Another week has flown by at Gladney! I can't believe how fast the summer goes. My research project for Heidi Bruegel Cox is finally taking form. Today I looked at the costs to society of a child being adopted from foster care. The costs include adoption tax benefits, adoption assistance (both non-recurring and recurring), Medicaid eligability and exemption from public college tuition. These financial incentives are an important element in finding homes for children in foster care!
This week I went to Austin with Heidi Bruegel Cox for a two-day meeting of the Adoption Review Committee , which was appointed by the governor. The Committee is charged with identifying barriers to adopting out of foster care and creating legislative proposals to overcome those obstacles so that children in the foster care system can find permanency more quickly. On Wednesday the Committee heard testimony from individuals and families who had fostered or sought to adopt children from CPS ( Child Protective Services ) but felt that CPS created barriers to the adoption that was damaging to their family and to the children. A common theme throughout their testimonies was that the current foster care reimbursement system disincentivizes adoption. Parents who had been fostering medically fragile children – some of whom suffered from degenerative conditions that weaken and deteriorate their bodies and who required treatment from multiple specialists – find themselves financially unable to a
Lauren, will you and Heidi be authoring a white paper on your research?
ReplyDeleteI believe so - we're hoping to get it published in th NCFA Adoption Factbook and it may be considered by the Adoption Review Committee as they move forward with their proposals. I'm not sure what else Heidi envisions for it.
ReplyDelete