NEW: Voice for Adoption is calling on members of Congress to make the adoption tax credit work better to promote adoptions of waiting foster children and support families who adopt children with special needs from foster care. The attached position paper lays out VFA's key principles for extending the adoption tax credit. As described in the paper, VFA believes that any extension of the adoption tax credit should ensure that the credit:
- Is effective at promoting and supporting adoptions of waiting children in foster care
- Is beneficial for families who adopt children with special needs from foster care
- Accounts for the fact that many of the expenses associated with adopting from foster care show up after the adoption is finalized
The adoption tax credit has a high price tag for the federal government (approximately $355 million in 2005), yet only a small percentage of this money supports adoptions from foster care. With 123,000 children in foster care waiting for their forever family, the tax credit should be restructured to make it more effective at achieving one of its core goals of promoting adoption for waiting foster children.
Click here to download VFA's position paper on the adoption tax credit.
----------------------------
Great news for older youth in foster care! The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act (FAFSA) became law as an amendment to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public Law 110-84). The FAFSA provision will make it possible for teens in foster care to be adopted without losing access to college financial aid. Under this new law, youth who are adopted from foster care at any point after their 13th birthday will not have to include their parents' income in the calculations for determining their need for financial aid; such a youth will be considered an "independent student" for the purpose of determining their financial need.
The FAFSA provision will take effect in July 2009, to apply for the 2009-2010 school year. The provision will apply to youth even if they were adopted before the new law was passed. Voice for Adoption worked closely with Senator Norm Coleman's (R-MN) and Senator Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) offices on this important legislation.
To download VFA's factsheet on the college financial aid provisions for former foster youth, click here.
----------------------------
Voice for Adoption tracks proposed federal child welfare
legislation in Congress. Click
here to download the current chart of bills related to child
welfare that have been introduced in Congress.
