Foundation Sponsors Congressional Briefing on Adoption, Youth Panel

July 15, 2005 – At a Congressional Briefing sponsored by the Freddie Mac Foundation on July 13, 2005, United States Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley and Senator Hillary R. Clinton released the findings from a new Government Accountability Report (GAO) titled Better Data and Evaluations Could Improve Processes and Programs for Adopting Children with Special Needs.

The Senators requested the report in 2004 based on their concerns about the extent to which the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 and the Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Program have facilitated the adoption of children with special needs. The report shows that while significant progress has been made in increasing the number of children adopted out of foster care since the Adoption and Safe Families Act was signed in 1997, significant barriers remain. The report found that states need more resources and flexibility to be able to provide the services special needs children require to successfully increase the number of adoptions out of foster care.

"Federal adoption assistance and adoption incentive programs need to work as well as they possibly can," Senator Grassley said. "They’re a means to an important end, and that’s permanent homes for children. Today’s findings show that these programs are helping, but we have to do more. I’ll work to help make these programs 100 percent effective. It’s a no-brainer to protect children’s welfare."

"Unless we support families who take the courageous and difficult step of adopting, these adoptions may fail, and children will end up back at square one," said Senator Clinton. "Today’s system creates a perverse incentive to keep children in foster care since families in the majority of states receive much more support when the children are in foster care than they do once adoptions have been finalized."

The briefing also included a panel discussion led by Voice for Adoption during which youth adopted from foster care were able to tell their stories and share their experience as foster and adopted children. The participants and their parents also shared their thoughts on adoption legislation changes that would benefit children and adoptive parents. Panel participants were:

Sean Maudlin, who entered the foster care system, along with his three sisters, when he was eight years old. Both of his biological parents suffered from alcoholism and his mother was the victim of domestic violence. Sean lived with two foster families before joining his sisters at the home of Brian and Terri Bailey in rural Indianola, Iowa. He was adopted at the age of 12 along with his younger sister Gabrielle by the Baileys. School has always been a priority in Sean’s life. He graduated this year in the top 10 percent of his class.

Tyisha Harris, who is 16 years old and a junior at Curtis High School in Staten Island. Tyisha was featured in a Freddie Mac Foundation’s Wednesday’s Child New York segment. She spent nearly 13 years in the foster care system before becoming adopted on January 12, 2005. She is now focusing on going to college, something she'd never thought possible, and plans to study Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting and journalism. Since her first love is football, Tyisha hopes to one day have a career in the sports world, perhaps as a sports announcer or writer.

Chris Brown, who is from the state of Kentucky. He entered foster care in April 1993 after his stepfather murdered his mother. He was just 11 years old. He spent two birthdays, two Christmases, and two anniversaries of his mother’s death without family or friends. At the age of 13, Chris was adopted by his Big Brothers, Big Sisters mentor, Dave Brown. Chris is a psychology major at Northern Kentucky University, a dream he could not have imagined when he was in foster care.

Savonte Van Dossor, who entered the Minnesota foster care system in 1997. He spent three years in foster care before he was placed with his adoptive family in 2000. Savonte attended Highland Park Junior and Senior High Schools in Saint Paul and graduated this past June. He will be attending community college for the next few years and then move to a four-year college. His future plans include becoming a social worker and helping kids who are in similar situations as he was.

"It was inspiring to hear the moving stories of these remarkable young people and how having a permanent home has changed their lives forever," said Renette Oklewicz from Freddie Mac Foundation at the conclusion of the briefing. "Yet, alarmingly, 20,000 children still leave foster care system each year with no family to call their own. Our thanks go out to Senators Grassley and Clinton for this GAO report which provides us with clear actions that can be taken to assure that all foster children in need of an adoptive home will find their forever family and have the opportunity to realize their dreams."