In response to laws forbidding discrimination against same-sex couples who wish to serve as foster parents and adopt children in Washington, D.C., Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington has ended the foster care and adoption program it has operated in the nations capital for more than eight decades.

Laura Wright of the Catholic News Services reported on the archdioceses decision in a Feb. 22 article:

The program  which covered 43 children and their biological families, 35 foster families and seven staff members  was transferred to the National Center for Children and Families Feb. 1.

Under a new law allowing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia, Catholic Charities would have been required to place children with same-sex parents for foster care and adoption, which would violate church teaching that marriage is a permanent union between one man and one woman.

Catholic Charities has been providing foster care in one form or another for decades. ... To transition this to another agency certainly was a real loss for us, said Edward Orzechowski, president and CEO of Catholic Charities.

Labels: same-sex couples

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The Arizona state legislature is considering a bill that would give married couples priority in adoptions.
A Feb. 23 article by Alia Beard Rau of the Arizona Republic provided the following details on the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Warde Nichols, a Republican who represents the town of Gilbert:

Unmarried adults could still be considered for adoption when they are related to or already have a relationship with the child, or if there is not a married couple available. The best interests of the child would remain the determining factor in choosing adoptive parents.

"We're not going to be leaving children in the system because we're waiting for a married couple. That's not the intent of the bill," said Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy. The non-profit group lobbies for conservative family issues, and it is backing the bill. "It simply says, all things being equal, a child deserves a chance to have a mom and a dad."

From April through September 2009, there were 892 state adoptions, 266 of which involved single people. ...

Kris Jacober, the president of Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents, told the Republic that passing the bill would establish "one more barrier to people trying to decide whether or not to even get started. And when you limit the pool, you limit the options for children."

Labels: adoption laws, same-sex couples, single_parenting

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A member of the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would limit federal funding to states whose adoption or foster care rules discriminate on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation.

An Oct. 19 Washington Blade article by Chris Johnson provided the following details about the efforts of U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.):

Stark said in an interview that he introduced the legislation, H.R. 3827, in part because thousands of children each year "age out" of the child welfare system without finding homes.

"We got 25,000 kids a year maturing out of the welfare system without permanent foster care or adoptive care, and the prospects of those children having a successful adult life are diminished greatly," he said. "These are kids who end up in the criminal justice system, or end up homeless."

States with explicit restrictions on adoption that the pending legislation would affect are Utah, Florida, Arkansas, Nebraska and Mississippi. Florida, for example, has a statute specifically prohibiting gays from adopting, and in Arkansas, voters last year approved Act 1, which prevents unmarried co-habitating couples, including same-sex partners, from adopting children.

The legislation, Stark said, also would restrict funds for states where restrictions are put in place by agencies, individual social workers or judges, or where restrictions are part of the common law of the state.

Labels: legislation, adoption rights, same-sex couples

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A law that has been promoted by Uruguay's gay rights groups may not actually allow same-sex couples to adopt. According to a Sept. 15 article by Associated Press writer Raul O. Garces, thelaw -- which is currently awaiting President Tabare Vazquez's signature --does not directly address the rights of gay or lesbian couples:

[G]ay rights groups have been celebrating the prospect that Uruguay could become the first country in Latin America to give gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.

But nowhere in the law does it specifically say that homosexual couples have a right to adopt. And in some places, it suggests otherwise - for example by specifying how the child should take a mother and father's surnames.

Lawyers, judges and even the law's own authors now have doubts about how the law will be applied.

Though many are questioning the ability of the law to provide for same-sex adoption, the bill's author said that it will accomplish just that, Garces reported:

Deputy Margarita Percovich, who wrote the law, acknowledged that it doesn't directly mention same-sex adoptions, but said it would enable them because gays and lesbians already can legally form civil unions, and "the law enables couples in civil unions to adopt children without impediment."

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Elton John has experienced a setback in his efforts to adopt an HIV-positive youngster from Ukraine. According to a Sept. 14 article in the British newspaper The Sun, Ukranian officials have cited the singer's age and sexual orientation as reasons for denying the adoption:

Elton John faces a legal battle over his dream to adopt a Ukrainian tot -- because the country bans gay couples from doing so.

The superstar [age 62] and partner David Furnish, 46, are also deemed too old under national laws.

Their only hope would be a presidential dispensation to take home 14-month-old Lev - after 62-year-old Elton declared at the weekend: "He has stolen my heart."

