Leave it to the US Congress

What are these people thinking?

I recently received an email from our agency informing us of recent legislation put forth in Congress which would repeal Bill S. 246 The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2005. For those of you less familiar with the adoption process, this is the bill which provides adoptive families a $10,000 tax credit for adoption expenses.

Some of you know, I work with money - pensions to be exact. So despite my high school math grades, I know how to do math. To adopt an internationally born child will normally run you more than $20,000. Now unless you're pretty financially savvy, you probably don't have an extra 20k lying around your bank account. Many of us financially challenged folks finance adoption through loans, second mortgages, credit cards, 401k cash outs, etc, etc. All of us depend on the credit being there to pay off much of the adoption debt we accumulate throughout the process.

Now, before you start thinking that us adoptive parents are looking for a hand out, let me explain why it's important for our federal government to encourage the adoption of orphaned children.
First, the bottom line...
The federal government pays anywhere from $4,155 to $33,091 per child annually to states to help finance foster care programs, that is approximately $5 billion every year spent on reimbursing states for a portion of their foster care programs*. "Foster care services are intended to provide temporary, safe alternative homes for children who have been abused or neglected until such time as they are able to return to their parents' care safely or can be placed in other permanent homes."* Domestic adoption costs can add up quick. The cost to adopt from the foster care system normally runs around $2,500. To adopt a child from an expectant birth mother can be upwards of $40,000 depending on the circumstances.
Second, our moral and ethical reasons...
Research agrees that children raised within a family setting are more productive, better adjusted and self assured than children raised in oprhanages or in foster care. (No shame to foster parents, our foster care system is broken, let's face it). These kids have a higher chance of becoming contributing members of society. And as all of us tax paying folks know, the government likes us contributing members. Ultimately, shouldn't we take care of each other? Shouldn't we give kids a chance at a better life?

So, no, Senator Kohl, I don't think I should be able to claim my dog as a dependant on my taxes. But I do think you should vote for S.246. And allow many other families, including mine to adopt children.


*ASPE Issue brief August 2005