match - With written consent of biological mother - Dissolution of ties w/ the bio mother • Michigan (1891) -investigation

21. POLICY MILEPOSTS Children’s Code of Minnesota (1917) - Model law for other states - Required social workers do the investigation …development of a social work technology, the home study - Probationary period before the adoption is final - Sealing of records…secrecy…(shame & stigma) • Chicago Juvenile Association (1917) study finds that adoption is a “commercialized business in Chicago”…social workers along w/ other progressives seek to close private adoptions down in favor of bringing adoption into the legal domain w/ a central role for social workers

22. POLICY MILEPOSTS • Columbia University School of Social Work (1920’s) produces a manual and curriculum on adoption practice • Prestige social work • Increasingly adoption in hands of public & private child welfare agencies who screen & choose parents & match with child • “Normal” & middle class • Focus on “adoptable” children…infants w/o problems • By 1929 most states pass laws that required adoption to promote “the best interests of the child.”

23. TRADITIONAL ADOPTIVE PARENT • Married (2 parent) • Between 35 & 45 • Good physical and mental health • Infertile & adjusted • Religion • Middle Class

24. POLICY MILEPOSTS • Children’s Home Society (1953) begins a program in NC to place older institutionalized children in adoptive homes • ICWA (1978) • Recognition there is a set of class & culture issues related to adoption • 1980 AACWA brings the policy mandate to increase relinquishments by bio-parent and emphasize the adoption of children previously considered un-adoptable… reaffirmed by ASFA of 1997 • Subsidies • Loosening the biases in parent selection

25. POLICY MILEPOSTS • With AACWA & ASFA underscores a federal policy preference for adoption • This preference is also visible in the tax code, federal changes for SSI benefits • Interest in removing disincentives to adopt. It should not cost a family to adopt • Subsidies • Tax credits

26. Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (1994) • Senator Howard Metzenbaum, OH • Response to data that 1/3 of children would never go home from foster care • Prohibits any agency receiving federal funds “to categorically deny to any person an opportunity to become an adoptive or foster parent, solely on the basis, color, or national origin of the adoptive parent or the child involved…” • Also required “diligent recruitment of potential adoptive or foster parents that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the children and state for whom adoptive and foster children are needed.” • Initial versions of the bill said agencies could consider the adoptive parents capacity for meeting the cultural needs of the child but this was eventually struck form the bill • States could be fined for violating the mandates of the law • Permanency and social advantage perspectives • Does not affect ICWA

27. NASW & CWLA POSITION ON RACE AND ADOPTION • Race and cultural counts • But should not be a primary consideration in decision making… best interests • Motivation and sensitivities of adoptive parents need to be examined • Most children are adopted by someone of the same race

28. NBASW POSITION ON RACE AND ADOPTION • Opposed because: - “cultural theft” …used the term genocide at the formation of the NBASW in 1972 to describe adoption, but in 1994 the term was dropped. - but still recommends same race placements • Rationale: - developmental issues - coping with racism - bias of agencies would limit them from seeking Black adoptive families

29. % Distribution of Adopted Children by Race and Hispanic Origin (National Survey of Adoption, 2009, DHHS)

30. Children Adopted with Public Agency Involvement FY 2013 (AFCARS)

31. NON-TRADITIONAL ADOPTIONS EXPANDING THE POOL • Becoming more flexible and dropping biases • Single parent • Foster parent - legal risk - fost-adopt • Older • Kin • Gay & Lesbian parents… about 4% of adoptions (UCLA’s Williamson Inst., 2007) • Provide subsidies for lower SES

33. LGBT Adoptions • In most states, whether gay adoption is legal is made on a case-by-case basis by a judge. However, there are 16 states that allow joint gay adoptions. California is one of these states. • 11 states allow second parent adoption by law. Second parent adoption is when one person adopts the child of his partner. (California allows). • Still, people have successfully done second parent adoptions in 16 other sates • Most states don’t explicitly restrict. The law is mute on the subject. • The most restrictive states are Mississippi and Utah, where same sex couples cannot legally adopt at all.

