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News
International & National U.S. News
Taiwan’s new Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, passed November 11, requires would-be parents (except for extended relatives) to process all adoptions through authorized child placement organizations. The Act also allows judges to require training and psychological assessments for prospective parents before ruling on an adoption case. [Taipei Times, 11/12/11]
According to figures recently released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian citizens adopted 1,946 children from 82 countries in 2010—8 percent fewer children than in 2009. The top seven source countries for children were China, Haiti, the U.S., Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, and the Philippines. [www.familyhelper.net, 10/27/11]
Based on an analysis of more current Census Bureau estimates, the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles has released new statistics about gay adoption in the U.S. Researchers determined that the number of same-sex couples who adopted in the past 10 years has more than tripled (from 6,477 couples in 2000 to about 21,740 in 2009), and the number of adopted children living with gay, lesbian, and bisexual parents rose by close to 400 percent (from 8,310 in 2000 to about 32,571 in 2009). [www.huffingtonpost.com, 10/21/11]
Published in Children and Youth Services Review (Vol. 33, No. 9), a recent study concluded that children were less likely to re-enter foster care if they were discharged from a kinship placement versus a non-kinship placement. Three factors contributed to lower re-entry rates: child characteristics, placement stability, and agencies’/court’s gate-keeping function. [“Children Discharged from Kin and Non-Kin Foster Homes: Do the Risks of Foster Care Re-entry Differ?”]
A study in Child and Youth Services Review (Vol. 33, No. 9) examined the experiences of nine families who were adopting from foster care. Researchers found that caring social workers, support from family and friends, and participation in counseling or parent support activities increased the likelihood of adoption. Poor worker performance, the length and challenges of the process, and rigid matching parameters reduced the likelihood that an adoption would be completed. [“The Journey to Adopt a Child Who Has Special Needs”]
State & Provincial News
Colorado
On October 24, Colorado’s Supreme Court eliminated the right of attorney-client privilege for children in custody and neglect cases. The case involved a young girl who said her caregiver sexually assaulted her, but recanted before trial. The guardian ad litem wanted to testify on her behalf, but could not due to privilege rules, and the case was dismissed. In the majority opinion, as one judge wrote, guardians ad litem do not represent opposing litigants, but are statutorily bound to promote children’s best interests. [The Denver Post, 11/3/11]
Illinois
After losing the right to provide foster care services while appealing the state’s termination of their child welfare contracts, Catholic Charities in the three dioceses still fighting the state’s action dropped their lawsuit. By January 2012, Catholic Charities is to transfer all the foster children supervised by its agencies in Illinois to other local agencies. [Chicago Tribune, 11/15/11]
Missouri
Governor Jay Nixon recently signed into law two bills related to foster care, adoption, and parental rights:
- HB 431 establishes a Foster Care and Adoptive Parents Recruitment and Retention Fund and a statewide task force to study foster/adoptive parent licensing and retention; prioritizes foster placements with relatives; requires the state to place siblings together or help them maintain contact; and sets rules for reviewing state foster care and adoption-related policies.
- HB 604 declares that an individual’s disability or disease cannot be the basis for denying, suspending, or revoking a foster care license; removing a child; or terminating parental rights.
Ontario
In late October, a year after an aboriginal class-action lawsuit was certified, the provincial government filed an appeal. The suit charges that Ontario Children’s Aid agencies removed 16,000 young aboriginal children from their families in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and placed them in non-aboriginal foster and adoptive placements—thus depriving them of their culture. The province is constitutionally responsible for its native residents. [The Star, 11/5/11]
Washington State
Washington State, on October 31, signed an agreement that extends by two years its deadline to implement child welfare reforms mandated by the lawsuit Braam v. State of Washington. Initiated in 1998 and first settled in 2004, the Braam decision requires the state to improve placement safety and stability, reduce sibling separation, enhance mental health and adolescent services, and better train and inform foster parents. [braamkids.org, 11/1/11] |
