Finding Permanent Homes for Adoptable Children - Pepperdine ...

in the foster care system in want of a permanent home. 5 Another study found that in 1988 200,000 women
had, at some point, considered adoption and by 1995, this number grew to 500,000. This suggests that the
number of those willing to adopt continues to increase. 6 The increasing number of families willing to
consider adoption seems to suggest not a lack of demand for children waiting for adoptive homes, but a
recruitment and adoption completion issue that must be evaluated and rectified in order to bridge the
disconnect between those families wanting children and those children waiting for families.
It is a generally held estimate that between 130,000 to 150,000 adoptive families are formed each year,
but as many as 40,000 of these adoptions are of either infants or very young children. Although the
number of infants being placed for adoption continues to decline (see Appendix A for comprehensive
adoption and foster care statistics), the number of children in foster care continues to rise as a result of
poverty, abuse, and neglect. However, while the demand for children weighs heavily on infants, the
majority of children in foster care are over the age of six. To ensure an adequate number of adoptive
families for eligible foster care children, it is essential to recruit a larger base of potential adoptive
families; using interstate adoption as a tool to expand that base is a step that dema nds further examination.
In 1990, 47.2 percent of the children adopted were adopted by former foster parents, 7 percent by
relatives, and 41.5 percent by families unrelated to them. However, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services predicts that the number of foster care parents who adopt is likely to continue the decline
that began in the 1980’s. In addition, the literature suggests that many family members, who serve as
foster parents for their related children, resist formal adoption due to concerns over disrespecting the
child's relationship to the birth parent and financial considerations.
Due to the decrease of foster care parents and relative adoptions, the base of unrelated adoptive families
must expand. Data show that unrelated children are most commonly adopted by childless women,
women with fecundity impairments, white women, and those with higher levels of income and education.
These groups of individuals represent an important resource for children in foster care. As the number of
single individuals and single parents through biological procreation has grown, the number of single
parent adoptions has also increased. In 1975, 2.5 percent of adoptions were with single parents, and
studies suggest substantial growth in this percentage since then.
5 Adoption Institute. National Adoption Attitudes Survey. http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/survey/Adoption_Exec_Summ.pdf
6 Freivalds, Susan, Freunlich, Madelyn, and Scoppetta, Nicholas. “Forum on Adoption Issues.” April 14 1998.
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/proed/forum.html. Google search engine. Accessed February 27, 2003.
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