Progression of Adoption

1
Progression of Adoption

• By Emily Adelman, Nicole Pohlmann, Christina
  Strommen, Cassandra Schroeder, Andrea Syvertson

2
1851-1900

• Time of great reform for child welfare and
  adoption.

• 1851
• Massachusetts passed the first adoption law.
• Benefit children instead of adult interests
• Included a legal procedure in transferring child
  from birth parent to adopting parent.

3
1854

• Orphan Trains
• Charles Loring Brace (New York orphanages,
  overcrowding)
• Send children to the Midwestern and Western
  states in hope to find a better way of life.

Children heading west on the train for a fresh
start.
4

• Upon arrival of trains into Midwestern cities,
  families interested in adopting a child would
  come to see them as the children were showcased.
• No background or investigating took place before
  kids were handed over, some into abusive
  families.
• For the most part, orphans were placed with very
  healthy and wealthy families.

5
1968-1969

• Placing out programs
• Charities began paying for children to board in
  homes with private families.
• There were agents that would visit homes to see
  that the children werent maltreated.
• Main goal was to move children away from asylums
  and into caring homes.

6
1891

• Michigan was the first state to require a judge
  to be satisfied with the suitability of the new
  home for the child.
• Parents must be supportive and able to educate
  the child throughout their lives.

7
1904First School of Social Work

• New York School of Applied Philanthropy opened
  its doors.
• First school of higher education for individuals
  who wanted to work in the field of charity

• Today is called the Columbia University School of
  Social Work.

8
1909White House Conference

• First White House Conference on the care of
  dependent children declared that poverty alone
  should not be grounds for removing children from
  families.
• Focused on the effects of institutionalization of
  dependent and neglected children.

9
1910-1930sSpecialized Adoption Agenciesin US

• Founded by women motivated to find children for
  their wealthy friends and people they knew.
• Clashed with the believers in preservation of
  family.

• Free Synagogue Child Adoption Committee
• Spence Alumni Society
• Alice Chain Nursery
• Crade

10
1910s 1920sField Studies

• First real investigations of adoption in America.
• Two main purposes
• 1. To determine if regulations were adequate.
• 2. To discover whether those requirements were
  being followed or ignored.

11
1912U.S. Childrens Bureau

• Congress formed the USCB.
• Well known for its efforts to reduce infant death
  rates and eliminate child labor.
• Child welfare is a huge concern of the USCB.

12
1917 1919

• In 1917 Minnesota law was passed mandating social
  investigation of all adoptions and provided
  confidentiality of adoptions.
• In 1919 the first professional child-placing
  manual was written.

13

• 1920- Formation of the Child Welfare League of
  America
• Worked towards organized care for dependent
  children
• 1921- First Executive Director was
• C. C. Carsons
• 1921- Adopted a Constitution
• Outlined membership qualities
• Defined who they would help
• Explained leadership
• Designated finances
• 1922- Began publishing Child Welfare journal

14

• The CLWA also provided great leadership within
  the Child Welfare community
• First to create a department for childrens
  casework
• Adopted a set of standards for foster care in
  1925
• Conducted regional conferences for area social
  workers
• Hosted training seminars for administrative
  social workers
• Helped the American Legion create child welfare
  branch
• Incorporated under New Yorks state laws in 1928

15

• 1922- Margaret Cobb
• Used dependent children to find relationships for
  intelligence
• Found dependent children drastically behind
  average schoolchildren in intelligence measures
• Concluded a genetic inclination for dependent
  children towards feeble-mindedness
• Suggested adopters keep this in mind while
  raising an adopted child
• 1934 Iowa Child Welfare Station
• Began conducting nature-nurture studies
• Found a positive correlation between early
  childhood placement and intellegence

16

• 1935- Social Security Act
• Required states to provide for dependent children
• Outline money allotted and ways of distribution
• Allowed those who had been denied legal aid the
  right to a proper hearing
• 1938- Fair Labor Act
• Outlawed child labor

