1. Increase availability of post adoption services and amend 18 NYCRR 421.8

Post adoption services are needed throughout NYS. In order to support adoptive placements and prevent returns to foster care, a variety of post adoption services must be available at no cost to adoptive families wherever they live in the state at any time they are needed. Removing the three-year limit on post adoption services in NYS regulations acknowledges adoption as a lifelong process. This regulatory change is the essential foundation for the development of effective services in all regions of the state. 

2. Collect data on adoption disruptions/dissolutions and the availability and delivery of preventive services

In order to get a better understanding of post adoption service needs, we need to know if children in foster care have experienced an adoption disruption or dissolution. Data comparable to that which is required by the Hague Convention for international adoptions need to be collected for all domestic adoptions. Similarly, knowing more about preventive services provided by local districts and associated costs will provide important benchmarks and help further determine service needs.

3. Electronic payment of adoption subsidies and foster care board payments

Electronic payments to adoptive families and foster families will save state dollars and meet adoptive/foster parents’ needs for timely and convenient payments.

4. Tuition waivers for foster and former foster care youth for post secondary education or vocational training

Foster and former foster care youth need financial support for post secondary education or training. Providing tuition waivers for NYS institutions would provide youth with the ability to achieve the education needed for improved long-term outcomes and productive adulthood, and at minimal cost to the state.

5. Retention of custody of children in voluntary placements

Forcing committed, involved parents to relinquish custody in voluntary placements is cruel and unnecessary. Retention of custody does not affect federal reimbursement to the state. At least 13 states do not require relinquishment: MA, CT, CO, CA, ID, IA, ME, MN, ND, OR, RI, VT, WI. OCFS is the only NYS system that requires parents to relinquish custody as a condition of out of home care.

6. Adult adoptee access to original birth certificates

When a NYS child, including any foster child, is adopted, s/he is forever cut off from legal access to their original birth certificate and any identifying information concerning their birth families, even if adopted by kin. When birth records were closed in NY in 1938, the world of adoption was dramatically different than it is today. Today we recognize the importance of adoptee connections to their biological history. Every adoptee should have the legal right to their original birth certificate.

For an excellent summary of the history and arguments in support of adoptee access, see the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute's report, For the Records: Restoring a Right to Adult Adoptees, by Madelyn Freundlich, http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2007_11_for_records.php

7. Increase security for undocumented abused/neglected foster children

Federal law provides that any undocumented abused/neglected foster child in the United States is entitled to a green card. At this time, it is not known how many foster children in New York State are eligible for this entitlement. We urge OCFS to identify and collect demographic data on all undocumented children in foster care. Further, we urge OCFS to develop and implement uniform procedures to assure that every eligible foster child receives a green card and the security it provides.

8. Increase public information on OCFS website

We appreciate OCFS’s efforts to make more information publicly available on its website. We urge expanded efforts to achieve full transparency and a better informed citizenry—because child welfare is the responsibility of every New Yorker. We especially encourage website publication of county-specific foster care demographics (Summary Characteristics) and county-specific foster care board rates and adoption subsidy rates.

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NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
410 East Upland Road • Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 272-0034 • fax (607) 272-0035
office@nysccc.org
05/19/2008