MULTICULTURAL COALITION APPLAUDS THE PASSAGE OF ADOPTION PROMOTION LEGISLATION

Bill Creates Incentives for States to Find Homes for Children Eligible for Adoption

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    CONTACT:  Bob Adams 703.934.1212
                                                                              
WASHINGTON, DC The non-partisan Alliance for Marriage applauds the passage of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (H.R. 3182).  The legislation reauthorized funding for the state adoption incentive program originally created in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. 

Along with the incentive reauthorization, the bill made positive improvements to the 1997 legislation.  Of the nearly 126,000 children in America who are eligible for adoption, approximately half are age 9 or older.  The Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 would add an additional $4,000 in state incentives per child age 9 or older that is adopted above prior year levels. 

“Adoptions in America have declined in part because of an institutionalized bias in favor of keeping children permanently in the foster care system.  But studies show that adoption produces better outcomes for the vast majority of kids,” said Matt Daniels, President of the Alliance for Marriage.

“Given the many couples in America who want to adopt, our society has a strong interest in creating as many incentives as possible to lower the barriers to adoption.”

The Alliance for Marriage is a multicultural coalition whose Board of Advisors includes Rev. Walter Fauntroy -- the DC Coordinator for the March on Washington for Martin Luther King Jr. -- as well as other civil rights and religious leaders, and national legal experts.