Foster Care Adoption in the United States

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

This report was commissioned by The National Adoption Day Coalition. The National Adoption Day Coalition, comprised of seven partners—The Alliance for Children's Rights, Casey Family Services, Children's Action Network, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®, Freddie Mac Foundation and Target Corporation—commissioned the authors to coduct this state-by-state analysis to identify the common barriers and promising approaches that exit in the process of adoption children from the foster care system across the country.

INTRODUCTION

According to the most recent statistics available, in the United States in 2002, 129,000 children were in foster care systems nationwide waiting to be adopted. These children found themselves in this circumstance because their parents could no longer provide for their care. Child welfare agencies and courts around the country have made efforts to find families to adopt these children, but significant barriers have continued to impede the process. As a result, many of these children remain in foster care for years without having a place to call home. Moreover, when they age out of care usually at age 18, they are without permanent connections to families needed for success as adults.

The foster care adoption process is complex and afflicted by many potential barriers, some of which are easier to address than others. Some barriers might even be considered necessary, in that they exist to protect a child's best interests or a parent's rights. For example, some children are not psychologically ready to be adopted, and some older children may choose not to be adopted. Similarly, the process may slow to ensure that parents have the opportunity to appeal court decisions or to obtain sufficient services to address their needs. Thus, even in a perfect system, some adoptions would not move quickly and some would not happen at all.

There are parts of the adoption process, however, that can be improved, and states are implementing a variety of strategies to do so. The 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) made significant changes to child welfare policy by setting timelines and practice guidelines for achieving permanent outcomes for children. As a result of this legislation and a renewed focus on permanency outcomes, more children are moving through the adoption process. In 1998, 37,000 children were adopted. In 1999, the number of adoptions rose to 47,000. And in 2002, 53,000 children were adopted nationwide.

For years, the field has speculated about why children remain in foster care and why the adoption process is not timely. Research has looked at particular aspects of the process and barriers faced by particular states or localities. Foster Care Adoption in the United States: A State-by-State Analysis of Barriers & Promising Approaches goes one step further by providing the first national look across states at the barriers to the adoption process, as well as promising approaches to address them.

This report comes at a critical time. With the policy changes brought about by ASFA and increased numbers of children moving through the adoption process, the barriers to adoption and the need for promising approaches are more acute. This report describes the complexities, progress and struggles states are experiencing in implementing new ASFA policies to move children toward adoption. It also offers policymakers a first-time comprehensive look into the barriers and progress at the national and state levels, and provides practitioners with the opportunity to learn from each other's challenges and successes.

The National Adoption Day Coalition commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct this study using information relevant to adoption from states' Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs). CFSRs are administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and are designed to help states improve child welfare services and identify areas where technical assistance can lead to program improvements.¹ This report is organized into the following sections:

Notes from this section

1 The current CFSR process began as early as 1998 and is concluding in 2004. States may have made changes to their adoption processes since completing their CFSRs that are not reflected in this report.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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