34. RELIGION • Protection when possible • Biological parents have the right to control • Same constitutional question as with race

35. Inter-Country Adoption (ICA) Overview • Once considered an act of benevolence is now a causing concern over issues of trafficking (coercion, fraud, corruption, etc.) • US policy as tended to view ICA as “charity work,” and other than concern with immigration issues not much regulation • Declining in the US • 22,991 in 2004, 8,668 in 2012, 6,441 in 2014 (US State Department, 2015) • Issues involving power dynamics between individuals and countries… 96 US children were adopted to other countries in 2014 • From less developed to developed countries • Primarily done by private agencies overseen by social workers with some independent agency involvement • EU, Canada, & Australia has much more public oversight than the US • US, Spain, France, Italy, & Canada are the top receiving countries

36. ICA Adoption Overview • Human Rights issue… UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (1989)… • US and Somalia have not ratified the convention • Hague Convention on adoption, 1993 • Ratified under the CRC • 81 states have ratified the convention • Said ICA should only be used as a last resort if no suitable home can be found in the home country • Urged child welfare initiatives in LDC’s as a replacement for adoption

37. Number of ICA Adoptions (State Department, 2015)

38. Top Source Countries for International Adoptions in the United States in 2014 (US State Department, 2015)

39. INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SOURCES • China (about 1/3 of all foreign adoptions, absolute #’s are declining) • Ethiopia • Scandals • Guatemala • Russian Federation • Romania • Samoa • South Korea • Goal to end international adoption by 2012 • Up to the mid-80’s the number one international source of babies for the US adoption market • 230,635 children adopted out with 70% of those going to the US since 1958 (first year records kept).

41. Suspicions of ICA and reasons for the decline • Pride issue in many countries particularly, when they begin to develop • Assumption that wealthy countries can do a better job at raising poor non-white children than their countries of origin • Corruption in some countries has cast doubts on the legitimacy of the process • Institutions and “orphan tourism” • Voluntary consent • Coercive inducements • Language & culture

42. PROCESS

43. CONSENT • Biological mother - time & rescission • Father - Stanley vs Illinois (1972)… unwed fathers have the same parental rights as married and divorced fathers - Caban vs Muhamad (1979) • fathers had the same right of consent as mothers in adoption

44. INFORMATION/CONFIDENTIALITY • Tradition to “seal” • Courts more open to removing seal - health - inheritance • Arguments for unsealing - rights - family roots - medical

45. Open Adoptions • Definition…continuance of contact w/ the biological parent after adoption • Increasingly common… completely closed or confidential adoptions becoming a rarity • 1954 …adoption activism begins with Jean Paton MSW and adoptee herself who published “The Adopted Break Silence” • Picks up steam in the 1970’s…endorsed by the CWLA in 1986 • State legislators & courts begin unsealing records • Belief that contact will have benefit for both bio parent & adoptee • Voluntary

46. Open Adoption • Argument against - violation of a promise - potentially disruptive - unrealistic expectations

47. Disruption and Dissolution • What is disruption? • The term disruption is used to describe 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. • What is dissolution? • The term dissolution is generally used to describe an adoption in which the legal relationship between the adoptive parents and adoptive child is severed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, after the adoption is legally finalized. This results in the child’s return to (or entry into) foster care or placement with new adoptive parents.

48. Disruptions • Relatively rare overall, but higher among former foster children • Various studies have suggested a 1% to 10% dissolution rate of adoptions in general after an adoption has been finalized • Studies completed between 1988 and 2006 suggest 5% to 15% of foster adoptions disrupt • Disruptions may be greater with older children • Barth et al. (2001) found a 16% disruption rate for children over 3 • Kelley (2014) says adolescents may have a 25% rate (Children and Youth Front Center)

49. Disruptions • Need for post-placement services • Common services: • Respite • Support groups • Camp & summer activities • Educational support • Counseling • Financial assistance w/ needed services particularly mental health

50. UNIFORM ADOPTION CODE • Natural Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (Model Law) • Wrote a model law to speed up the process • Components • Time limits • Limit birth parent’s rights • Make it easier to terminate father’s rights • Roll back open adoption