Governor McDonnell, Why Are You Playing Politics With Children’s Lives?
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell opposes regulations proposed by his
Democratic predecessor that would prohibit child welfare agencies
in the state from discriminating on the basis of sexual
orientation, marital status and religion. Currently, only single
men and women – regardless of sexual orientation – and married
couples are allowed to petition to adopt in Virginia. These
changes would, for the first time in the state, allow gay and
lesbian couples to jointly adopt children.
There are currently more than 6,000 kids in the Virginia foster care system – over 1,500 of whom are available for adoption. Rather than ensuring these kids have access to every possible qualified and loving parent, Gov. McDonnell is choosing to play politics with the lives of these children. By denying lesbian and gay couples the ability to adopt in Virginia, McDonnell is eliminating thousands of potential qualified adoptive parents.
At a recent press conference in response to the proposed regulations he stated, “I don’t think we ought to force Catholic Charities to make that part of their policy or other similar situated groups,’’ McDonnell said. “Many of our adoption agencies are faith-based groups that ought to be able to establish what their own policies are.”
Umm…NO.
Adoption agencies have ONE obligation – and that is to act in the best interests of each individual child. The welfare of children is not a church/state issue. In issuing licenses to adoption agencies, the state of Virginia has an affirmative obligation to ensure that such agencies are acting in the best interests of the children they place. The state has an interest in ensuring that each licensee is operating under established best practice principles as set forth by child welfare professionals. Mainstream professional child welfare organizations universally support the ability of qualified gay and lesbian individuals and unmarried couples to foster and adopt. Among these organizations are the American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Social Workers, North American Council on Adoptable Children, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and countless others. More than 30 years of scientific research overwhelmingly confirms that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have the same advantages and same expectations for health, social, and psychological adjustment, and development as children whose parents are heterosexual.
Rather than doing all he can to ensure children currently waiting in Virginia’s foster care system have every possible opportunity to find the stability and permanency they so desperately need, Gov. McDonnell is content to play politics and allow religious organizations to dictate the state’s child welfare policies.
If the current system is working so well, Governor, then why does Virginia have one of the WORST records in the country when it comes to finding permanent, stable, and loving homes for children in its foster care system?
Virginia has the lowest rate of public agency adoptions in the nation. In 2009 there were 6,700 kids in foster care in the state of Virginia.[1] While 663 children from foster care were ultimately placed with adoptive families,[2] by year’s end 1,612 kids available for adoption were still waiting for permanent families of their own.[3] More than 45% of the kids in VA’s foster care system have been in 3 or more placements – shuttled from home to home without finding the stability and permanency they desperately need.[4] Virginia has the unique distinction of ranking first among the states in the percentage of youth who age out of foster care each year (32%).[5] Research shows us that youth who age out of foster care without ever finding permanency are at a high risk for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and early parenthood.
Governor McDonnell, is this really the best you can do for the thousands of Virginia’s children who are in your care?
The reality is that religious entities such as Catholic Charities facilitate relatively few adoptions in VA. The reason there are more than 1,500 kids waiting to be adopted is not because there are not enough religious organizations willing to facilitate these placements – it’s because there are not enough qualified loving parents to provide stable nurturing homes for these children. On its own website, the State of Virginia declares that “A supply of parents who are ready to adopt is a significant factor affecting adoption rates…”[6] The only way to increase the number of public adoptions and to reduce the number of youth in Virginia’s foster care system is to remove all remaining barriers to finding qualified, loving, and stable parents who can provide permanent homes for these children. Denying those in foster care the opportunity to be placed with loving and nurturing parents in a stable home is NOT in the best interests of Virginia’s children.
Governor McDonnell, if you truly have the best interests of Virginia’s children in mind, if you truly want to find loving permanent homes for the thousands of children in foster care, remove the barriers facing these children and allow them to find the families they so desperately deserve.
Sign our petition, and we will deliver your message to the State Board of Social Services.
Tell the Governor to stop playing politics with children’s lives. Remove the barriers between Virginia’s foster children and their future loving families!
[1] Foster Care Children Demographic Report for September 2009 (End of fiscal year 2009), Virginia Department of Social Services, file available for download at http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/about/reports/children/foster_care/2009/children_demographic/fc_children_demo_2009-09-30.xls
[2] Adoptions of Children with Public Child Welfare Agency Involvement by State FY 2002 - FY 2009, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Administration for Children and Families , Administration on Children, Youth and Families , Children's Bureau (August 2010), available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/adoptchild09.pdf.
[3] Children in Public Foster Care on September 30th of Each Year who are Waiting to be Adopted FY 2002 - FY 2009, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau (August 2010), available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/waiting2009.pdf.
[4] Snapshot of Children in Foster Care in Virginia, Data As of: 2/1/2011, Virginia Department of Social Services, available at http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/about/reports/children/foster_care/2011/monthly_snapshot/snapshot_fc_2011-03-01.pdf.
