NATION Report examines problems with adoptions

No state has passed the new tests.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 100,000 children who have been abused or neglected by their biological parents are languishing in foster care, waiting to be adopted. The explanations are practically universal.
Among the problems, according to a new report: Agencies and courts are reluctant to end the legal rights of biological parents, and states have trouble finding adoptive parents, particularly for older kids, kids with siblings, children with behavior problems and black kids.
Delay also comes in the courts, which too often fail to communicate with the child welfare agencies that oversee the cases, the report released Wednesday said.
The report was commissioned by a coalition of groups and companies that support National Adoption Day, designated as Saturday, when courts around the country will open to finalize and celebrate adoptions. The research was done by the Urban Institute, a think tank that focuses on social issues.
Learning
"It is our hope that with this new research, states can learn from each other," said Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, one of the sponsors.
Overall, not one state has passed the new tests. Seven states were in compliance with two of seven main standards, and 20 states plus the District of Columbia were in compliance with one of them. Twenty-three states failed all seven.
Wednesday's report focuses on the data surrounding adoption. In this case, just six states have met standards -- making sufficient effort to finalize adoptions and moving kids quickly into new homes.
At the same time, adoptions in the foster care system have gone up in recent years, nearly doubling since 1995 to about 50,000 per year, noted Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Still, there are more than 530,000 children in the foster care system, and about 129,000 available for adoption. More must be done, Horn said.
Barriers
The new report identified several of these barriers:
USevering biological parents' legal rights: Forty-eight states said they had trouble terminating such rights, which must be done before an adoption can go through.
UStaffing: Forty-three states reported trouble in this area. This includes high turnover of staff, large caseloads, insufficient training,lack of communication with courts and incomplete records.