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Congress Approves Adoption Change
By LAURA MECKLERAssociated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) President Clinton is set to sign legislation making it easier to remove children from abusive families, overhauling nearly two decades of adoption policy.
The measure, approved overwhelmingly by the House and Senate Thursday, also boosts efforts to make sure children do not languish in foster care once they have been removed from their homes.
"This legislation makes clear that children's health and safety are the paramount concerns of the public child welfare system," Clinton said in a statement.
As Congress adjourned for the year, the House passed the measure 406-7, and the Senate approved it on a voice vote without opposition.
Lauded as a bipartisan success, the bill was supported by Republicans and Democrats from the start.
But there were significant divisions between the House and the Senate over whether new spending was needed to help families that adopt tough-to-place children and to aid biological parents trying to reunite with their children.
The House prevailed, persuading the Senate it was more important to pass the fundamental adoption reforms that enjoyed overwhelming support. The final measure provides $53 million over five years.
At separate news conferences, both sides celebrated the bill's passage.
"We will not continue the current system of always putting the needs and rights of biological parents first. That's the way the current system works," said Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I.
An estimated 500,000 children are in foster care, where they spend an average of three years.
Legislators blame much of the problem on the interpretation of a 1980 law requiring the government to make "reasonable efforts" to reunite families before terminating parental rights. Too often, backers say, those efforts were unreasonable.
Under the legislation, states would not have to make reasonable efforts in case of physical or sexual abuse, abandonment or torture.
States would have one year to adopt a permanent plan for each child; they now have 18 months. In most cases, courts would have to terminate biological parental rights and free children for adoption who have been in foster care for 15 out of the past 22 months.
Legislators acknowledged that with 100,000 foster children available for adoption but still waiting, termination of parental rights does not guarantee a new family. In 1995, just 20,000 children in foster care were adopted.
The bill gives states bonus payments for placing children, with extra money for placing hard-to-adopt children. It also guarantees health insurance for hard-to-place children and makes it easier to adopt children across state lines.
Voting against the bill were Reps. Patsy Mink, D-Hawaii; Ray LaHood, R-Ill.; Donald Manzullo, R-Ill.; Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; Ron Paul, R-Texas; and Christopher Cannon, R-Utah.
Not voting were Reps. Bob Riley, R-Ala.; Robert Matsui, D-Calif.; Pete Stark, D-Calif.; James Maloney, D-Conn.; Steve Buyer, R-Ind.; Chris John, D-La.; Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.; Steve Schiff, R-N.M.; Amo Houghton, R-N.Y.; Floyd Flake, D-N.Y.; Robert Smith, R-Ore.; Curt Weldon, R-Pa.; Dick Armey, R-Texas; Larry Combest, R-Texas; Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas; E.B. Johnson, D-Texas; Bobby Scott, D-Va.; Rick White, R-Wash.; and Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo.
(14 Nov 1997 04:59 EST)