17

• 1938- Minimum Safeguards in Adoption
• Created by the Child Welfare League of America
• Standards for adoption
• Child should not unnecessarily be taken from
  their family
• Adopting family must provide adequate support
• Confidentiality
• Regulatory trial period
• Created to provide best possible care for
• the adopted children

18

• Case Study of Alice R.
• Conducted in 1927, before minimum standards for
  adoption
• Alice R. had four children
• Was placed in a mental institution after fifth
  pregnancy
• Her children were taken in by a relative, but
  only for two years
• Youngest two children were then adopted by Mr.
  and Mrs. A.
• Unstable household
• Eventually placed in permanent care of the board
  of childrens guardians

19
1946-1964

• First recorded transracial adoption takes place
  in 1948
• Child Welfare League of America holds national
  conference on adoption in Chicago in 1955 and
  announces that the era of Special Needs
  adoption has arrived
• National Association of Social Workers is formed
  in 1955
• Child Welfare League of America publishes
  Standards of Adoption Services in 1958

20
Transracial Adoptions

• Most looked upon transracial adoptions as
  unnatural and unnecessary.
• The first Transracial adoption took place in 1948
  in Minnesota.
• Campaigns began to form to promote transracial
  adoptions
• Sparked moral debate

This publicity photo is from Louise Wise
Services, an innovative New York agency. Its
Interracial Adoption Program, established in
1953, concentrated on finding matching parents
for children of color, but transracial placements
were made (Adoption History Project, Transracial
Adoptions)
21
Transracial Adoptions

• The Johnston family, from Washington, took an
  African-American child into foster care when she
  was 6 weeks old, adopted her when she was 9.
• They lived in a predominantly white community and
  often faced criticism.

You have no right to do what you have done. In
the case of Integration, you are willing to
sacrifice your daughter, for you know you cannot
keep her happy and safe. (Adoption History
Project, Ann Johnston, Our Negro
Daughter 1960)
Ann Johnston, speaking on the criticism her
family faced
22
Special Needs Era

• In 1955 the Child Welfare League of America held
  an adoption conference in Chicago
• Seventy-five leading adoption agencies worked
  together to study adoption
• Goal was to reevaluate their aims

Eighty per cent of the agencies reported
that their aim was to place only the
perfect child with the perfect background.
And perfect could be defined in ways
which may surprise some of you. Anything from
diabetes in the family background to an infant
hernia could be a disqualifying factor. -
Marshall Field III, newspaper owner and devoted
child welfare philanthropist (Adoption History
Project, National Conference on Adoption, 1955)
23
Special Needs Era

• After Adoption conference, Systematic efforts to
  locate families for hard-to-place children
  began.
• By the 1960s statewide adoption resource
  exchanges were helping with special needs
  placements.

• Adoption is appropriate for any child without
  family ties who is in need of a family and for
  whom a family can be found to meet his need.
• New philosophy for adoption written by Pearl
  Buck, a best selling novelist and special needs
  advocate. (Adoption history project, Special
  Needs Adoptions.)

24
Nation Association of Social Workers

• Founded in 1955
• NASWs primary functions include
• Promoting the professional development of its
  members
• Establishing and maintaining professional
  standards of practice
• Advancing sound social policies
• Providing services that protect its members and
  enhance their professional status. ( NASW web
  site www.socialworkers.org/nasw/history.asp)

25
The National Association of Social Workers was
formed by combining seven social work
organizations
26
Standards of Adoption Services

• Child Welfare League of America Publishes
  Standards of Adoption Services in 1958
• Aim was to
• Guide social work practice and legal
  procedure on issues ranging from matching to
  confidentiality and sealed records, while
  simultaneously raising public consciousness.
  (Adoption History Project, Child Welfare League
  of America.)

