House Approves Resolution to Support Adoption Act

On September 19, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 959) supporting the success of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) in increasing adoption.

Sponsored by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• Since the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, the number of children adopted from foster care has increased significantly, with approximately 51,000 children adopted from foster care in FY2004 alone;
• Despite this remarkable progress, approximately 118,000 children in the United States foster care system are waiting to be adopted, and 49 percent of these children are at least nine years old; and
• Adoptive families make an important difference in the lives of the children they adopt by providing a stable, nurturing environment for those children.Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) noted that since the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, “the number of children annually adopted out of the foster care system has nearly doubled, from 27,000 in 1996 to 52,000 in 2004.” He stated, however, “We have more to do. There are 118,000 foster children today waiting to be adopted. To find a loving home for every waiting child, we should focus more attention on recruiting adoptive parents and on providing post-adoption services to help families with ongoing medical, counseling and referral needs.”

  Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) said that “this Congress must not forget that hundreds of thousands of children still remain in the foster care system and more still remains to be done. This year alone, those older foster care children, some 19,000, will age out of the foster care system. Additionally, one in five children will still languish in foster care for more than five years.” She urged, “We must build on the success of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 by continuing to raise awareness about foster youth and adoption.”