    
Yvettep
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Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2268
Registered: 01-2005
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 12:15 pm: | 
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Expectant mothers of color who desire to place their children in adoptive care sometimes face diffculty finding other families of color to adopt, based on cultural preferences. Betsy Bartholett, faculty director of the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School, is joined by Melanie Markley, a Houston Chronicle reporter who recently profiled one woman's experience.
Listen here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14650802&ft=1&f=46
The following article has a little bit more context about what some of the worries of prospective Black adopters:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5146661.html
...Specter of slavery
And it isn't just a matter of affordability, say Oliver and others. Some blacks believe paying money to adopt a child is too reminiscent of slave auctions. And they don't understand why they have to pay to get a baby.
Officials at private agencies say they have to charge fees to cover their costs, including legal services, counseling sessions and the background checks and home assessments that are required in determining if a prospective family is suitable. The fees also cover the post-adoption supervision and, in some cases, the birth mom's care and medical costs.
At Catholic Charities, because of the demand, the fee is halved for black families, who pay from $6,000 to $12,000, depending on their income. And even that cost can be largely offset by a tax break from the federal government.
DePelchin Children's Center also subsidizes the fee for blacks.
DeJuana Jernigan, DePelchin's adoption and post-adoption program coordinator, said the fee for blacks is lowered from 15 percent of the family's income to 12 percent.
"Historically," Jernigan said, "adoption hasn't been very widespread in the African-American community. Most of the adoptions have been informal, involving family members"... |
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