Stories tagged with: adoption
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Intercountry adoptions in U.S. continue decline
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The State Department's latest report on intercountry adoptions by Americans showed another significant decline, and adoption advocates say the trend will continue without change in the U.S. government.
iStockThe March 23 report revealed Americans adopted 4,714 foreign-born children during the 2016-17 fiscal year, a 12 percent decrease from the previous year. The total reflected a 79 percent fall from the all-time high of 22,991 intercountry adoptions in 2004. The latest total is the lowest since 1973, according to the National Council for Adoption (NCFA). Read More
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Okla. Senate votes for adoption protection
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Legislation to preserve the religious freedom of faith-based adoption agencies in Oklahoma took an important step toward becoming law Tuesday (March 13) with the support of national and state Baptist leaders.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.The Oklahoma Senate voted 35-9 for Senate Bill 1140, a proposal that would protect private organizations from being required to take part in the placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the action would violate their "written religious or moral convictions or policies." The bill would permit faith-based adoption ... Read More
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The end of international adoption?
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- New regulations and fees announced by the U.S. State Department in February could spell the end of intercountry adoptions in the United States, according to adoption advocates.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.The changes, which went into effect Feb. 15, include a new $500 monitoring and oversight fee for adoptive families, as well as an increase in the cost of accreditation for adoption agencies. Most agencies, or adoption service providers (ASPs), believe their costs to attain accreditation every four years will triple under the new schedule of fees. Read More
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Years, months & seconds formed their family of 6
DEL CITY, Okla. (BP) -- Within the past five years, Jared and Kelly Lee went from beginning to pray about adoption to having a full house of four children.
Photo submittedThe Lees always had a heart for adoption. Jared was adopted and Kelly came from a large family where her relationships with her siblings helped shape who she is today. So the Lees began not only praying about adoption, but adopting a sibling group.
"We had not yet been able to start a family of our own, and we both felt God's ... Read More
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Adoption, foster care common in churches, study says
NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Bible has a lot to say about caring for orphans. Protestant churches in the United States appear to be listening.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.About 4 in 10 Protestant churchgoers say their congregation has been involved with adoption or foster care in the past year, according to a study released today (Jan. 24) by LifeWay Research, which conducted the survey Aug. 22–30.
The church's involvement on this issue may be because the Bible tells them to, said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. Read More
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Ky. adoption czar Dan Dumas steps down
FRANKFORT, Ky. (BP) -- A spokesman for Gov. Matt Bevin said the decision to terminate the contract of the state's adoption czar was made because the administration "has decided to move in a different direction."
Photo by Tom Latek/Kentucky TodayDan Dumas, an author and former professor of Christian ministry and leadership at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, had been appointed in May to be the Republican governor's point man on revamping the state's adoption and foster care system under a $240,000-a-year contract. See related report. Read More
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House restores adoption tax credit
WASHINGTON (BP) -- A longstanding but endangered benefit for adopting families has gained new life in Congress.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.Republicans in the House of Representatives amended their tax reform proposal to include the adoption tax credit in a committee vote Thursday (Nov. 9), which was World Adoption Day. The action came after adoption and pro-life advocates led a week-long charge to persuade the GOP to restore to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, a benefit available to many adoptive parents the last two decades. Read More
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GOP tax plan, ACLU lawsuit threaten U.S. adoptions
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Adoption in America is facing challenges from both the right and the left.
Image: iStock/license purchase requiredRepublicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a tax reform proposal Thursday (Nov. 2) that wipes out the adoption tax credit, a benefit available to some adoptive parents the last two decades.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has challenged a Michigan law that allows faith-based adoption agencies to abide by their religious convictions by refusing to place children with same-sex couples. Read More
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ACLU fights faith-based child placement agencies
LANSING, Michigan (BP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging a Michigan law that allows faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to operate according to their biblical convictions. The lawsuit, filed against the state Sept. 20 in federal court, could jeopardize similar laws across the nation and force faith-based agencies to close.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.The lawsuit names Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Charities, which are not defendants, as foster care and adoption agencies that turned away two married lesbian couples trying to adopt children. Read More
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Viral adoption video garners ABC's Persons of the Week
ROWLETT, Texas (BP) -- ABC's Persons of the Week are only a handful in -- well -- 7.5 billion residents worldwide. Enter Shane Pruitt, his wife Kasi, and their daughters jubilant at the unexpected introduction to the family's newly adopted baby girl, just one month old.
Submitted photoThe Pruitts, now a family of seven with three adoptees, caught the eye of ABC Nightly News Aug. 4 after the internet video of their daughter entering the family's home in Kasi's arms went viral. Read More
