Vol. 2, No. 2 • Spring 1998

Transracial Adoption: What is the Law?

There are different opinions about whether it is right for a family of one race to adopt a child of another. Some people think that race should never be a consideration--that "perfect vision is color blind." Others feel that, in an imperfect world where color matters, transracial adoptions are a kind of genocide that leave children unprepared to survive in a racist society. This difference of opinion is clearly reflected in the policy statements of many organizations concerned with adoption.   Take, for example, the following statements:

"Black children should be placed only with black families whether in foster care or adoption. Black children belong physically, psychologically and culturally in black families in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future...Black children in white homes are cut off from the healthy development of themselves as black people...We have committed ourselves to go back to our communities and work to end this particular form of genocide."
--National Association of Black Social Workers, 1985

"Children in need of adoption have a right to be placed into a family that reflects their ethnic or cultural heritage. Children should not have their adoptions denied or significantly delayed, however, when adoptive parents of other ethnic or cultural groups are available."
--North American Council on Adoptable Children

MEPA, 1994
Since the early 1990s, lawmakers at the federal level have taken a clear side in this dispute. They began in 1994, when they passes the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA). Designed to decrease the time children wait for adoption, this law stated that organizations and agencies that receive federal funds could not "categorically deny to any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster parent solely on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child involved." The law did allow, however, for the consideration of the "cultural, ethnic, or racial background of the child...as one of a number of factors used to determine the best interests of the child."

Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption, 1996

In August 1996, Congress went one step further by passing The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996. Included in this new law was Section 1808, "Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption." Because of concern that MEPA was "ineffective in promoting the best interests of children by decreasing the length of time they wait to be adopted" and that it "was not having the intended effect of facilitating the adoption of minority children...and lacked an enforcement provision backed by serious penalties," Congress repealed section 553 of MEPA and replaced it with stricter requirements.

Effective January 1, 1997, the new provision established a new Title IV-E state plan requirement that prohibits states or private agencies that receive federal funds from delaying or denying placement on the basis of race, color, or national origin of the child or the foster or adoptive parent. In other words, in contrast to MEPA, the provision does not have any language permitting states to consider race and ethnicity as one of a number of factors used to determine the best interests of the child. (Neither of these laws has any effect on the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978).

Implications
So what does this change in federal law mean for foster parents and prospective adoptive parents in North Carolina? It means that no county or state agency may legally use race, color, or national origin as the basis of placement decisions.

If you do choose to adopt a child of an ethnic background different from your own, please recognize that your child's ethnic and cultural heritage is an essential right. If your children are to understand who they are and how they fit into the world, they will need your help. Talk honestly with them about the realities of racism, and make sure they have contact with multiethnic families and the minority community. A strong sense of their heritage, along with the security and love you provide, will be a solid foundation for their future success.

Copies of the laws discussed about can be obtained by contacting the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Resource
Kaplan, C. (1997). Job Protection Act of 1996 (p.l. 104-188): Implications for social work practice. NASW Homepage: http://www.naswdc.org/practice/adopt.htm.

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families