If you have questions about the Adoption Tax Credit, we have answers. [Read more…] about Adoption Tax Credit FAQ
Adoptive Parents
New Passport Restrictions Potentially Strand and Separate Families
In its continuing mission to protect families formed through adoption and assisted reproduction, AAAA issued a press release today urging the Department of State to ease the restriction on the issuance of passports to allow parents to obtain this necessary document for their babies born through gestational surrogacy. To read the full press release, click here.
COVID-19 and The US State Department Closure of Passport Agencies
The shut down of regional passport issuing offices, and the directives to only issue passports in life or death situations, is creating very concerning delays for parents coming to the US and hoping to return home with their newborns as soon as possible. AAAA sent the attached letter to Secretary of State Pompeo and to the DOS, Bureau of Consular Affairs, expressing our concern. In part, the letter notes lack of health care for newborns and parents who linger in the States, travel visas expiring, and lack of adequate long-term shelter in which to care for a newborn as some of the top issues of concern due to the shut-down. To read the complete letter, click here.
A Child’s Right to Family
Hundreds of millions of children across the world are destined to grow up on the streets and in institutions. One of the best solutions to this crisis is international adoption. However, adoptions to the United States have dropped by 75 percent over the last 14 years and international adoptions worldwide have dropped by over half. This downward trend is not slowing. Adoptions to the United States dropped by 13 percent from 2017 to 2018. As a result, every year tens of thousands of children are denied a family.
Unfortunately, the Department of State is implementing policies that will further reduce the number of international adoptions. Another factor contributing to the accelerated decline is over regulation. In 2004, when intercounty adoption peaked, it was reported that the Department of State employed 10 to 15 staff in the adoption division. In November of 2018, despite a 75 percent decline since 2004, it was reported that the adoption division employed 21 staff.
The Harvard Law School Child Advocacy Program (CAP), directed by Elizabeth Bartholet, is taking a leading role in confronting this humanitarian crisis. CAP is advancing legislation that “calls on the Department of State to report the deliberate denial of family life, including the refusal to place children in available adoptive homes, as a human rights violation in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” You can find out more about this initiative and CAP at https://cap.law.harvard.edu/cap-law-reform-projects/.
You can also sign a petition showing your members of congress and governement that you support every child’s right to a family at https://caplawharvard.salsalabs.org/childsrighttofamily/index.html.
— Eric Freeby is the current Adoption Deputy Director of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys
Post Adoption Contact Agreements Explained
A Post Adoption Contact Agreement (PACA) is an agreement the birth parents sign along with the adoption relinquishment. It is also signed by the adoptive parents. It allows for certain, specified contacts between the birth parent(s) and the adoptive family. Some states allow for these agreements and will enforce them, other states do not. Fellows of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys can explain and draft an agreement that works for your particular adoption situation.
What is the Purpose of a Post Adoption Contact Agreement?
Sometimes birth parents will only allow an adoption to go forward if a PACA is included in the adoption plan. Adoptive parents should not view this as a sign of reluctance by the birth parents or an indication that they may change their minds later about the adoption. Rather, birth parents’ requests for a PACA usually means they want to make sure they are making the right decision by placing their child in a loving home.
While laws regarding PACAs vary from state to state, the breach of a PACA will not usually be grounds to revoke consent for the adoption or the adoption decree. However, if the adoptive family fails to comply with the PACA’s terms, adoption courts can fashion other forms of relief to correct these failures. The terms of the PACA are usually not permitted by law to expand or increase the amount of contacts. However, most states that allow PACAs will permit a court to reduce or eliminate specified contacts upon a finding of the best interests of the child.
What Does a Post Adoption Contact Agreement Look Like?
There is no single format for a PACA and there are no set contacts that you need to include. Some PACAs require adoptive parents to provide a birth parent with pictures and written updates about the child’s developments. Other PACAs may allow the birth parents to visit their biological children. PACAs often provide for pictures and written updates on a monthly basis for the first year. Then, this may decrease over time. PACAs more often include visitation requests in cases involving adopting older children compared to newborns.
No matter what the PACA includes, it must be in writing and signed by the birth parent(s) or legal guardian, as well as the adoptive parents. It then often becomes part of the decree of adoption. The PACA typically stays in place until the child is 18 years old unless the Court terminates it before that time or, by its terms, it ends sooner. However, termination would only be at the request of the adoptive family and the family would need to show that the PACA is not in the child’s best interest.
Do I Need a Lawyer to Draft a Post Adoption Contact Agreement?
To find out if a PACA is necessary and/or permitted for your adoption plan, schedule a consultation with a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys today. There are probably things that are very important to you that you want to include, but we will also help you address important provisions you may not have considered. An Academy attorney can help you draft a document that addresses your most pressing concerns about adoption. Additionally, we can discuss how to enforce the document moving forward.
— Eric Stovall is a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and Immediate Past President
Adoption Provisions SAVED in Final Tax Reform Bill!
Thanks to the efforts of all of you who have worked so hard over the past two months, children and families won a great victory. The final tax reform bill and conference report was unveiled on December 15 and we are pleased to share that both the adoption tax credit and the tax benefit for employer provided adoption benefits have been SAVED! Read the final version of the tax reform bill here.
We expect Congress will vote on this legislation next week, and it is expected to pass.
If you are one of the many people who sent a letter or made a call to your Member of Congress, be sure to thank them for listening! You can easily do this by going to the Adoption Tax Credit Website’s “Take Action” page which will link you directly with your Members of Congress.