27
Standards of Adoption Services

• Listed guidelines and rules for adoption
  procedures.
• Still being used today, it is in its fifth
  revision, now titled CWLA Standards of
  Excellence in Adoption Services

integrates information
relevant to all forms of adoption domestic
infant, intercountry, and special needs,
and strives to ensure the standards'
applicability to both voluntary, nonprofit
agencies providing adoption services, and to
public social service agencies at the state,
local, and tribal levels. (CWLA Standards of
Excellence in Adoption Services, Feb. 2000,
http//www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID7815
)
28

• By the end of this time period, many advances
  had been made in adoption services and social
  welfare
• Through transracial adoption, diversity in
  families began to be accepted by society view
  points on a traditional home and a perfect
  child were being challenged.
• Special Needs children became an equal priority
  for adoption agencies
• Social Workers became solidified and created a
  unanimous voice through the formation of the
  National Association of Social Workers
• Adoption policies were reformed through the
  creation of the Standards of Adoption Services
  developed by the Child Welfare League of America

29
Single Parent Adoption

• Became more of a norm in 1965.
• Presented as less desirable parents.
• Single parent adoptions became permissible for
  exceptional circumstances where the child would
  not otherwise be adopted.
• They felt as unwanted as the children they take
  in.

30
Adoptees Liberty Movement Association (ALMA)

• This association was formed in 1971.
• Formed by Florence Fisher
• Helps adopted persons, adoptive parents, and
  birthparents by providing information necessary
  to seek each other.
• Lobbying for open records.
• Reunion registry which includes sex of the child,
  birthday, and birthplace to help search for one
  another.

31
Adoption Week/Month

• Adoption week was formed in 1976 by Michael
  Dukakis.
• President Gerald Ford made it into a national
  affair which occurred that same year.
• In 1990 it became National Adoption Month,
  November,
• Used to celebrate family and bring about
  awareness of the children in foster homes.
• Many states, communities, and agencies hold a
  variety of events for this celebration.

32
Adoption Assistance Child Welfare Act

• This act was formed in 1980.
• States provide foster care and transitional
  independent living programs for children who
  otherwise would have been eligible for assistance
  under the states plan.
• Special needs children who are adopted are
  eligible to receive payments for nonrecurring
  adoption expenses from the state.
• Payments also made if it would be contrary to the
  welfare of the child to be left in foster care,
  if eligible for supplemental security income
  benefits, or if a child whose costs in a foster
  home are covered by the foster care maintenance
  payments being made with respect to his or her
  minor parent.

33
Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA)

• This act was formed in 1994 to
• decrease the length a child waits to be adopted
• Prevent discrimination in the placement of a
  child on the basis of race, color, or national
  origin
• Identify and recruit foster and adoptive families
  who can meet the needs of the children

34
Interethnic Adoption Act (IEPA)

• A branch from MEPA was formed in 1996.
• Allowed government to assess the financial
  penalties on a state if the state has been given
  notice of a MEPA violation and has not enacted a
  corrective action plan within six months.

35
Adoption Safe Families Act

• This act was formed in 1997.
• It stresses that health and safety of the child
  is the determining factor for reasonable and
  timely permanent placement.
• Services to reunify the child with family will
  not exceed fifteen months.
• States are required to provide health insurance
  to special needs children who are adopted.
• Offer assistance to young adults leaving foster
  care to live independently if assets do not
  exceed 5000.

36
Adoption Safe Families Act

• People are disqualified to be adoptive parents if
  their records show any felony convictions of
• child abuse or neglect
• Spousal abuse
• Violent crimes
• Also can be disqualified if in the last five
  years they were convicted of
• Physical assault
• Battery
• Drug related offense

37
Child Citizenship Act of 2000

• Allows certain foreign-born, biological and
  adopted children of American citizens to acquire
  American citizenship automatically when entering
  the United States.
• Only allowed if
• Child is under eighteen years of age
• Child will live in legal and physical custody of
  American citizen parent
• Admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent
  residence
• Adoption must be full and final

38
Conclusion

• All children deserve what
• most take for granted.