Experienced Kansas Adoption Attorney Explains: Federal Law and Transracial Adoption
For many years, racial biases and bigotry crept into the world of adoption. It is sad to think that transracial adoption was explicitly or tacitly prohibited in many places because either the state or social workers believed that it was improper for a family of one race to adopt a child of another. Luckily, this practice was banned in 1994 by federal law, making the legitimacy of transracial adoption the law of the land.
If you are considering bringing a child into your life, you will need the assistance of an experienced adoption attorney. Hiring an experienced Kansas adoption attorney can help you avoid pitfalls that can cause tremendous heartache and headaches later, call McDowell Chartered at (316)-269-0746for an appointment..
Transracial Adoptions in the United States
States had a patchwork of laws (or no laws) banning racism and bigotry in the adoption process until 1994. That bigotry and resistance to transracial adoption were often defended on the basis of protecting children’s culture or defending some minority groups’ cultures. Ironically, the states had simultaneously encouraged and approved the adoption of hundreds of thousands of Native American children without any such concerns. This bigotry was sometimes exacerbated by the fact that, historically, the vast majority of social workers working in the placement and adoption field were Caucasian.
Up until 1994, families could sue under federal discrimination statutes such as the Civil Rights Act of 1965 if they felt that there was discrimination present in the adoption process that impeded their transracial adoption. But that was a cumbersome process with uneven and uncertain results; as a result, families simply avoided transracial adoption, resulting in minority children in foster care much longer than similarly situated Caucasian children.
Racial disparity in foster care was, and remains, a significant problem. Over half of foster children are not Caucasian, yet the majority of adoptive parents are Caucasian. Out of all foster care adoptions, only 20-25% are transracial. Accordingly, too many non-Caucasian children age out of the foster care system feeling like they are unwanted and unloved.
In 1994, the U.S. Congress passed The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act-Interethnic Adoption Provision (MEPA-IAP) of 1994 (and as amended in 1996). MEPA-IAP “prohibits State agencies and other entities that receive Federal funding and were involved in foster care or adoption placements from delaying, denying, or otherwise discriminating when making a foster care or adoption placement decision on the basis of the parent or child’s race, color, or national origin.” I want to lay out the MEPA-IAP’s main prohibitions specifically:
(1) MEPA-IAP prohibits these agencies and entities from delaying or denying a child’s foster care or adoptive placement on the basis of the child’s or the prospective parent’s race, color, or national origin;
(2) MEPA-IAP prohibits these agencies and entities from denying to any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent on the basis of the prospective parent’s or the child’s race, color, or national origin; and
(3) MEPA-IAP requires that, to remain eligible for federal assistance for their child welfare programs, states must diligently recruit foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in the state who need foster and adoptive homes.
MEPA-IAP made several significant changes to the adoption landscape, urging states to employ more non-Caucasian social workers and foster parents and prohibiting racial bigotry from determining whether a family could adopt.
What Should I Do If I am Considering Transracial Adoption in Kansas?
Working with the help of an experienced Kansas adoption attorney can help you successfully navigate the adoption process. Essential laws like the MEPA-IAP have helped families break through stigmatizing obstacles like racism in the adoption process. With so many beautiful children of every race seeking to be adopted, this is a welcome change. Speaking with an experienced Kansas adoption attorney is the first step to bringing a child of any race into your home.
Call our caring full-service adoption law firm at (316)-269-0746 to set up an appointment in order to discuss any one of many types of adoption.
