Rep. Brady Backs Effort to Ease Adoption Roadblocks

The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the Adoption Promotion Act of 1997 by a vote of 416-5. The measure will reform the nation’s adoption laws, clearing many of the bureaucratic barriers that prevent children from being placed in stable homes. It represents the first reform of federal adoption laws in almost two decades.

The Adoption Promotion Act streamlines the cumbersome adoption process by redefining the "reasonable efforts" standard states use to keep families intact, even when such efforts put children at risk. When horrendous circumstances do arise—chronic abuse, neglect, sexual abuse—states would not have to make "reasonable efforts" to unify the family.

"We have so many children in this country that need loving parents and stable families. At the same time, we have couples who want desperately to open their homes and their lives to those children," noted Congressman Brady. "It only makes sense to ease the burden on willing parents so that more children will have the love and stability they need without needless delays."

The Act requires states to start adoption proceedings once a child has been in foster care for 18 months, ensuring children don’t languish in foster care systems. Currently, there are no such time requirements. It also creates an Advisory Panel on Kinship Care to make policy recommendations to the federal government and gives the states a $4000 incentive for each permanent adoption they make above their current adoption levels.

As a Texas legislator, Brady led the effort to re-write state child abuse laws to remove abused children from state care and place them in permanent family environments.

Approximately 500,000 children are in the custody of various state foster care programs. According to the National Council of Adoption, both the average length of time spent in foster care and the percentage of children experiencing more than one foster home have risen dramatically in recent years. It is estimated that more than half of these children enter foster care because of abuse or neglect.