Increasing Adoption and Reducing the Number of Children in Foster Care in the U.S. and Abroad

Abstract

November is National Adoption Month. It is a time Americans celebrate adoptive families across the country. According to Barack Obama in his Presidential Proclamation of National Adoption Month, 2013 “[e]very young person deserves the chance to learn and grow under the care of a loving family. Across our Nation, adoptive families give that chance to over a million children and teenagers…We celebrate these families and stand alongside every child still looking for the warmth and stability of a permanent home.” There are two types of adoptions available to citizens: international and domestic. An overview of the two types is discussed below and is followed by a discussion of two recent federal public policies intended to increase the number of adoptions: the Adoption Tax Credit of 2012 and the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012.