Opinion: Checklist for State Lawmakers To Protect Adopted Children

Occasionally, we will link to media opinions on aspects of adoption and child welfare that you may never have thought about. This opinion piece discusses protecting adopted children from being sent out of their homes across state lines or international borders, placed in institutions, informally transferred to other caregivers or left without financial or emotional support.

This article says to:

• “Strengthen oversight of adoption subsidies by
  • • Verification that the child is residing in the adoptive home or receiving direct benefit from subsidy funds.
    • Immediate review when school enrollment, medical usage, or address records suggest a disruption.
    • Authority for agencies to redirect subsidy funds to the actual caregiver or placement meeting the child’s needs.
    • Penalties for knowingly misrepresenting a child’s living situation.
• Regulate and prevent informal “rehoming”. Legislatures should do the following:
  • • Prohibit permanent custody transfers outside the court system.
    • Require background checks, home studies, and judicial approval before any long-term placement change. Mandate reporting to child-welfare authorities when an adoptive parent can no longer provide care.
    • Create civil and criminal consequences for unlawful transfers.
• Clarify ongoing parental responsibility

Adoptive parents should remain legally and financially responsible when a child is placed in residential treatment, foster  care or out-of-state programs, unless parental rights are formally modified or terminated by a court. 

Legislation can:

• • • Require transition plans addressing education, services, and return planning before out-of-home placements • Establish clear child-support obligations tied to actual cost of care
    • Prevent abandonment from becoming a pathway to avoiding responsibility

Permanency must mean something in practice, not only on paper. 

• Address cross-border and institutional placements

States should:

• • • Prohibit referrals to unlicensed or unregulated facilities
    • Require individualized safety review for institutional placements
    • Strengthen enforcement of interstate placement requirements
    • Require documentation of educational services, disability supports, and medical care
• Guarantee youth access to legal remedies

Legislatures can:

• • • Provide statutory standing for youth to petition for support or services
    • Fund specialized legal representation for abandoned or disrupted adoptees
    • Allow courts to order continued support when abandonment delays independence
• Invest in prevention and post-adoption support

States should:

• • • Expand access to respite care, crisis stabilization and trauma-informed services
    • Provide school-based and community mental health supports
    • Fund post-adoption case management for high-risk placements
    • Create early intervention pathways before disruption occurs
• Improve data, transparency and accountability

Legislation should require:

• • • Tracking and public reporting of adoption disruptions and re-placements
    • Interagency coordination between education, Medicaid, and child-welfare systems
    • Independent oversight or audit mechanisms “

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