Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/KateChambers

This exploratory study, conducted in Washington, D.C. and New York City, sought to examine foster youths' views of adoption, permanency, and adoption recruitment. Using data collected from focus groups with foster youth, ages 11 to 19, the study raised three important findings: (1) foster care experiences influence youths' perceptions of adoption; (2) youth have concerns and fears about adoption; and (3) youth expect autonomy and want to feel empowered. The study's findings suggest that child welfare agencies and caseworkers may have more to do in terms of educating youth about adoption and other permanency options.

Discussion and debate about adoption and foster care by gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) parents occurs frequently among policymakers, social service agencies, and social workers. Three states currently restrict GLB people from adopting and more are considering similar policies. This report provides new information on GLB adoption and foster care from several government data sources. It offers a demographic portrait of the estimated 65,500 adopted children and 14,100 foster children living with gay and lesbian parents. It also assesses the costs to child welfare systems of proposed bans on allowing GLB people to foster.

Commissioned by the National Adoption Day Coalition, this report provides a first-time look at foster care adoption recruitment in the United States. Using data from the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the state Child and Family Services Reviews, the report describes women's interest in adoption and strategies to find adoptive families for foster children. Findings indicate an overall increase in women interested in adoption, perhaps due to extensive recruitment efforts in recent years. At the same time, women interested in adopting were less likely to take steps to adopt in 2002 than they were in 1995.

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