[5] Foster Care, Virginia Performs: Measuring What matters to Virginians, available at http://vaperforms.virginia.gov/indicators/healthfamily/fosterCare.php.
There are currently more than 6,000 kids in the Virginia foster care system – over 1,500 of whom are available for adoption. Rather than ensuring these kids have access to every possible qualified and loving parent, Gov. McDonnell is choosing to play politics with the lives of these children. By denying lesbian and gay couples the ability to adopt in Virginia, McDonnell is eliminating thousands of potential qualified adoptive parents.
At a recent press conference in response to the proposed regulations he stated, “I don’t think we ought to force Catholic Charities to make that part of their policy or other similar situated groups,’’ McDonnell said. “Many of our adoption agencies are faith-based groups that ought to be able to establish what their own policies are.”
Umm…NO.
Adoption agencies have ONE obligation – and that is to act in the best interests of each individual child. The welfare of children is not a church/state issue. In issuing licenses to adoption agencies, the state of Virginia has an affirmative obligation to ensure that such agencies are acting in the best interests of the children they place. The state has an interest in ensuring that each licensee is operating under established best practice principles as set forth by child welfare professionals. Mainstream professional child welfare organizations universally support the ability of qualified gay and lesbian individuals and unmarried couples to foster and adopt. Among these organizations are the American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Social Workers, North American Council on Adoptable Children, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and countless others. More than 30 years of scientific research overwhelmingly confirms that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have the same advantages and same expectations for health, social, and psychological adjustment, and development as children whose parents are heterosexual.
Rather than doing all he can to ensure children currently waiting in Virginia’s foster care system have every possible opportunity to find the stability and permanency they so desperately need, Gov. McDonnell is content to play politics and allow religious organizations to dictate the state’s child welfare policies.
If the current system is working so well, Governor, then why does Virginia have one of the WORST records in the country when it comes to finding permanent, stable, and loving homes for children in its foster care system?
Virginia has the lowest rate of public agency adoptions in the nation. In 2009 there were 6,700 kids in foster care in the state of Virginia.[1] While 663 children from foster care were ultimately placed with adoptive families,[2] by year’s end 1,612 kids available for adoption were still waiting for permanent families of their own.[3] More than 45% of the kids in VA’s foster care system have been in 3 or more placements – shuttled from home to home without finding the stability and permanency they desperately need.[4] Virginia has the unique distinction of ranking first among the states in the percentage of youth who age out of foster care each year (32%).[5] Research shows us that youth who age out of foster care without ever finding permanency are at a high risk for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and early parenthood.
Governor McDonnell, is this really the best you can do for the thousands of Virginia’s children who are in your care?
The reality is that religious entities such as Catholic Charities facilitate relatively few adoptions in VA. The reason there are more than 1,500 kids waiting to be adopted is not because there are not enough religious organizations willing to facilitate these placements – it’s because there are not enough qualified loving parents to provide stable nurturing homes for these children. On its own website, the State of Virginia declares that “A supply of parents who are ready to adopt is a significant factor affecting adoption rates…”[6] The only way to increase the number of public adoptions and to reduce the number of youth in Virginia’s foster care system is to remove all remaining barriers to finding qualified, loving, and stable parents who can provide permanent homes for these children. Denying those in foster care the opportunity to be placed with loving and nurturing parents in a stable home is NOT in the best interests of Virginia’s children.
Governor McDonnell, if you truly have the best interests of Virginia’s children in mind, if you truly want to find loving permanent homes for the thousands of children in foster care, remove the barriers facing these children and allow them to find the families they so desperately deserve.
Sign our petition, and we will deliver your message to the State Board of Social Services.
Tell the Governor to stop playing politics with children’s lives. Remove the barriers between Virginia’s foster children and their future loving families!
[1] Foster Care Children Demographic Report for September 2009 (End of fiscal year 2009), Virginia Department of Social Services, file available for download at http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/about/reports/children/foster_care/2009/children_demographic/fc_children_demo_2009-09-30.xls
[2] Adoptions of Children with Public Child Welfare Agency Involvement by State FY 2002 - FY 2009, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Administration for Children and Families , Administration on Children, Youth and Families , Children's Bureau (August 2010), available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/adoptchild09.pdf.
[3] Children in Public Foster Care on September 30th of Each Year who are Waiting to be Adopted FY 2002 - FY 2009, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau (August 2010), available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/waiting2009.pdf.
[4] Snapshot of Children in Foster Care in Virginia, Data As of: 2/1/2011, Virginia Department of Social Services, available at http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/about/reports/children/foster_care/2011/monthly_snapshot/snapshot_fc_2011-03-01.pdf.
[5] Foster Care, Virginia Performs: Measuring What matters to Virginians, available at http://vaperforms.virginia.gov/indicators/healthfamily/fosterCare.php.