It was also revealed that if Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko were to grant their wish the pair would have to adopt Lev's brother as well. He too is in care -- and Ukrainian law states siblings must be adopted together.

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According to a June 28 article by Mercury News reporter Sean Maher, this years' San Francisco Gay Pride Parade featured a large contingent of children who were celebrating alongside their adoptive parents:

"I feel like I've seen twice as many children as I saw last year," said Joseph Bowik, who fathers two children with his husband, David Bowik.

The Pride Family Garden, a small park cordoned off near City Hall to give parents a respite and an area for their children to play, saw more than 600 families last year, a record that appeared set to be broken during this year's parade, organizer Meredith Fenton said. ...

The Bowiks described their adoption process as complicated and difficult, but "100 percent positive."

The article indicated that concerns over the federal Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of Proposition 8 (which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry in California) may have led to an increased family presence in this year's Pride Parade.

"Children of gay parents grow up watching their parents fight to be treated equally, and I think it makes them more understanding of the fight for acceptance," 18-year-old Diane Castillo, who was raised by her mother and her mother's partner, told the Mercury News. "It's a great thing. You learn not to take anything for granted."

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A British tribunal has ruled that Catholic adoption programs cannot refuse service to same-sex couples who wish to adopt. According to a June 3 article by Steve Doughty of the Daily Mail Online, some Catholic adoption agencies may close as a result of the decision:

Judges ruled in a test case that the charities, which find homes for hundreds of children each year, will be breaking the law if they refuse to accept same-sex couples as adoptive parents.

The ruling means some Catholic agencies face a choice between abandoning their adoption services or their religious principles. ...

Following the ruling a spokesman for the diocese said: 'As the charities cannot provide unrestricted services without being in breach of their obligations to act in accordance with the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church, it seems likely that the charities will need to close their adoption services and a flagship service of the charities will be lost.

In the United States, laws governing same-sex adoption adopt vary from state to state.

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In a May 15 article on the Advocate website, Julie Bolcer reported on an effort by Louisiana legislators to ban adoptions by gay and lesbian couples:

The Louisiana house voted overwhelmingly [May 12] to pass a bill that would prohibit the issuance of birth certificates that list the names of two unmarried parents who adopt a Louisiana-born child in another state.

The legislation, which passed by a vote of 77-18, stems from a December ruling in which U.S. district judge Jay Zainey sided with two California men seeking a joint birth certificate for the Shreveport-born child they adopted in New York in 2006.

Though the Louisiana effort is designed to outlaw adoption by gay adults, Bolcer notes that, as currently written, the legislation may not accomplish what its supporters intended.

"Single adults and married couples would qualify as adoptive parents, but unmarried couples would not, regardless of their sexual orientation," she wrote. "Presumably, single gay people could still adopt."

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Overturned a lower court's ruling, the West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that an infant foster child should not be removed from the custody of a same-sex couple. The decision was the topic of a June 5 article by Tim Huber of the Associated Press:

In an unsigned opinion issued Friday, the court barred enforcing Fayette County Circuit Judge Paul Blake Jr.'s order that the girl should be taken away from Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess. The girl has remained in the couple's custody throughout the court proceedings.

The court noted there was no reason to believe the girl wasn't thriving with Hess and Kutil, and said there was no legal reason to take her away from the couple.
Instead, the court said either Hess or Kutil, as qualified foster parents, "would at the very least need to be considered if not favored in the selection of the prospective adoptive home."

Born to a drug-addicted mother in December 2007, the infant had spent her entire life in the care of Kutil and Hess. But in November 2008, Circuit Judge Paul Blake ruled that the state's Department of Health and Human Resources could approve removing the infant from Kutil and Hess's care. The West Virginia Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision to overturn Blake's ruling.

Labels: same-sex couples, foster_care, court

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Butler County, Ohio's adoption policy is a source of controversy because it does something that the state adoption laws don't: It gives preference to married couples.

The conflict, according to the four-page opinion signed ... by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Roger Gates, is that the Butler County rule adds a line that would put married couples before single parents, unmarried couples, and same-sex couples in adoption cases. Even though these groups would not be excluded from adopting ... the rule does place a priority on placing children with married couples. (Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer)

The policy, which was quietly enacted by outgoing agency Director Michael Fox, was suspended in late March pending a legal review.

Labels: adoption rights, same-sex couples, single_parenting, unmarried couples, controversy

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