The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA)

1. The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) As Amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (IEAP)

2. MEPA has two main components: • 1. Non-discriminationin the placement of children in • foster care and adoption. • 2. Diligent recruitment effortsof foster and adoptive • parents from communities representative of the • children in care.

3. IEAP States: • Discrimination is not to be tolerated. • The best interestof the childshall be the standard in foster • care and adoptive placements. • Any consideration of race or ethnicity is appropriate only when • based on specific concerns in a specificcase.

4. Goals of MEPA/IEAP: • Remove some of the barriers to permanency. • Decrease the length of time a child waits for adoption.. • Increase recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive • parents who are able to meet the needs of the child. • Eliminate discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or • national origin of the child or prospective parent.

5. What you may not do under IEAP: • You may not routinely justify trans-racial placements. • You may not develop or establish a “waiting period” to identify if • a “same race” placement is available before moving onto another • placement option. • Recruitment/searchfor a family cannot be limited to a home of • the same raceas the child. • You may notdevelop criteria that would essentially exclude a • particular group: education, income, home ownership, religious • preference, etc. • You may not promise a birth parent(s) that their child(ren) will be • placed with a similar racial/ethnic family.

6. What you can and should do: • Assess the ability of a family to meet specific racial or ethnic needs of a child who has specific needs. • Determine that a family cannot meet the racial needs of a specific child provided that you fully document how the family will not be in the child’s best interests (administrative approval within the agency is required). • Discuss with families how the child’s sense of racial identity can be nurtured despite the lack of same or like race persons in the community and how the child’s sense of “differences” within the community can be adequately dealt with. • .

7. You should and can also: • Implement a plan for recruiting foster and adoptive families that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of waiting children. • Search for relatives who are appropriate to foster or adopt.

8. Strict Scrutiny Standard: • Strict Scrutiny means that using a child’s or prospective family’s • race, ethnicity, or national origin can notbe routinelyconsidered • as a relevant factor. • “Narrow and exceptional” circumstances arising out of the specificneeds of a specificchild may be lawfully taken into account. • The specificneeds must reflect the child’s health and safety, which are paramount in child welfare.

9. Adoptionand Safe Families Act (ASFA) “Interjurisdictional Requirements”

10. Section 202 - Adoptions Across State and County Jurisdictions • Removes barriersfor adopting children who live in a different • stateorcounty. • Prohibits states from delaying or denyingthe placement of a child • for adoption when an approvedfamily is available in another • jurisdiction.

11. Section 202 - Adoptions Across State and County Jurisdictions • A prospective adoptive family must be granted an opportunity for a • fair hearingif they believe they were notselectedbasedon their • location. • A finding that an agency diddelay an adoptive placement based on • the jurisdictionof the prospective family will result in graduated • financialpenalties.