Why go overseas to adopt? The risks in BC
are overblown. June 3, 2005). The Tyee.
Excerpt:
For the last five years, the Ministry of Child and Family
Services has been focusing on adoption, but with little
success. The list of people wanting to adopt is long, and
the list of kids in foster care and on adoption lists even
longer. But in BC, there are few adoptions, and many
would-be-adoptive parents go out of the country.
In fact, last year, there were nearly a thousand kids
wanting for families in BC, but only 350 kids actually
got adopted. That means most kids languish in foster
care where “the outcomes are pretty dismal,” according
to Anne Clayton who’s the adoption manager at the
Ministry. “There’s a recognition that kids with a
permanent family, or at least a life-long commitment
to an adult seem to have a better outcome in their adult
years.”
*************************************************
Child Becomes 'real to you':
Foster Kids Online: Supporters argue photos
boost adoption rates
Elaine O'Connor, (June 5, 2005). The Province, p.A25.
B.C.'s adoption organizations are lobbying Victoria to
adopt a pioneering, online foster-child photo-listing
database that has proven successful in increasing the
number of successful adoptions in other provinces.
It's been more than two years since Alberta launched
a web-based gallery of foster children. The site, the
only one of it's kind in Canada, boosted adoptions
among 4,700 foster kids by 30% between it's launch
in February 2003 and October 2004.
Anne Carin, clinical director of CHOICES, a B.C.
private adoption agency, says that as the success of
the Alberta Children's Services program becomes
increasingly apparent, advocates are frustrated by
the Ministry of Children and Family Development's
delay in trying it.
"Alberta's seen enormous success. A picture's worth
a thousand words - people see a child and fall in love
with a face and they are willing to parent that child,"
Carin told The Province.
She said prospective parents are often intimidated by
thick assessment files detailing demands of special-
needs children with behavioural issues, abuse histories,
pre-natal exposure to drugs and alcohol, or medical
problems.
"With a photo, a child is real to you. Maybe they have
some learning challenges or special needs, but you see
it in context when you've got an actual child there," she
said.
Intimidated by a child's history, or fed up with a lengthy
process, B.C. parents often go stateside or look at inter-
national adoptions.
CHOICES has been putting pressure on the ministry to
take steps to implement the program here, but has met
with little success, since privacy laws governing adoption
in B.C. are stricter than those in Alberta.
"The ministry is not necessarily opposed to photo-listing,
but there is a lot of debate about the issue," said Jeremy
Berland, provincial director of adoption for the Ministry
of Children and Family Development. "We're concerned
about Internet predators and we're concerned about
privacy."
Berland said the ministry has studied the Alberta model,
but noted that legislative changes would be needed before
photo-listing could be done in B.C. He said the ministry
would also like to hold focus groups.
As it stands, the ministry's success rates are low. There
are 1,300 children in care in the average year, of whom
about 300 get adopted.
"We'd like to place more," Berland said." But before we
go down that path, we have to make sure that it's the
right thing to do."
On Alberta's website more than 100 children are up for
adoption, ranging from one to 13 years of age. Profiles
include photos, background information and in some
cases, videoclips. Families can make contact via e-mail
link.
In B.C., by contrast, the ministry posts written profiles
of children. All photos are withheld and the more than
230 children are listed under pseudonyms. Interested
families are directed to call a hotline for more inform-
ation about adopting. There are books of profiles and
pictures available to serious prospective parents in
ministry offices.
The Adoption Council of Canada maintains a photo
listing, but requires password issued after the council
obtains personal infomation and approves use of the
site.
eoconnor@png.canwest.com
Commentary:
Adoption is a topic close to my heart, as an adoptee I think
the issue is an important one, wherein much thought should
go into the ethics and implications of how to increase the
number of children who receive permanent families.
I don't agree with Jeremy Berland on much, but I think he
is right that we need to look at the issue of confidentiality
and privacy rights of children in care in a very serious way.
The general public may not be aware of this, but in general,
children and youth in care are discriminated against, stigma-
tized and subject to different standards than other young
people in society. Children in care are also much more likely
to be labelled and excluded from participation in school,
which often continues a life of rejection and failure to
provide the support a child needs to process and
Family Development have worked very hard over the last
few years to develop innovative plans and more awareness
about the many children in care who are waiting for perma-
nent, or "forever" families. They also deserve credit for
helping 300 children find permanent homes, because that
is meaningful for each of those children and families.
The discussion about adoption numbers is incomplete
without mentioning the situation of First Nations children.
There are many barriers to the adoption of Aboriginal children,
who are then relegated to foster care and it's problems, of
which there are many. I'm deeply concerned at the
number of Aboriginal children who are denied the right
to a permanent family for political and cultural reasons.
I also think it is awfully ironic that the Ministry is so concerned
about the privacy rights of these children in care, when it isn't
nearly so vigilant when it comes to the other rights of children
in the care of the state. For the most part, children in care live
and die in invisibility. Other posts in this blog go into detail
about the failure's of the Liberal government to publically
report on the death's of children in government care, or children
who die out of care, who are, or have been involved with the
Ministry. It is a fact that under the Liberals the street youth
population has increased because the Ministry is routinely failing
to protect and provide safety to youth as young as 14. This failure
is a neglection of legislated duty under the Child, Family and
Community Services Act and the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child, of which Canada is a signatory.
Now, as I mentioned above, the issue of adoption is close to me,
because I'm representative of the kind of person who received a new
life, with a new family, opportunities, enduring connections and love.
All children deserve these things and more, and especially children
in care. They've often already gone through things that most adults
can't even imagine and they deserve to be safe, well taken care of,
integrated in a family and community and loved beyond belief.
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